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Thread: Buy first, build second?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Marietta, GA
    Posts
    275
    Oh yeah, I also buy tools with no clear use in mind. That often seems to work out better than buying something I "have to have" that doesn't work out as intended and ends up collecting dust. Router bits........I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of them. Not long ago there was something I wanted to do and I started looking online for the proper bit. I finally decided on the one I needed and before I bought it I checked my spreadsheet. Sure enough, I already owned one.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    There have been times when I made a buy because of a good offer on material that was "worthy" and caught my eye...I still have some wide cherry boards in my rack waiting for the right project that I purchased in the early 2000s. I also have "inventory" of poplar (and a little black walnut left) that was milled on my own property. Really nice lumber can be a good investment if you have the funds when the opportunity arises...prices on nice stuff are not going down.

    But I do tend to source material as needed for projects. And I do keep most of my shorts for utility use or small parts in future projects like you mention.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 02-02-2018 at 6:17 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    New Hampshire, USA
    Posts
    240
    I look to buy in advance and then pick what projects to do next based on the stock I have on hand.

  4. #19
    I usually buy for the project, however I will add a bit extra in case I run into a major defect or screw up and need to remake a part.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Cary, NC
    Posts
    551
    I just bought a length of black limba,8/4 x 13 x96 for platter blanks. I will probably work through it in about a month.
    Joe

  6. #21
    I buy wood (and tools) for the project, never the other way around. Now certainly, if I have a project, I will try to use the wood I have on hand first, but I don't tend to keep wood just sitting around because I just might use it some day. That makes no sense to me at all.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Fargo North Dakota
    Posts
    352
    Not to hijack the thread but does anyone buy flitches? As in the whole tree sliced up.

    I ususally just just buy a bit extra and that becomes my inventory. Eventually I’ll have enough for something. If a good deal comes up I won’t pass it though.
    My woodworking theory: Measure with a micrometer, Mark with chalk, Cut with an ax.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    9
    I do woodworking strictly as a hobby, and with that said, I do a mix of pre buying and buying per project. I've gotten lucky with a few local woodshops getting rid of excess wood at ridiculously low prices (last one was fill a 55 gallon trashcan for $50, and he was generous with what he meant by fill, he had walnut, cherry, mesquite, etc), so I've stocked up on those occasions and wait for a project to come up or inspiration to hit. Other projects of mine have required something that I don't have on hand, so I'll buy for the project. Just depends on the situation. I'm heading a bit out of town tomorrow to pick up a pallet of scrap mesquite pieces, since I've got some to-do's from the wife.
    Last edited by Chris Farmer; 02-02-2018 at 9:19 PM.

  9. #24
    I buy lumber ahead whenever I can. I have bought several lots of rough native walnut on farm auctions. I bought a heaping pickup load of walnut for $150 about 15 years ago and I just came across some boards from that lot that I used while making a bench for my son. Also I have a lot of ash and oak lumber stockpiled. I have a 28 foot truck box pretty well filled up with hard wood lumber. It seems like it is easier for me to build something when I can just go out to my stash and sort through what I have. That way I never think about how much the cost will be. I have to go at least 80 miles to a yard that has a decent supply of hardwoods so I stock up ahead of time. By the way I can always tell when I get into some of the above mentioned pickup load of walnut. It was stored for years in a hog house and I can smell it when ever I run some through the planer. Jared

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
    Posts
    6,923
    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan Cramer View Post
    Not to hijack the thread but does anyone buy flitches? As in the whole tree sliced up.

    I ususally just just buy a bit extra and that becomes my inventory. Eventually I’ll have enough for something. If a good deal comes up I won’t pass it though.
    Bryan

    This was my "learning opportunity". I bought some walnut logs a few years back that were cut into rough, flitched, 8/4 thick slabs. They should be ready this spring to use.
    I have no idea what I intend to do with it all beyond building a bow front tack box. I can build a lot of boxes from what I have, but I only intend to build one.
    I needed non kiln dried wood for steam bending.

    We'll see if I got a really good deal on walnut, or I paid a really high price for firewood.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  11. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan Cramer View Post
    Not to hijack the thread but does anyone buy flitches? As in the whole tree sliced up.

    I ususally just just buy a bit extra and that becomes my inventory. Eventually I’ll have enough for something. If a good deal comes up I won’t pass it though.

    I have bought fresh cut lumber from the same tree several times and air dried it myself. I really found the grain and color match was way better than when I bought off a pile of boards cut from different trees. Presently, I don't have storage available, but sometimes these small band saw guys love to sell green because they love a cash deal.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Carrollton, Georgia
    Posts
    1,815
    Having a stockpile can have a downside. Often times, when I need a fairly small amount of wood for a project or a part of a project, even though I have boxes of cut-offs, expressly for this opportunity, since I have the luxury of lots of lumber on hand, I find myself taking down a fresh board because it's easier. I don't have to dig through boxes of different species of cut-offs. This laziness and wastefulness on my part is often a source of shame for me. ..Maybe if I organized my scraps better . . .

  13. #28
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    black river falls wisconsin
    Posts
    931
    I use to alwice have oak on hand and when needed other wood for project would buy but over last 5 years I have become wood hoarder . Filled up 3 buildings. Need to stop stumbling into deals that to good to pass up.

  14. #29
    I hate having a stockpile of wood. It’s never large enough such that you can use the right wood for the project. I am forever trying to shoehorn what I have into the project.

    I try now to buy what I need. The projects come out better. To each his own.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Marina del Rey, Ca
    Posts
    1,932
    Because my work is customizing yachts I buy and keep on hand mostly surfaced teak and mahoganies in 4/4, plus a little 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4, plus 1/2" teak decking and sometimes some clear fir. Occasionally I will need to buy other species to match specific jobs, like oak, cherry and afrormosia. Plywood I usually keep on hand include teak, mahogany, okoume, meranti, Baltic birch and MDO, in various thicknesses. Always have 1/8" Luann door skins, which I cut into ~2" strips for making patterns using hot glue. Additionally I often have teak and holly plywood for cabin soles.
    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

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