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Thread: Tools? Sure. Lumber? Slow down now.

  1. #46
    Buying in bulk definitely saves money. The two main lumber yards I use have a significant price break at 500 BF. I build "Stickley" style furniture and use QS white oak exclusively. They also have monthly specials on various lumber. They put a big cart stacked with on sale lumber right by the cash register. Needless to say I have lumber and no idea what I'm gonna use it for. But its fun to have it and and the price aint gonna get cheaper. If you have room to store it I say "Go Big".

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    Marty

  2. #47
    I probably have 20k BF of lumber hanging around.

  3. #48
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    I am just a hobbyist with a big pile of interesting wood in the basement. I've decided too late that maybe the right strategy is to just buy wood when you have a specific project in mind, and just enough for that project. Every now and then I'll go to an estate sale or auction where I'll see an accumulation of good wood for sale for pennies, and I don't want that to be me.

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
    I know where you are coming from. Wood is the part of woodworking that I balk at the most, I do still spend good money on good wood though. I don't fully understand it but I think it is a natural inclination, my friends that are not woodworkers don't seem surprised at the cost of machines but showing them a single (gorgeous) wide 10' walnut board and telling them it cost about $150 always seems to floor them.
    . . . and it should be the other way around. Machines, once bought, last a long time. Wood, on the other hand, comes from a living being and, over time, gets rarer and thus more expensive. The days of cheap wood are gone forever.
    Bracken's Pond Woodworks[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  5. #50
    I agree with David.

    But then again I can convince myself “this is a once in a lifetime opportunity” about just about anything when I want it lol.

    I do agree though that lumber is finite and we are passing away our natural resources “me being guilty” with my exotic lumber fetus and that in my life much of this stuff I won’t be able to get at some point and surely not afford.

    We are already there with bubinga suddenly if I say wanted a slab with two live edges to make a large dining table out of. Pretty much $5-8k right now. In another twenty when you find one my guess is I’d never be able to justify it if I can’t justify $5-8K now.

    Bellow is one of three pieces of bubinga I recently purchased. The one on the bottom believe it or not is even better than this one.

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    A3A3D092-5412-48CA-9E53-A02FF5F3C652.jpg

  6. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Helm View Post
    . . . and it should be the other way around. Machines, once bought, last a long time. Wood, on the other hand, comes from a living being and, over time, gets rarer and thus more expensive. The days of cheap wood are gone forever.
    I agree the problem is wood was too cheap for too long like most natural resources wood was very cheap to exploit for a long time then the rarety spikes the price.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Walsh View Post
    I agree with David.

    But then again I can convince myself “this is a once in a lifetime opportunity” about just about anything when I want it lol.
    For the price as well as conservation I have been moving to using more and more shop cut and commercial veneer. While it won't replace slabs I get 5-6 times the yield from a board when using veneer.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  8. #53
    I’m all about conservation,

    Well as much as a guy that’s obsessed with exotic lumber can be. I’m vegan, very green minded, recycle everything try my best to not buy much in packages go through stints trying to grow most of my food yada yada. Point I’m trying to make is I do feel repsoible to mind out resources and fairly guilty about my lumber problem.

    I really am drawn to solid wood construction as I’m pretty into the joinery aspect of the craft. I’m not much into dowels screws glue “even though I use plenty of glue” so I’m not so drawn to veneer work. I do some veneer work time to time at work but that’s about it.

    I do see pieces here and there that are veneered and I am really really drawn to them from a acetic perspective. I’m sure at some point I’ll tire of the work I do in solid wood and need a new challenge and find myself knee deep in veneered work. I should probably save all this crazy expensive lumber I buy for that work lol and stick to ash, walnut, cherry and like for what I’m doing now.


    c
    Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
    For the price as well as conservation I have been moving to using more and more shop cut and commercial veneer. While it won't replace slabs I get 5-6 times the yield from a board when using veneer.

  9. #54
    plant some trees we should all be doing that. Wood is not expensive for what it is and hasnt gone up proportionally to other things in the time ive been doing this to most other things. We should be planting trees, The old guy had walnut trees on his property he had grown from a nut. The old guy that taught him would go into the forest and pick a tree well ahead of time for some project he was going to do. Different time and they had lots of good material aging and drying for years in their shops, not all they needed but lots was there.

    We put all kinds of crap into the ground, the bags from the blue berries on my morning gruel wont dissolve for 3000 years if that. Meanwhile they jump and up and down for an etest on our cars.

  10. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Walsh View Post
    Point I’m trying to make is I do feel repsoible to mind out resources and fairly guilty about my lumber problem.

    I really am drawn to solid wood construction as I’m pretty into the joinery aspect of the craft.
    c
    The thing that turned me around on veneer was the work of Craig Thibodeau. https://ctfinefurniture.com/portfolio/ That coupled with the amazing raw veneer that is available made me rethink using solid wood only. Solid wood construction certainly has its place but the thoughtful and strategic use of veneer can stretch the yield of very special wood significantly.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  11. #56
    Van,

    Thanks for sharing the link.

    At first glance I though “nah this is not my thing” then something caught my interest and I found myself kinda floored.

    As I said at some point I bet I get the bug.

    Beautiful very very creative work.

    Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
    The thing that turned me around on veneer was the work of Craig Thibodeau. https://ctfinefurniture.com/portfolio/ That coupled with the amazing raw veneer that is available made me rethink using solid wood only. Solid wood construction certainly has its place but the thoughtful and strategic use of veneer can stretch the yield of very special wood significantly.

  12. #57
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    Patrick,

    When you feel like you want to nurse the "bug" spend some time looking through the raw veneers on a site like https://www.veneersupplies.com/ and start thinking about what large panels/tops would look like in some of the highly figured veneers.

    Initially, there is a feeling of "I'm cheating" but will likely subside.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  13. #58
    I feel you’re pain but I recognize it from a different perspective.

    I’m mainly a metalhead with a love for woodworking. There is two sides to the coin Price/availability but they usually go hand-in-hand.

    Brazilian dark walnut is absolutely beautiful. It is one of the hardest woods, hardest to manufacture and it’s rare. If you compare this to Pine which you can drop in your own backyard… I guess Pine grows on trees in a way... and you can almost work it with a butter knife.

    This would be comparable to tungsten carbide to mild steel. Almost everybody is willing to pay $40 a pound for tungsten carbide for blade tooth and... scrap them without even thinking scrap price is worth over five dollars a pound (without blinking an eye to tip their tooth cutting applications).

    From an electrical perspectives why use silver or gold contacts... when aluminum is pretty damn good? So is mild steel.

    I would usually reserve the saying for customers… There is Walmart & IKEA… Why did you come to me?
    Last edited by Matt Mattingley; 11-11-2018 at 12:40 AM.

  14. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Van Huskey View Post
    The thing that turned me around on veneer was the work of Craig Thibodeau. https://ctfinefurniture.com/portfolio/ That coupled with the amazing raw veneer that is available made me rethink using solid wood only. Solid wood construction certainly has its place but the thoughtful and strategic use of veneer can stretch the yield of very special wood significantly.

    His inlay is fantastic.

  15. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jacob Mac View Post
    His inlay is fantastic.
    He has done a lot of articles for Fine Woodworking and just released a veneering book which I should have on Monday and it looks to be excellent. A MUST HAVE book on veneering is Scott Grove's book Advanced Veneering and Alternative Techniques. Some of Scott's techniques and results will blow your mind and see things in sheets of veneer you would never have seen before... well at least it did for me.

    I do wish Craig would do a book on puzzle chests and locks. I love how he incorporates them into amazing fine furniture and completely avoids any cheesy or gimmicky feel.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

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