Well, I just got started with the shop and setting up… However, I’m missing one critical element… Wood… I don’t suppose they don’t call it woodworking if all you have is spinning blades… So, can anyone suggest a good way to get some wood for a low price? The closest lumberyard is about 1 1/2 hours from me, and that’s a Woodcraft. I can go to Lowes, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to work with shudder PINE. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
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Replies
Lots of very nice furniture, including much of what the Shakers made, was built with tight grained, knot free pine, and you can still find that mixed in with the lesser stuff at most lumber yards.
So please don't dismiss pine out of hand, since it has a long and distinguished history as a cabinet wood. It is a wonderful wood to work with requiring as much skill, if not more, to work with than most hardwoods.
A final point is that nothing beats the beautiful "pumpkin" color that pine takes on as it ages and the wonderful scent and beautiful shavings it creates when hand planed.
John White
In your fervor for pine (which I don't care much for, either; it's only good if you stain it to look like something else, and then it still won't have the grain pattern of a truly attractive wood like Walnut), you didn't stop to answer his question.The biggest problem with that crap at Lowes and HD is that not only is the selection terrible (pine or red oak, maybe poplar), but the prices are insane. Why pay a fortune for pine when you can use Purpleheart for less?What you (the original poster) need to do is do a Google Local search for "lumber", "hardwood", etc. in your zipcode, and try to find local lumber yards and hardwood suppliers. I recently found a place near me that sells only hardwood, and the business is basically a big barn out in the boonies. What you're looking for is someplace like that, not some fancy retail store in a stripmall.
Or the OP can go to URL:
http://www.woodfinder.com
too.DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
john, i always appreciate your responses in these forums. one observation, it also seems to feel as though someone is "yelling" when the font is so large.
noted, greg
The font size I use is just one size up from the default size. I use it because I have a vision problem. I wish everyone would use it. I just don't see any advantage to using the smaller type, it isn't as though we are wasting paper by using the larger size.
John
John,
Since we're not wasting paper anymore, can you tell me how to easily remove all this white-out from my screen? It's getting hard to read around it.
Cheers,
Ray
THANKS, JohnWW. Post space is cheap, and I try to save squinting for the shop.Rocotoed
John's as blind as a bat.
LOL
Jeff
Actually I have excellent vision, despite being nearsighted since my teens. It's just that I have a real problem with computer monitors, and special glasses haven't really solved the problem. But just going up a type size makes it easy to work so that's what I do.
It's unfortunate that larger type is considered shouting but I think it is obvious from my postings that I'm not, in fact, being bombastic. Maybe I'll just size down my postings, after I've written them, perhaps to a number one size just to appear truly humble, like I truly am.
John
Don't force your large fonts on everyone else. If you're having a problem with font sizes, hit Ctrl-(+) (plus sign on the numeric keypad) in Firefox and it'll increase all the font sizes for you. If you're not using Firefox, switch, so that you have control over your font sizes.
I'm working on the company's computer, the IT folks don't let me choose a browser, not that I care. In any case as someone pointed out, using bold is usually judged to be shouting, merely going up a size, so the text is easier to read isn't at all the same. I hardly feel that I'm "forcing" my type choice on anyone.
Goodbye Dwolsten
You can use whatever font size you want, but you can't tell people to change their font sizes. I thought your problem was that the fonts appear too small for you to read comfortably, so I pointed out a simple and elegant solution for that (new browser). Unless your machine is completely locked down by IT (unlikely), it's relatively simple to install Firefox.Don't complain about things that are easy to change.
Do you even read your own posts?
Don't force your large fonts on everyone else. If you're having a problem with font sizes, hit Ctrl-(+) (plus sign on the numeric keypad) in Firefox and it'll increase all the font sizes for you. If you're not using Firefox, switch, so that you have control over your font sizes.
I saw nothing in Johns posts that sounded like complaining. Take your own advice and resize your own browser.
IT departments usually frown on users installing their own softwear and for good and numerous reasons.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
I saw nothing in Johns posts that sounded like complaining.
The font size I use is just one size up from the default size. I use it because I have a vision problem. I wish everyone would use it.
Does this refresh your memory? Sounds like complaining to me. What good is resizing his own fonts, in his own posts, if everyone else uses the default font size? This is why quality browsers allow you to easily change the font sizes of ALL fonts on the screen. If you're not using a decent browser, then you have no reason to complain.
