Points of call between L.A and Phoenix / Tucson

[Damon Stathatos]

Youngest daughter (of three) to set up 'camp' at the University of Arizona. We're driving her out Wednesday and I'll have some free time in Phoenix and Tucson. The only resource I know of is Woodworker's Source and I do plan to pay a visit there (Tucson store definitely and then Phoenix perhaps, depending upon Tucson impression).

My 'mission' is to find any interesting wood(working) resources on the trip. I am going to be especially intent on finding Senora Desert Ironwood, if at all possible, either raw or finished product. I've only ever seen one finished piece of it and it was really an unbelievable wood.

Any suggestions as to wood or woodworking resources in general and the Senora Desert Ironwood in particular would be greatly appreciated to begin our new status of 'empty nesters.'

[James Baker SD]

are you heading east from LA on highway 10, or south toward San Diego to pickup highway 8? If you are taking 8, there is a nice lumber yard in Carlsbad, just off highway 5, that has lots of tropical hardwords. Exotic Tropical Hardwoods of Latin America, or something close to that is the name.

[Paul Symchych]

I live right near Woodworker's Source's Tempe store. They have a really nice selection of some of the more exotic woods and tend to be on the pricey side. Quality of wood is uniformly good though.

A place to call before visiting to ask what is available is http://www.azhardwood.com/ in west Phoenix. They have a large facility with some very nice stuff down to picked over near firewood grade. Generally good prices. A while ago they had a large amount of very good looking mesquite at a reasonable price in the 'back' warehouse. Dunno if it is still there and I didn't look around to see what else was back there. Out front is more ordinary hardwoods.

[Damon Stathatos]

Thanks guys, a couple of good tips. I'm familiar with Tropical Exotics in Carlsbad but unfortunately, my route will be east across the 10, so I'll be a ways away from there. Arizona Hardwoods in Phoenix looks to be exactly the type of place I am looking for. I'll give them a call and then visit, probably on our way out of town. Still hoping for some leads on Sonora Desert Ironwood, so if anyone has any ideas, they'd be very much appreciated.

Off topic but also appreciated: Best Mexican food in Tucson???

[Gary Curtis]

Sam Maloof had his workshop near the Riverside area, just off I-10. Though he passed away, I belief they still welcome visitors and show many of his works. In case you aren't familiar with the man, he crafted rocking chairs for 6 U.S. Presidents.

My woodworking club took a tour there about 4 years ago.

[Damon Stathatos]

Yeah, what a great place. They're still there and do tours on certain days of the week. Any woodworker who makes it into SoCal certainly should try to make it out there. That and the Gamble House (Greene & Greene) in Pasadena.

I met Sam Maloof on a class tour similar to yours a few years back. He did pass away about a year ago. Since then, my path has winded more into the woodworking industry and now I have dealings with 'the Boys' there as well. Three of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. You reminded me to dig up my 'old' photo that I took with Sam, about four years ago, and a photo I recently took with 'the Boys' on a recent visit, and I thought that I'd share them.

[James Baker SD]

I met Sam a few years ago when he came down to Palomar College and I was taking a chair making class from Russ Filbeck.

[Mark Godlesky]

You might try Timber Woodworking in Mesa. They are only open on weekdays. I don't know if they have ironwood.

I think you are looking for Olneya tesota, which is native to the southwest. I have one growing in my yard and it is the meanest, nastiest thorny tree I have ever seen. I haven't done any woodworking with it but I do occaisionally prune it. True to it's name the wood is hard and dense.

[Craig McCormick]

I'll second Timber Woodworking in Mesa or his sons store in Phoenix.

[Damon Stathatos]

...I have one growing in my yard and it is the meanest, nastiest thorny tree I have ever seen. I haven't done any woodworking with it but I do occaisionally prune it. True to it's name the wood is hard and dense.

Thanks for the lead on the Ironwood. Where do you live? I'll see you in a day or two?

But seriously, does your tree look like this? I'm pretty sure it is Olneya tesota.

Looks like Mesa may be on the itinerary as well. Thanks for the lead.

[Gene Howe]

Be sure to check out Hood Dist. on Toole in Tucson. They often have a selection of local hardwoods.....what few there are.
And I'll agree with everyone else about Timbers in Mesa. You may be a little disappointed in WW's Source in Tucson. The last time I was there, their supply of local hardwoods was pretty skimpy. The Phoenix stores are much larger and stocked better.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Damon
I've wanted to drop by here for years:
http://www.mesquitedesign.com/index.htm

[Marco Cecala]

Damon;
Call Jeff Larson at Arizona Hardwoods and tell him Marco sent you. 602-233-9663 office 480-452-5791 mobile He has a decent selection of mesquite and sometimes other fun stuff.

