Tools? Sure. Lumber? Slow down now.

[Terry Wawro]

Over the years I've noticed that I have no problem coming up with the money to buy tools, but I definitely have trouble opening the old wallet when it comes to buying the more pricey lumber for projects.

For example, the wife wants a new dining table; preferably made of black walnut. I'm fortunate enough to have a separate shop with nice power tools that total several thousand dollars in cost. I've got no problem with that. Yet I'm balking at the thought of spending the close to five hundred dollars on the lumber to make the table.

Need it made out of poplar? No problem, I'll get right on it. Sheet goods for built in bookcases? Let's get it done. Custom piece out of walnut or mahogany? A frugal part of my brain kicks in and says "Woah woah, slow down there Bill Gates. Lets think this through." And it gets put off.

I think a lot of it is my frugal nature. I almost always will wait to buy something till it's on sale. Tools included. The flip side is that lumber never seems to go on sale. So I put it off and over time it just increases in price.

Any fellow woodworkers wrestle with this?

[Michelle Rich]

yes, and no. Furniture is an investment for what could be life. I am still using cherry/walnut/ curly maple furniture I made over 30 yrs ago. Make something you truly love once. And if your wife desires walnut, and the budget can swing it, it seems to be a slam dunk.

[Van Huskey]

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.

[David Helm]

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.

[Patrick Walsh]

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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[Van Huskey]

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.

[Patrick Walsh]

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

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.

[Van Huskey]

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.

[Patrick Walsh]

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.

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.

[Van Huskey]

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.

[Matt Mattingley]

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?

[Van Huskey]

. . . 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.

[Jacob Mac]

Where I get cheap is maximizing yield from a board and not necessarily picking the pieces from the board that will look the best. I have to constantly remind myself to choose for optimum beauty, not yield.

[Peter Christensen]

I'm going to drive 5 1/2 hours to Edmonton to get 4/4 Black Walnut shorts for $6.70 a bf next week and that's with a friends military discount. Does that make you feel a little better?

[Robert Hazelwood]

At least a dining table is something that is will get used daily, and is likely to last and get handed down. If you get really nice wood, I doubt you will remember or care what it cost in 5 years.