Take your own advice and resize your own browser.
Why would I want to do that? You don't even make sense! I already have my fonts set at a comfortable size. Apparently, other people have browsers that don't allow them to set their viewing sizes, so I suggested a solution to that. Apparently that really annoys people around here.
IT departments usually frown on users installing their own softwear and for good and numerous reasons.
No, not really. They pick crappy software and force it on people because they don't want to make a better choice. But very few companies force people to run Windows without administrator rights, so this doesn't even matter that much. You have to have admin rights to run a lot of software (again, picked by IT), and with those rights, you can also install your own browser. Font problem solved.
A wish is not a complaint. I wish everyone had a huge screen and broadband but I'm not complaining that they don't. The reality is that the online community is not standardised and it behooves us to make it easier for all users so that it will enable them to contribute their wisdom to the pool.
You claim he is forcing his large fonts on you, yet you say you can easily set font size for your own comfort. Apparently everyone should accomodate you.
I can think of no piece of software that requires admin rights to run but I can think of many that require it to install. Because they did not make it physically impossible does not necessarily give you license to modify a machine you do not own.
Like it or not IE is the most prevalent browser out there which puts those of us using other products in the minority.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
You sound like me....I'm more humble than anyone I know, and I'm quick to let people know it.
(insert sly wink here)
I have never had the impression that your larger font size was "yelling" in computerese. IT'S THE USE OF ALL CAPS THAT GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF YELLING! Thanks for your participation in the discussions. It adds a great deal to the enjoyment on my end, and I'd bet on the part of everyone else. Tom
Johnny my boy
You can type as largeor as small as you like. It's the content in the message that counts, and your content is always good. Didn't we have this same issue come up last year about the same time. I laugh at what some people consider to be important, like font size is yelling. ROFLMAO.
Have a great day,
Jeff
as i said earlier, i like your postings. i find them relevant and generally just what i was thinking as i read the post you refer to. the type often throughs my head back a few inches though.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Verdana is a nice font and size matters not. What you are comfortable with is all that matters. This isn't a computer usage forum, it is a forum where woodworkers gather to find out what they need to know. It even seems chauvinistic to criticize such a thing.
Anyway, the "shudder" about lowes might be ok except they have some very nice inventory of lumber - grade A select pine, oak, poplar in my area. I have used some of their select pine and actually bought a piece of their oak because it was 4s4 and only 2' long - I was testing a stain color for a friend.
Reading some of these posts, I feel like I am in the middle of hardwood dealer heaven. Here in town, I have four sources - one massive. Just a few miles west there is another. A couple of links are: http://www.capitolcitylumber.com/ , http://www.hardwoodstore.com/
If you are near a sawmill like some of the others said, you can find shorts. The other day I was driving by a tiny little sawmill just outside town and they had a sign, "free hardwood scraps - summertime only - you pick them up" They had pieces of oak and walnut ranging from 2x6x5' to 4x4x4'. I had my Civic Hybrid stuffed like a Christmas goose in about half an hour and, as usual, my neighbors just sighed as I drove home. You just never know what you will find laying about...
Oh, by the way, shouting in fora like this is done by KEEPING THE CAPS LOCK KEY DOWN AND TYPING, not by using a font we old geezers can see without getting a crick in our tired old necks straining to see the little letters.
Downsize posting font size: Oh, please don't do that. I must have similar visual problems but with special computer glasses I do fairly well. I like your larger type
If you're using Internet Explorer, you can get larger type on all the posts easily by clicking View | Text Size | Largest. If you're using a different browser, there may be other workarounds someone can suggest for you to see the text larger.
If you do that, you'll find that your posts are awfully big, while everyone else's are pretty legible. :)My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
My difficulties really only show up when I'm posting a message, because it is faster, reading usually doesn't cause eye fatigue. I know that I can enlarge all of the postings, but I really don't need to. Thanks for taking the time to help.
John W.
I used to know drummakers on the art fair circuit who got all their raw material, 5/4 and 6/4 padauk, from free packing crates from Japanese motorcycles.
I found an antique cherry table top in the dumpster...gorgeous patina.
Get old furniture at yard sales and re-use the wood.
