Official Luthiers Forum!

Ed and john .First ed. I have a really nice table made from western big leaf maple. Back in the 80/s in vancouver I found a guy down in chilliwack selling big leaf quatersawn maple . through the buy and sell newspaper, I drove down there and still have that table put together with white elmers glue. .John , when I moved here to the midwest , I saw hdwd trees everywhere , an decided like you to find some and split them myself with chainsaw and wedges. IMHO , the quartersawn stuff that passes for loofier wood is just another way to get big$$ from folks on a tight budget. Factories pay way less than loofiers, because they buy wholesale and in bulk. I sold some of my logging tools after a hernia operation in 2009 and a back operation in 2010. .But I managed to get some new axes and an electric chainsaw, and if I can, will resaw some vy exotic ornamentals which do turn up here . like yellow wood , boxwood, juniper etc. I get tons of maple, walnut , pecky willow, cherry, Osage, mulberry from a local sawmill.

Nice. Lots of maple around here for sure. Still expensive though...

Back in 1985 I think I paid $1 a bd ft for w , maple , windsor and the other hdwd dealers are so expensive .There was also a lumber store in surrey, that I bought kamloops birch from I think it was .50 cents a bd ft in 1988. Search around there must be some reasonable dealers around ?

I'm sure there are. But then we get right back to time/effort.

A drive to Abbottsford, Chilliwack, marine drive etc. Easily you could burn two or three days rooting through the piles just hoping to hit something useable...

Still fun though...

Back in the day, it was a pleasant weekend drive on a sunny day to chilliwack. Found what I wanted asap. I built a big toolbox from pallet crate mahogany from a motorcycle shop abt 1/2 block from main/broadway. I found in crescent beach a huge cocobollo timber 7 ft long by 8in wide by 4in thick by scrounging and checkng the buy and sell rag.Is there craigslist in vancouver ?/ cheers ed and happy wood hunting.

There is, but there ain't no such thing as pallet mahogany. Remember Braz was once what they shipped valuable stuff on...

BTW it/s P.mahog.or luan used back in the day for motorcycle crates.

I heard years ago that Kubota used mahogany for crates as well.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Back in 1992 in Reno Nevada my brother and I were driving down the street. We saw two large crates with a sign that said free. We went to his house and got his truck. Returned to the place and got one of them. Apparently they were shipping crates from the Philippines made entirely of mahogany plywood. Don't know exactly what specie it was but together we built the coolest doghouse for my dog that you could imagine. It was one piece the crate built into the pallet. Every piece was the same mahogany. Cool find.

Lucky Dog...

To throw a wrench into the works, if you really interested in learning about wood I would recommend getting the Book "Understanding Wood". It has pretty much been the bible of wood knowledge and was considered a required reading from when I started doing wood working in the 80's. Not sure if a better book about understanding wood has been written since.

_________________
https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

I don't really know how to word this but here goes. Back in the early 2000's I worked with a fella I became real good friends with. Well due to the downturn in the economy we all lost our jobs. As the company went out of business. I was old enough to retire so that's what I did. He,however,was on unemployment for a long time. Eventually that ran out. He finally found a job painting lines on the road for the state. Since those days I've undergone many health issues. He has been my handyman as I can no longer do those physical things. I pay him of course. But reading this great thread gave me an idea. How my friend could make some extra money as the state pays him chump wages. I talked to him about this thread. Talked with him again last night he has located 3 Black Walnut trees that he's able to turn into tonewood. He'll just be getting started soon as he scores a chainsaw. I wanted to put this out there to hear the comments. Is there a market for Black Walnut? I know grain and figuring means everything.

Yes there is a market, but there is also a good supply IMO.

Personally I would not recommend doing that if the end goal is to supplement his income.

Just my $0.02

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I don't know Kevin for an old man soon to be drawing social security a little boost in income couldn't hurt. Plus the demand would be somewhat determined by pricing. I thing he wants to sell billets not backs and sides. Figuring the buyer can saw and do with what he wants. I just gave him advice on how to treat the wood. I don't know there is plenty of hardwoods in the area. Plus he's removing the trees at the request of an old lady as they're messing up her swimming pool or growing to close to the house. So he's really doing her a favor. Since he doesn't burn wood to keep warm. It's better then firewood. IMHO