Where to get scrap hardwood?

[Andrew Welch 1977]

Can't afford to keep buying them from woodworker's source here in phoenix. So,
I was wondering if anyone here knew of a
place or type of business where they are willing
to give away the scraps they have left over and
would normally just throw into a bin.

Read on another forum that custom cabinet shops are sometimes willing do that. Has anyone tried and had any success?

Weird question I know. :p

[glenn bradley]

Is there a pro (mass production sort-of) cabinet shop in town? Many already have a way to deal with what they call scraps but I've gotten a couple loads. Usually a friendly conversation with the guys who actually do the work will tip you to what days and what is and is not OK by them.

[David Weaver]

Nothing other than framing scraps from a pole building operation. It's hard to turn those into anything nice, though I think even they have stopped letting people pick through their piles.

Best I can think of (if you have a truck) is to watch the furniture listings on craigslist and wait for hideous tables or other items from the 60s and 70s to show up - they usually sell for barely more than removal cost, and if you have time to deconstruct them, you could get some nice lumber and burn what you don't need.

[Phil Yee]

Have thought of wood from pallets for thin boards :)

[James Farrow]

This reminded me of something that I posted over on a pyrography forum a while ago.
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Was changing the channel and came across a lumberjack competition on TV. Now I normally don't watch this sort of thing. Just not my cup-of-tea. But as I glanced at it they were cutting logs with a chainsaw. I gather a time based event. Anyway, these logs were at least 20" to 24" round and they were using the chainsaws to cut thin slices off the end. Probably have to cut as many as you can in a certain time. The slices were mayby an inch or so thick and these guys really make straight cuts.

So.... a little bell goes off in my mind. Wouldn't it be great to get a hold of the pieces to burn pictures on. I wonder what they do with the pieces after the competion is over.
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They probably have other wood from other events at the end also.

Anyone ever check these events out to see if they can get any wood from them that they are probably going to throw away anyway?

James :)

[Jim Becker]

Search out the cabinet shops in your area and find out what they do with their scraps...

[Al Killian]

Look in the yellow pages for a company that makes doors. Here we have one and they will load your trailer full of scraps free of charge. You just call them and tell them you are intrested in them and they add you to the list.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I deal with a company that distributes car winshields. They are imported from Mexico and the crates have a lot of wood including 2x3 dimension lumber(6 ft long) some 2x4's(3 ft) and assorted other boards. Much is hardwood although I don't know what kind. You have to pick through it but the price is right.

[Tim Malyszko]

Best I can think of (if you have a truck) is to watch the furniture listings on craigslist and wait for hideous tables or other items from the 60s and 70s to show up - they usually sell for barely more than removal cost, and if you have time to deconstruct them, you could get some nice lumber and burn what you don't need.

That's a great tip. There is always so much junk on Craigslist that would otherwise turn into decent stock for other projects as long as the time it takes to prep the wood doesn't negate any savings.

Thanks for the tip.

[Doyle Alley]

Another source I have heard of is your local Kubota tractor dealer. I've heard that their stuff comes from Asia packed on some decent hardwood pallets.

[James Carmichael]

Lumber liquidators used to sell woodworker's bundles $50 for approx 300bf or in some cases gives stuff away, often the pallets are made of the same wood as the flooring. Be careful of nails, though.

[Paul Dwight]

Andrew, I can't help with sources for scrap, but Timber Woodworking in Mesa has MUCH better prices on hardwood than Woodworkers Source. The biggest problem with Timber is that their inventory is very inconsistent. If you catch them just after they have received a shipment of, say, cherry, you can find some excellent stock at very reasonable prices. If you come back three weeks later looking for one more cherry board, you may find they haven't had another cherry shipment and all that's available is the picked-over remains of what you saw the last time. The only thing they replenish continuously is alder. They normally have a decent selection of domestic hardwoods and a more variable selection of exotics.

I've been to Chandler Hardwoods once and I'll go back again. Their inventory isn't quite as large as Timber but the quality seemed much more consistent. Prices were reasonable -- lower than Woodworkers Source but maybe a little higher than Timber. I didn't see a lot of exotics but they had some nice domestic hardwood.

Hope this helps. -- Paul

[Darrin Davis]

How about the dumpsters outside your local high school woodshop? As a high school shop teacher you'll would be supprised at all the hardwood we throw away. It does mentally hurt to throw it all away but at the end of each year if we haven't thrown it away it builds into a pile big enough for a bonfire and is too much to take!

[Joe Jensen]

Also, Chandler Hardwoods south of the Chandler Airport is great. Nice quality and fair prices. Here is a link to a map.
http://www.chandlerhardwoods.com/address_and_maps.html

[Mike Wilkins]

Serious lumber scrounger here. Check with some local cabinet shops, millwork shops or lumber dealers. While visiting Wall Lumber several years ago, I took the contents of a waste can beside the radial arm outfeed table. Contained lots of short hardwoods.
You may also look into pallet dismantling. Hard work for questionable results.
But there can sometimes be a gen hiding under that grime. I have found quartersawn oak, walnut, cherry, and some reddish hardwood from some shipping pallets from India.
And here's a true story for you to consider. When I lived in southwest Georgia, there was a Firestone tire factory that got in a shipment of machinery from a foreign country. One of the maintenance men got the pallets to use as hog pens. They were solid Teak.

[Harold Beck]

I bought a go kart for my son a couple of years ago for Xmas. Came packed in white oak 5/4 x 2". When I picked it up from the distributer, I spent about 5 hours in his parking lot pulling staples out to get the ply off of the oak scraps in his trash pile. He said that I was welcome to all I could salvage as long as I left the pile neater than I found it and didn't put any nails or staples into the gravel of his parking lot. Trash hauler was coming the day after XMAS for whatever was left. Came back the next day (XMAS Eve day) and spent most of the day there. Ended up with ~ 50 - 6' pieces and maybe 100 - 2' to 4' pieces. Part way through I started cherry picking just the QS pieces as I couldn't get through anywhere near all he had.

He told me to come back the next XMAS if I wanted to do it again. Didn't get back, but I still remember and think about it each year and wonder if he still gets oak packing crates.

HB