OTOH, if you are such a snob about **shudder** pine, you really won't appreciate those suggestions.
I may look.. We have a motorcycle dealer around here. Whether or not they get them crated is unknown, though. I have no problem dumpster diving at all. I just have worked with pine, and I don't like the way it stains, the way it works, and how difficult it can be at times to keep it from bowing. It seems to want to bow faster than any hardwood I've encountered. As far as everything else, the closest shop to me is in Charleston, SC. It's about 1 to 1 1/2 hours away. Plus it's a Woodcraft, which seems to charge a hell of a premium for their lumber as well. At least down here. Some things I've found here is pallets for pickup. Free. Now, do these often have good wood, or are they all made of something from the mill floor?
Pallet material is very low grade and they are put together green, of mixed woods, and just about impossible to pull apart without breakage. Still, you can get nice 'shorts' by sawing the parts apart.
I've gotten nice wood from storm blow-downs. Check with a tree service to see what they have. You would also get an education in drying it.
Some pine is very nice to work. When i worked at a mill in California, i got all the sugar pine that didn't go 8' - made a LOT of drawer sides with it, and that is no place for warpage. I have a board of southern "heart pine", i believe you call it...very pretty even though resinous. Ponderosa pine can be lovely, too, but there's a reason to steer clear of Pinus contorta... <G>
Stained pine is just ughly.
Trade ya some heart pine recovered from wains-coating in torn down homes in the Atlanta area in the name of progress for any left over gun-stock walnut shorts. I'll even throw in a couple of board feet of that "what-cha-ma-call-it" along with a Prince Albert can full of mint leaves for making "juleps".
Regards for a wonderful Montana evening, ma'am...
SARGE.. g-47
Edited 7/11/2006 1:33 am ET by SARGEgrinder47
I'm guessing you are my old arguing buddy "Sarge", not part of the new crop of faces that showed up when i was MIA for a bit...? If you are speaking of Cooper Arms, they are still in business and making lots of scrap, as i understand it. They prolly got the walnut from youse guys, though!
I was MIA for awhile also. To argue with you is a losing cause, Colleen. Easier just to say, "yes ma'am". :>)
Good to see you in good spirits...
SARGE.. g-47
Splinty,
Boy, am I glad you recognized it was Sarge. He's back here less than one week and he's making a b-line for our only blonde....throwing out his 'Heart'...offering liquor with mint leaves....all for the purpose of seeing your walnut shorts. He could have easily been mistaken for an on-line predator....whew!
Ja, but he's aiming low. If he were really on the ball, he'd be angling for my exotic shorts. I'm pretty tempted by the mint leaves, though...
And I see you're still firing on 8 cylinders, BG. Me thinks that those long New England winters holed up with all the pancake mix and syrup you can eat till spring keeps the mind sharp as cheddar cheese. ha.. ha...
Good to hear from ya and hope all is well with you and family... Shout if ya need any sunshine piped up that way. I do believe that is N. E. on the compass as the crow flies. :>)
Regards...
SARGE.. g-47
very clever!
sometimes i like to use large type also...and while i'm not yelling, it makes me feel more confident about myself
jack,
HUH? What'd ya say??
**********************Caution- Imminent Thread Hijacking***************
Ray,
How's that Indian? I rented The World's Fastest Indian, good story.
The R100S runs well, but has no rear brakes right now!
jack,
The chief is still running. (You can't wear out an Indian scout, nor its brother, the Indian chief. They're built like rocks, to take hard knocks. It's the Harleys that cause the grief!) Recently my youngest son and I put in a new, improved clutch, with kevlar (!) linings on the plates. Much better operation now, complete disengagement, and smoother takeup-less grabby. New throwout bearing might have something to do with that, too. You shoulda seen the old steel plates-they looked like they'd been left outdoors for years before being put into the primary. Likely they had. Tranny rebuild comes next, when the pocketbook allows-1st gear is pretty worn, it sometimes wants to hop out of gear when accelerating. Some guy in FL is making 4speed, constant-mesh trannies for them, they are only 5 grand! And there have been sightings of an electric starter- many of the guys riding these things are at a point in their lives where kicking the motor over is too hard on their (replaced) knees.
Glad you liked the movie. The documentary that inspired the movie was, in my opinion, worth the price of the dvd. What an interesting old codger.