[Barry Richardson]

Damon, I have some Desert Ironwoodwood. If you want to stop by, I'm just north of I-10 in Goodyear (just west of Phoenix) my cell is 623-521-0382

[Joe Jensen]

About an hour south of Tucson near Tumacacori there is a big lumber yard that only does Mequite. They have some really nice and some really wide and thick Mesquite, but their prices are really high. It's a fun side trip. Timber Woodworking Machinery in Mesa is fun, they have a large selection of consignment tools, starting with 3HP cabinet shop class up to large wide belt sanders, sliding saws, etc.

http://www.mesquitedesign.com/aboutus.htm

[Casey Carr]

Since no one else has offered anything up in the way of food, I'll throw out El Indio and Micha's. A man has to eat! Not particularly close to the U of A campus, but El Indio is on S. 6th Ave, just south of the 10 right next to a Jack in the Box according to google maps. Zoom in all the way on just the map section and google shows it, for whatever reason, you switch to satellite and the label disappears for me. Micha's is on the corner of S. 4th Ave and E. 39th St. To get there on Google maps from El Indio, follow 6th Ave north a couple streets until you see 39th st, then head east to 4th Ave and it's right there. There's no freeway exit onto 4th Ave, so you'll need to take 6th Ave anyways.

Been a few years since I've lived in Tucson, and don't visit the sister-in-law often enough to know of a lot of options. You get over to Las Cruces, NM and then we'll talk about Mexican food! I believe I could survive on nothing but mexican food and never feel like I'm missing anything!

Oh yeah, GO WILDCATS!!! Lol, grew up about an hour and a half east of there.

[Paul Symchych]

Second the N.M. food. There is very little in the PHX area or in Tucson when I lived there that comes even close to the New Mexican style of food. There is a wonderful sign in a diner in Albuquerque that says "Save the planet. Its the only one with green chili.

[Mark Godlesky]

Damon,

My tree looks something like that. It has only been in the ground about 10 years, The bark on the trunk is rough, but the bark on the branches is very smooth (except for the thorns) and light grey. It gets a small pink flower in the spring and the leaves are tiny.

[Damon Stathatos]

Thank you everyone for your replies. The trip was successful and the youngest daughter is now happily hunkered down at the UofA.

A bit of an unfortunate thing in that I decided to take the better-half's Ipad with me instead of my laptop. For some reason neither I nor the hotel's 'techie' could get it to pair up with their wireless connection. As a result, I did not have the benefit of quite a few of the posts made on Wednesday or thereafter. Darn for that but Parent's Weekend is early in September so I'll have the chance to fully exploit all of the suggestions then. I am particularly looking forward to checking out Tumacacori. Again, thanks to all.

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The Sonora Desert Ironwood search was only somewhat successful. I was able to gain quite a bit of knowledge regarding the wood at the Arizona State Museum on the University of Arizona campus. Apparently, this is the wood that the Seri Indians on the Sea of Cortez use to practice their craft of wood carving. Oddly enough, it's not harvested wood that they use so much but more in the form of driftwood that they gather near their habitat. They have a very unique way of carving in that their carvings must duplicate nature, so no planed surfaces or machines used in the carving, and is the way to differentiate between their craft and now some of the other, local exploitation of that craft. All of this information was garnered from an incredibly nice and informative man at the Museum's gift shop. It so happened that they have Seri Indian carvings for sale in the gift shop and coincidentally had just acquired a largish collection of older pieces from someone who used to be with the University and also involved with the Museum as well (described as a bit of the Indy-Jones type character). I purchased one of their pieces for what I considered a very reasonable amount, probably even less than the raw wood that I would find later on. This was carved sometime in the early 1980'. I selected this piece to purchase because I felt that it showed off the wood grain the best. It is in the form of something such as a conch shell.

I found the raw ironwood at Woodworker's Source in Tucson. The pieces were small and sold by the pound. This is very heavy, dense wood so even a small chunk is pretty (make that really) expensive. Their turning blanks were not in the most pristine condition with a lot of surface inclusions, deep cracks, and the like, so I passed on any of the raw wood there. Apparently, the only desert ironwood for sale primarily comes from Mexico because of our local protections of the 'tree' here. After these two 'exposures' to the wood, I decided not to pursue it as heartily as I had planned because of it's almost identical similarity to a wood that I practically specialize in, Cocobolo. From the examples that I had seen, the two woods are so similar it would be nearly impossible for me to justify the cost differential between the two (cocobolo' not cheap but not sold by the pound, either).

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The Mesquite wood that I saw at Woodworker's Supply captured my interest. Again, because of price considerations and what, at the time, seemed a limited supply of sound boards, I decided to pass. On our way 'out' we stopped at Arizona Hardwoods on the outskirts of Phoenix. Man...the mother lode for 'old arn' lovers such as myself. I thought that I had that 'disease' bad, but I don't even 'hold a candle' to Jeff (the owner) there in this regard. I wish I had known about him before I spent two years building my commercial shop. Again, a really nice guy with the 'old arn sickness' as well as the 'wood sickness.' He had a good stash of mesquite and the price seemed really good (in comparison), so I thought that I'd just sample a few boards to see how they turn out after being finished-out. The graining on the raw wood looks really interesting and I've included a few insets or close-ups to show what I'm referring to. I've never worked with mesquite but have always been intrigued with it, especially since I don't see it much around here (L.A. area). If these do in fact finish out nice, I might pursue bringing in a decent amount here to begin working with it.

Other than that, the food was excellent in Tucson. You can't find Mexican food like that here. I stumbled on a dish, 'Carne Seco' at one of the local eateries and really, can't wait to get back to try that again. We also found a mesquite Steak House that was all you could ask for.

Thank you again for posting, your suggestions will not go to waste and will be fully exploited on my next trip to Tucson in September.