Replies

1. 
   QCInspector | Jul 14, 2008 09:13pm | #1

   Scrounged! You left out scrounged.

1. 
   Lataxe | Jul 15, 2008 02:02am | #2

   Q,

   Yes indeed (although I would call it "buttering up the wood fairies").

   It would be very interesting to hear scrounging stories and what was got.  I won't  bore you with my woodfairy tales again.  :-)

   Lataxe

1. 
   fagbait | Jul 17, 2008 03:21pm | #11

   My best find was a drive through a neighborhood one day and there in front of a house was a monster pile of 1950's criteria Knotty pine. Complete with tongue and groove and many nails sticking out all over. Anyway the free sign caught my eye and load up I did. Got it home, pulled all the nails, straight lined all the tongue and grooves off of it. And skim planed the old varnish off. It was long process, but lumber is lumber, and all lumber needs a home and someone to care for it. ( I do run a foster care shop for unwanted lumber. Send your unwanted and uncared for lumber to me Ha Ha) I built two nice book shelves with the find. One for my daughter and one for my wife. I think the yield was about 400 bd ft.

2. 
   Biscardi | Jul 15, 2008 02:32am | #3

   All,

   I keep an eye out in those Free trading postmagazines. Occasionally you can find good buys from people who need to/want to get rid of some wood.

   I also have a buddy who buys shorts from the local lumberyard. He only picks out clear straight boards with pretty figure. I usually try to get some of hisstufffor presentation boards/special projects. It is pricier but well worth it and very little waste.

    

   Frank

3. 
   turnertoo | Jul 16, 2008 11:07pm | #4

   Have my own portable saw mill.  I have the word out that  I buy speciality logs or trees like walnut, cherry, tigermaple, butternut, white oak,  burls.  Keep the pick of the sawn boards,  sell the rest.  

4. 
   tendonitise | Jul 17, 2008 02:03am | #5

   I bought my own sawmill and havested about 8000 Bd Ft from storm trees people want to get rid of; free. Cherry,white oak, red oak, ash and maple; all free. I field dress it into 13" square x 8' lenghts to load it; then onto home and into quarter sawn boards.Oh my aching back! For the past 4 years all I've been doing is mill work and air dry. Now i need to build a dry shed to hold it. Furniture is the goal for retirement. Thanks, Quartersawn Man

   Ps just trying to figure this out; how to post it? Oh the heck with it , I'll just go saw some more boards! Thanks, QTRsaw Man in Ohio

1. 
   BioHaz1906 | Jul 18, 2008 05:23am | #12

   What part of Ohio?

1. 
   tendonitise | Jul 29, 2008 05:27am | #23

   I'm 10 miles west of Mansfield, East of Galion. Storm trees I'm on the look out for after the high winds a few years back, Lots of Cherry trees took a beating down by Clearfork.

   Thanks, Dan

5. 
   user-110989 | Jul 17, 2008 03:47am | #6

   Here in Northern Oklahoma there are no saw mills that sell publicly.  The lumber yards carry red oak.  There is a Community College that will order wood for you but you have to either work for the college or enroll in a night woodworking class.  I am employed at the college so I buy from the college rough lumber when I need it. 

   ~Bob~

6. 
   toolszeke | Jul 17, 2008 05:28am | #7

   I have been real lucky buying lumber at auctions, In my area I have been to several farm auctions and estate auctions.  last week I was able to purchase about 400 bf of cherry for $80.   It was in the rough and air dried for years.  When I planed it down their was no sap wood at all. Good advise but if you see me at the auction please don't bid against me

7. 
   Tinkerer3 | Jul 17, 2008 05:47am | #8

   I haven't built a whole lot of stuff but the wood that I have are have used has been mostly home grown or from a local auction.  I will get anyone I can find to saw it.

8. 
   heron | Jul 17, 2008 12:29pm | #9

   About 40% my lumber is purchased from a lumber supplier (rough sawn) and the remaining I cut myself from trees grown locally, and air dry timber over the years.

   I use the Logosol M7 and Stihl saw to cut the wood - more information here http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi/English/timbercutting2.html

9. 
   9619 | Jul 17, 2008 02:52pm | #10

   David,

   "Buy wood".
   I don't understand the concept.
   The woods are full of it.

   Green woodworking is the way to go.
   It is too bad that us green woodworkers are discriminated against by things like this poll.

   I call on all green woodworkers to "UNITE".
   We are people too.
   We have rights.
   Just because we get our wood for free, it doesn't mean we should be discriminated against.
   Of course, maybe the rest of your guys are just jealous.