Who needs brakes? As Burt said, "I'm not planning on stopping!"
Ride safe,
Ray
your confidence seems to be at an all time high right now. perhaps a good time to take on a challenging project or find some good wood, cheap!
if only I could find an even bigger font size... hahahaha
i hear grizzly makes a huge font size at a competative price.
Nice to BE in good spirits once again, after losing Ian. Were we MIA for similar reasons? Drop me an email...
Shot out splintie... check your E..
Regards...
SARGE.. g-47
that's a great "pic" on the bio splintergroupie!
I read the rules that said the avatar had to be a self-portrait as well as the ones about the size limits. I knew then i would not be able to fit in the space allowed, so i chose a representative sample instead. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
splintergroupie,
I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood my suggestion. I didn't suggest that he take apart pallets, rather that he find the pallet mills to find a source for cheap wood..
Low grade is exactly what he wants.. He's looking for something cheaper than sheetrock.. It's not terribly hard to cut out the really bad stuff, and sometimes the pallet mills gets great stuff simply because it's deteriorated. I constantly buy my sawmills surplus. Orders that weren't picked up and stained or turned grey. I can buy those for as little as 10 cents a bd.ft.
If he's going to slap a coat of paint on it it doesn't matter but I bought some wonderfull fiddleback maple for ten cents that had turned grey. One pass thru the planner and I was drooling. I bought some wicked looking Boxelder with bright red steaks thru it because he didn't have a market for it and only had a few hundred bd.ft.
Most wood used to build with is really pretty green. In the late summer, dead of winter it may be in the less than 25% moisture range. I've measured some logs in the low 20% moisture range.
Most lumber sold at lumberyards is around 19% moisture (KD19 stamped on those 2x4's means Kiln dried to 19% moisture).. .. So if he builds with green wood and nails up green boards everything will be about the same..
Finally if he buys thins and they sit around for just a couple of weeks they will read even lower than that 19% the studs etc. are at.. (the thinner the board the faster it dries out)
<< I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood my suggestion. I didn't suggest that he take apart pallets, rather that he find the pallet mills...>>Je m'excuse, Frenchy, but i think it's you who are confused. I was responding to the OP's question: "Some things I've found here is pallets for pickup."We all know you personally have the best wood at the cheapest prices - and i hate you for it, make no mistake - but not everyone sits in the middle of a deciduous forest. There are two high, mountain passes and four hours between me and the nearest pallet manufacturer, just to give you some idea how some of the rest of us poor slobs live. ;^)
splintergroupie,
If I recall you live in Montana.. rumor has it that trees grow there. <G> anyplace trees grow there are sawmills. Try contacting woodmizer for a list of their clients (they keep it for just such a reason) once you get on the network of woodmiser owners sooner or later you'll find the farmer who does a little sawmilling to meet his own needs and sell surplus to others..
While you may not have the variety of wood I do, I know that there are trees around you and it's only a matter of contacting the right network..
One other option available to you.. You could make a trip in this direction and buy a semi full of wood, haul it home and sell off what you don't need.might even show a profit..
Find a local trucker who needs to make a one way trip and doesn't have a back haul load and the frieght could be very affordable..
I'm sorry if I keep harping on the low prices that I pay but even though there are a lot of Fine wood working magazines sold here in the twin cities, I have yet to meet anybody who goes to my sawmill for wood.. I've been buying wood for 8 years from them and talking about it for nearly as long and I never hear of anybody taking up the low price deals I get offered every time I visit..
