Jun 022020
In this month’s issue of Wood News Online, David Jones wrote an article on Wood Resources and the variety of places you can source your wood from to turn into woodworking projects.
Back in 2017, Jim Randolph asked a polling question of “Where do you get your wood?”. Our readers listed a variety of answers that weren’t in the original poll, and with the resources listed in David’s article we wanted to ask this question again 3 years later!
I live in “Forest City” – London Ontario. It got it’s name from all the Norway Maples that line the streets – planted about 90-100 years ago. Their natural life seems to be around 100 years thus there are trees being cut down yearly (depending on the condition of each). I just speak to the Arbourists. They are willing to leave a few lengths for me to chainsaw into handleable lengths. I take them home and cut them into rough bowl blanks or billets and subsequently rough turn them and store them in my crawl space for drying. Occasionally I get some Hard Maple (Sugar Maple) as well. They replace the trees as they are removed.
If you can vote for just one, then you are not a serious woodworker. Just about all of the sources have been used at some point, but nobody sells a block of cherry that is a quarter of a tree trunk, 15 x 15 x 50, or maple that is even larger, or any of the other 10-20 varieties.
Hardwood supplier in Shelbyville, KY called Bagdad Lumber
I have black walnut, red elm, cedar elm, winged elm, pecan, hickory, sweet gum, southern red oak, swamp chestnut oak, bois d’arc, water oak, river birch, persimmon, eastern red cedar, pine, bumelia, dogwood, red maple, red bud, hackberry, cherry, mulberry, hornbeam, hop hornbeam, and a few minor species. All on 11 acres with too few years left.
It depends what I am building as to the source of wood. I prefer reclaimed old walnut from Carlton Fine Woods, but I am also known to dumpster dive.
On line and Windsor Plywood.
I am building guitars and the two tone wood suppliers I have ordered from multiple times is: Allied Lutherie in Shelburn VT and Hibdon Hardwood in St Louis, MO. Both are very knowledgeable and ethical suppliers of tropical and domestic wood for luthiers who are very supportive of their customers.
Most recent project, a mission influenced firewood box for the living room, was built from ipe flooring thrown away by McMansion re-modellers. I like oak, otherwise I could have re-floored a bedroom with what I dumpster-dived.