   "Buy wood." It has such an unpleasant sound. We don't buy air. We just breathe it. Why should we buy wood?

   Have fun.
   Mel
   PS An apology to green woodworkers would be nice!

   Measure your output in smiles per board foot. 

10. 
    BillyChambless | Jul 18, 2008 05:49pm | #13

    I picked the first option, but only because "all of the above" wasn't an option. Most of the lumber I've used in the last few years has been oak and maple that I milled myself after Katrina, but I did just buy some s2s cherry and basswood from a local dealer.

    
    

    ---

    Edited 7/18/2008 10:53 am ET by BillyChambless

11. 
    JeffHeath | Jul 18, 2008 09:24pm | #14

    David

    You left out the choice of milling the wood yourself from a log.  It's the best, and usually the cheapest way of controlling the lumber and the project, from start to finish.

    Jeff

12. 
    vm7882 | Jul 19, 2008 02:54am | #15

    over the years I have collected quite a large supply of midwest(Ohio) hardwoods by acquiring logs from neighbors, and friends and having them sawn into boards. I have also found some good deals at estate auctions. I once bought 400 bf of black walnut in 10-12 inch by 10 foot boards for one dollar a board foot.

13. 
    cherryjohn | Jul 19, 2008 11:24am | #16

    I have this "buddy" with a bandsaw mill.  He gets the wood no one else wants but a lot of cherry , oak and maple and some walnut ( not much of that here in NH).  Half the fun of buying this stuff,all air dried as walnut and cherry should be, is the negociations.  We have been negociating for about 14 years now.  The price is cheap and the wood, while not furniture grade stuff makes good accent furniture and small items.  The cost of the wood is a small part of the overall cost of what I produce but going up to see him and listening to him tell me how beautifull this POS hunk of almost rotting wood is makes my day.  So I buy it and sell it as wood with character.

    Wicked Decent Woodworks

    (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

    Rochester NH

    " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

14. 
    woodhacker | Jul 19, 2008 03:44pm | #17

    I mill and dry my own. Much of the raw material comes from my own wooded acreage where I salvage dead or damaged trees. Also have a friend who's in the tree service business and drops off logs that he thinks I could use. One problem that I've got now is that my storage racks are full, with a selection of walnut, cherry, maple, hackberry, birch, red elm, hickory, catalpa, basswood, butternut, and oak.

1. 
   cherryjohn | Jul 20, 2008 05:10pm | #19

   some would call that a high class problemWicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

1. 
   Ebayjunkie00 | Jul 21, 2008 06:58am | #20

   I would say, "RMillard", that should classify as phone order.
   I would love to get my hard wood from a source other than a 'home center'. It's expensive and us usually get the bottom of the barrel. Anyone know of another source in Vancouver WA, or close? Tigard OR has a "Woodcraft", but I'm hoping for closer yet!
   Thanks, Todd

1. 
   cherryjohn | Jul 21, 2008 01:31pm | #21

   Im about as far from Vancouver as you can get without getting your feet wet.Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

15. 
    RMillard | Jul 19, 2008 04:24pm | #18

    99.9% of my lumber comes unsurfaced from Groff and Groff via a phone order, which doesn't fit into any of the catagories.

    Rob Millard

    http://www.americanfederalperiod.com

     

16. 
    ClarkCustoms | Jul 22, 2008 02:18am | #22

    As a rule I havn't had to buy any lumber for many,many years. All my projects come from recycled materials that we get from taking down unwanted buildings.  I've seen adds in our local papers through the years with people advertising to try and sell their old unwanted buildings,Its been my experience that i'll give them a call and give them my name and number and (most importantly references from others that i've cleaned up for)I let them know that if they don't get much interest in their building then give me a call and I'll clean it up for the materials for the materials. But I'll never pay any $$$$$ for the materials,Its not that i'm trying to take advantage of anyone,it's just with the price of fuel and labor costs it would't pay for a small business owner such as myself to pay for the buildings.

     We take the buildings down in the summer months,clean up and stock the lumber then in the winter months we use the material to create the projects.

     We've built everything from kitchen cabinets,flooring,gun cabinets to complete trim moldings.

     As of the first of last month we have 22 old buildings to take down,9 of which were listed for sale in the papers but we ended up with them.

    Sincerely,

    Jim at Clark Customs 

     

1. 
   Sandtazam | Jul 29, 2008 05:39am | #24

   I buy most of my solid stock at Woodworkers Source but I buy almost all my veneer from Joe woodworker at veneersuppllies.com. Most of my work is segmented turning and Humidors or jewelry boxes.  I do want to build my own furniture as well.