I'm always up for a road trip and seeing your house in the mix would be a pure delight, but the idea of buying more wood at any price is not enticing right now: i'm still storing about $10K in mostly exotics from when i moved into this remodel almost three years ago.I had a yard sale in June to sell off excess house parts mostly, and met a well-known rocker maker who told me he bought a couple semi-truckloads of wood from a warehouse closing on the west coast, before he moved to Montana. He hadn't found a market so far and was paying storage fees, but i don't know how hard he's been trying to unload it. If i wanted good wood cheap, i guess he'd be my best bet. Most of my work is (was?) in exotics, though, so no help there; i got most of those through a place in Eagle, ID. I'm setting window frames in the solarium today...a person sure could dry a lot of hardwood in there...(whir, whir)
I am also in an area that can be devoid of a good hardwood supply (Alaska) and am forced to dumpster dive and keep the eyeballs peeled for unique sources. The pallet idea is a good one and I have made some beautiful pieces from those made of Oak and other hardwoods. Getting the nails out is a trick (ringshank or staples) so I usually just cut off the ends with the nails, burn the cutoffs in the fireplace, then glean the nails from the ashes and sell on the metal market to buy decent wood at our one hardwood supplier [just kidding about the nails]. The crates from the motorcycle shops and the glass warehouses provide most of my secondary wood for interior and shop projects. Some of the crate material is southern pine which is very hard and has beautiful grain [need a planer as most of it is roughcut]. I figure my Rigid table top planer has paid for itself 3 times over with the free wood I have run through it. Another source is the outfits that make commercial furniture out of 1 & 1/4" MDF that is finished both sides. Excellant for certain jigs and fences as it dosen't warp, is heavy, and the smooth finish on both sides actually makes jigs look better. I also look for birch trees that are coming down all the time up here and offer to haul the wood away if they will cut it into 6' lengths for me and then take it to my local saw mill where they slab it 4 quarter for a resonable price. Good luck and keep looking.
David,
As has been stated, I would not discount the wood at your local H.D. or Lowes. I do not use these stores to buy my wood from normally as they do charge a premium price for wood that is sometimes not premium. I have found some beautiful "select" birch at H.D. that I've made some keepsake boxes from. Their pine can be quality as well if you go through the stockpile.
There are some great internet sources for good quality wood and, depending upon where you live, shipping charges could make a good deal on the wood a "not so good" deal. But remember, you are making a one-of-a-kind piece; handmade artistry. What price do you put on that?
A couple of sources I use:
http://www.cookwoods.com
http://www.internetlumber.com
Good fortune!...Tim
Dear David,
Pine, GOOD pine is very nice to work with. Clean, tight grain, silky, works easily, has a pleasant oder. Lots of good stuff there. Maybe not a Lowes', but pine as a material is nice.
Best,
John
David Carlson,
You need to do this,, call woodmiser and ask them for a list of owners near you.. (they keep lists) ask each what their rates are for various woods.. some have really fabulous prices.. some charge an arm and a leg..
grab a phone directory and find the nearest pallet manufacture, ask them where they get their wood..
Sawmills selling to pallet mills sell wood really cheap!. Right now it's 15 cents a bd,. ft. It may be oak or maple or ash or whatever..
The whole trick is you buy wood in bulk and it's so cheap you can afford to have plenty on hand..
If you pay over $1.00 a bd.ft. (that's a board 1 inch thick 12 inches by 12 inches) for anything you are paying way too much!
David Carlson,
I answered it over at breaktime. But to summerize, go to a local sawmill and buy wood from them.. It's really cheap! 32 sq ft will cost you about $5.00 unless you buy thins which will cost about a dollar for 32 sq ft.
32 sq ft is a 4x8 sheet.
Where do you live, David ?
If you are not too far from Mass i can share my connections.
C.
Citrouille,
If you wouldn't mind, pls share your sources...at least the ones you aren't afraid of giving away :) because there are at least 3 of us on this discussion that are from Mass
Thanks
David getting good wood cheap is just not something that happens very often. I know you hear about the occasional deal that someone runs up on where they get perfectly clear cherry or walnut for a $1.00 per bd. ft. Believe me this is not the norm and something like that only happens to a person maybe once in a lifetime. You typically get what you pay for in most things and this also holds true with quality hardwoods. The savings comes in buying 100+ bd. ft. quantities from reputable dealers. As an example I can buy material from Wall Lumber and the trucking company will typically have it in my driveway in 2 days. If you have the tools to process rough lumber you can save a bit more and have a lot more control over the surface quality and accuracy of your materials. Pallet materials and salvaged lumber will always have questionable moisture content and there is nothing quite like seeing something in which you have considerable effort start coming apart and splitting, warping and checking right before you very eyes. There is nothing wrong with working with pine. Two of my most cherished pieces in my house are made from pine. In my opinion the biggest mistake that I see people make when working pine is trying to make it something that it is not. If you try to make a walnut looking piece from pine then it will always look like a cheap version of a walnut piece. Let a pine piece be a pine piece. Stay will lighter colors stains or just finished it natural and let it be what it is, go ahead and distress it, it's going to get distressed anyway so you may as well start out with it that way.
