Wood source question...

[Steve Paxman]

All,

I'm wondering what kind of place I need to contact to get hardwood scraps and cut offs pretty cheap or free. I'm going to be getting into some wood CNC projects, and I'm hoping to just be able to have a bunch of random shapes and sizes and species to make small plaques, desktop name plates, whatever. How do I find a cabinet shop, or a saw mill, or whatever to get stuff easily? Obviously, I can just go to my local hardwood limber store and pay through the teeth, but I want to become an insider and work the system better somehow. ;)

Any tips?

[Yonak Hawkins]

There's a discussion on another site about what do do with wood scraps. One responder offers to pay for postage to ship boxes of scraps to him. Maybe you could do something similar.

[Cody Colston]

A local cabinet shop is probably your best bet. They should be listed in the yellow pages.

You could also post on craigslist that you are looking for hardwood scraps/shorts. I burn enough hardwood scraps to keep you in stock and I'm sure other sawyers/woodworkers do, too. Hopefully one would respond to your craigslist post.

[Enrico Caruso]

I get barrels full every year (used for firewood kindling) from a relatively large local lumber yard/milling shop where they make molding, flooring and during their processing the scrap pieces are thrown into wheeled gondolas which you can roll outside the buildings and empty into your vehicle, and they also have conveyors that deliver the smaller scrap pieces through the building wall and drop the scraps into holding pens at the side of the building from which you can pick up these scraps and put them into your vehicle. See if you have any similar dealers in you area. I am located near Hudson, OH.
Rick

[David Ragan]

It always helps to put more information in your profile, especially your location.

See if you can get to know folks who clear land, have stair building companies, cabinet shops, etc.

Construction sites might be good for long scrap stuff-as long as you have the builder's permission.

[glenn bradley]

Agree that knowing where you are will get you better answers. As Yonak mentions, many of us have more scrap than we can burn and some may be willing to drop it at the post office if you paid postage. I assume "paying through the teeth" is a relative term. Around here $2 to $8 a board foot is normal for domestic hardwoods depending on species. A big board of hard or soft maple for around $4/bf seems a lot easier to swallow than driving around looking for scraps or paying to have them mailed to you.

[Art Mann]

Your options depend heavily on what other woodworking tools you have. For example, I never buy wood from a lumber yard. I buy from a guy who runs a sawmill specializing in high quality hardwoods for individual craftsmen. I found him on Craigslist. The wood is slow kiln dried, rough sawn and skip planed to reveal the grain. As a result, my raw material is very inexpensive compared to lumber yards or big box stores. But, it does require a jointer to flatten and straighten the edges and a planer to machine to the correct thickness. If you don't have this kind of equipment, you may be able to get with a woodworker like myself near you who would be willing to work with you.

One thing I would like to advise. Don't cheat yourself by using low quality materials. I started out by carving scrap, salvage wood and low value pine. The results were mostly disappointing and the experience was frustrating. I finally decided my time and the router time was worth more than that.

[Scott Cenicola]

I buy from a guy who runs a sawmill specializing in high quality hardwoods for individual craftsmen. I found him on Craigslist. The wood is slow kiln dried, rough sawn and skip planed to reveal the grain.

Hey Art, how deep in the south are you? I'm in Tampa and would love to find someone like that.