If you are just starting out then you will learn how to deal with blotch prone woods early in the process and this knowledge will help you your entire wood working life. You are going to learn a lot of hard lessons and it is better to learn them on quality furniture grade pine at $1.25 bd. ft. than on cherry at $5.00 or more a bd. ft.
In most every instance when I have heard of someone getting an incredible deal on lumber, once they got it back to the shop and starting working it they figured out why it was such a good deal. There are a lot of problems that can lurk under the surface. Case hardening, questionable moisture content among others. If this material is bought from a reputable dealer then you have recourse, otherwise you do not. I am not a lumber dealer nor do I work for a lumber dealer, I do however do a fair amount of business with lumber dealers. I have also made furniture pieces from clients wood that was typically log run material, and believe me when someone tells me that they have their own wood I typically add in extra time for having to do extra sorting thru this material to find wood suitable for the project, and in most cases have had to re-dry materials before using it. If you are a seasoned veteran woodworker then you probably know how to deal with these problems, if you are just starting out then you need to concentrate on woodworking and not how to sort out problems with difficult materials.
Ron
Ronaway,
Cheap wood is easy to find.. especially like he was looking for.. He wanted a cheap replacement for sheetrock. You don't need furniture grade dried down to 7% moisture content.. Lumberyards sell 19% moisture content wood. almost all wood at a lumberyard is 19% moisture content.. heck a growing tree isn't much higher!
So if he nails up a whole bunch of boards that are green they will shrink the same as the wood used to frame it..
If you never cut an 8 foot board then you clearly need FAS wood. If you do then there is some real cost savings in the lower grades.. Lower grades does not mean weaker or badly dried wood. it means that there are more visable character marks in it.. Character could mean knots, or it could mean flame or burl..
If you like the boring dull look of straight grain then by all means continue to buy high grade woods.. Myself I love the character of Mill run wood and I especially love the modest prices I pay for it..
Frenchy I think you've got your threads mixed up. There is nothing in the original post that says anything about wood to replace sheetrock, however there is another thread asking about a replacement material for sheetrock. I surely would not suggest that anyone use kiln dryed select grade harwoods to cover shop walls. I was under the impression that the poster was asking about sources for furniture project wood, especially since he stated that his taste exceeded pine.Ron
Ronaway,
Sorry, he posted it over at breaktime first (at least that's where I first saw it) and he was asking about a cheap alternative to sheetrock.. Hence my suggestions..
If you are in a production shop where output means income you can't do several of the things I advocate. I understand that.. Doesn't make you wrong or inefficent..
My suggestions are more for the guy who has too little money to do the things he'd like to do.. I'm one of those guys who refuses to accept the fact that there is only one way to do things.. Part of the "cost" of doing things differantly is your labor.. I'm happy to trade my labor to get stuff I couldn't otherwise get..
A brief example.. The house I'm building right now would have cost me well over 2 million dollars to have built. When finished I'll have $300,000.00 in it and ten years of my life, er spare time.. That means I'm making $200,000 per year for my spare time..
Don't always discount Home Depot for Pine, I got lucky there and picked up some #2/btr that was from SWEDEN and I would have graded it #1/sel. It's always worth checking.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Hey David...you say youre about an hour and a half to some good wood? Even two hours. Big deal...you probably spend more time thinking about it...know what I mean? If you have a real nice project you need wood for...get your list together and make the journey...its all part of it.
Just make the calls then bite the bullet...you'll feel better after you do.
And yeh...I've used skids from tile suppliers that come from SouthAmerica...pretty exotic stuff,,,Skids/pallets rock!!
But to build a substantial project you have to weigh out your time.
Have fun.
andy..
If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
Before you conclude that hardwood is not available around you, be aware that it is not sold at "lumber yards" as you would typically find in the phone book. Lumber yards seem to sell construction grade wood - not marketed to our needs. I searched on the internet, several sites, made calls, and was amazed to find a hardwood seller in the city next door. Big selection - prices similar to the internet prices, but you can see the wood, and pick it up the day you buy. What I'm saying is - look hard before you conclude there is no hardwood seller around.
Good luck -
Dave... If you're going into Charleston, there has to be a number of 'better' wood dealers there. Again, check the phone book. Also, go to http://www.taunton.com.finewoodworking/pages/fw_clubs.asp. This should bring you to a list of woodworking clubs. There should be one somewhere in your area. Go there and talk to the guys and gals there. They will put you on to places you'll never find by yourself.
SawdustSteve New York
If you have a Lowe's or HD nearby, surely you could look in the yellow pages for a local sawmill. With very little effort, I found several in my somewhat rural area, and found one that carries locally cut hardwood, and here's the best part, it's all air dried lumber. Good luck.
Sean
David,
There are a few 'deals' out there, but not many. Two years ago I was offered all the wood from a couple of large walnut trees that a friend was having removed. I arranged for a sawyer to come out and slab the logs for me and loaded up my pick-up. I did not have room at home to dry the wood, so I rented space in a storage center. Not the best place to dry wood, but since we live in a desert and summer days often drop to below 10% humidity, I gave it a try. So far the boards have dried nice and flat.
The 400 BF of rough slabs will probably mill down to half that in good usable lumber. So, let's add this up. $125 for the sawyer, 24 months @ $25 a month for storage - that's $725. Divided by 200 bf = $3.62 per bf. Plus my time, gas, and sweat. I could have done as well on the internet and saved myself a lot of work!
Next time someone offers me "free" wood, I might think before I answer! LOL
As for pine, one of the large home centers in my area closed about 6 years ago and I managed to buy their entire stock of clear pine for 1/2 price. Cost me nearly $900. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Since then, I've built an entire bedroom including window and door trim, 14' of floor to ceiling built it cabinets with 30 drawers, a king size bed with drawers beneath, and two nightstands from the pile and a few sheets of plywood. Not "fine" furniture perhaps, but usable and inexpensive compared to buying at the local furniture store.
So, I'm with John - pine ain't so bad. I got a great deal of pleasure out of working with it, learned a bunch, and provided the LOML with all the storage space she could ask for. ;o)
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Edited 7/12/2006 9:20 am by Rennie
Edited 7/12/2006 9:22 am by Rennie
Well, I will keep looking. I recently found a friend who had a connection with $1/bd ft red oak and cherry, and will saw to my specs. One problem... It's green... But I can't pass it up. I've seen some of the wood he saws, and it ain't too bad.
As far as motorcycle crates... They're metal now. I tried. I thought about calling a flooring shop and asking them for extras if possible... Cutoffs and such. We'll see.
Get it over the internet. Wall lumber has UPS packages that are a pretty good deal. I've ordered from them several times with zero problems. I'm sure there are other sources as well, check them out.
It actually works out cheaper and I get better quality of lumber than going to my one and only local lumber yard.
Awesome... This is BY FAR the cheapest I've seen lumber on the http://WWW.  Thanks.
Hello, When I started, I used spruce 2 x 4's It tought me a lot about jointing and was not to expensive.
Rich
I'm with johnww on this: pine is fine. Moreover, it sounds like you are just breaking into the wonderful world of woodworking. As such, pine is a great place to work on your chops. It's easy on the tools, easy on the pocketbook, easy to get your hands on, and most importantly, it's easy to cut loose when you make the inevitable mistakes. Yeah, it takes stain unevenly, but hey... cherry ain't much better, you gotta fill the pores in oak, etc. Besides, you get a can of Minwax wood conditioner for your pine, and away you go. I'd love to hook-up with the folks who are buying cherry for $1.00/b.f.! I must be in the wrong part of the country. Anyway, best of luck in your woodworking journey, it's a great trip.
Edited 7/20/2006 1:40 am ET by oldgrowth45
The only thing I'd add is that you end up cleaning your blades more with pine, it'll gunk 'em up quick. If you don't watch it you'll be scorching stock.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
I believe I read you're in MA -
Woodcraft & Rockler primarily sell tools to hobbyists. So I am not surprised that their prices on wood is higher than places that primarily sell wood.
My favorite wood store is Highland Hardwoods in NH (50 miles away, with a very impressive tool store a few miles south). But I also find some good hardwoods at McQuaid in Cambridge, MA (they primarily sell moldings, but they also sell wood).
But a totally undependable source of wood at occasionally incredible prices is GARAGE SALES! People unloading old dressers, beds, etc.
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