Where is the best place to buy/find wood

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:59 pm

woodhead52 wrote:Thanks for the good suggestions. Chuck thanks for the reminder, MDF. Don't know why that one slipped away.

Do any of you use much pine. I see craigslist ads for free wood, usually pallets or demo'd building wood piles. I'm thinking to just learn with this might be an inexpensive way to start. Thoughts?

Using pallets often turns out not to be "free". If you are going to do that, I strongly recommend that you purchase and use a good metal detector. The cost to replace a good carbide tippedaw blade off sets "free" in a big way.

If you are looking for pine,old construction grade lumber recovered from buildings that are being torn down often yield some real treasures. The metal detector is a must here also.

Garage sales and Habitat for Humanity can also yield some great finds. Again, use a metal detector but be prepared to dull your blades quickly if you are cutting wood (like from furniture) that has been finished. Under that finish you will often find some beautiful lumber but at the price of dull planer blades.

Someone once said that there are no free lunches. There are also "no free lumber piles".

rcplaneguy · Post by **rcplaneguy** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:38 pm

dusty wrote:Using pallets often turns out not to be "free". If you are going to do that, I strongly recommend that you purchase and use a good metal detector. The cost to replace a good carbide tippedaw blade off sets "free" in a big way..

Amen to that, Dusty. A very fast way to ruin saw blades and planer blades. The dirt that is often present is an issue, too.

woodhead52 · Post by **woodhead52** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:27 am

dusty wrote:Using pallets often turns out not to be "free". If you are going to do that, I strongly recommend that you purchase and use a good metal detector. The cost to replace a good carbide tippedaw blade off sets "free" in a big way.

If you are looking for pine,old construction grade lumber recovered from buildings that are being torn down often yield some real treasures. The metal detector is a must here also.

Garage sales and Habitat for Humanity can also yield some great finds. Again, use a metal detector but be prepared to dull your blades quickly if you are cutting wood (like from furniture) that has been finished. Under that finish you will often find some beautiful lumber but at the price of dull planer blades.

Someone once said that there are no free lunches. There are also "no free lumber piles".

rcplaneguy wrote:Amen to that, Dusty. A very fast way to ruin saw blades and planer blades. The dirt that is often present is an issue, too.

Respectfully heard and duly noted gentlemen.

garys · Post by **garys** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:02 am

There is a new high tech device for finding things like this. We call it the phone book. I tried the Woodfinder link above, and it came up with nothing within 250 miles, yet I have one of the best hardwood suppliers just 2 miles from my house. I can get any hardwood or hardwood veneer plywood just by driving those 2 miles.
Try your phone book. You live in hardwood country. Surely you have good suppliers near you.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:09 am

A 'problem' with living in the hardwood forest, is that most folks involved in selling it are not retail sales oriented.

woodhead52 · Post by **woodhead52** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:28 pm

garys wrote:There is a new high tech device for finding things like this. We call it the phone book. I tried the Woodfinder link above, and it came up with nothing within 250 miles, yet I have one of the best hardwood suppliers just 2 miles from my house. I can get any hardwood or hardwood veneer plywood just by driving those 2 miles.
Try your phone book. You live in hardwood country. Surely you have good suppliers near you.

Phone Book, huh. Sounds familiar... Is it a Tablet or a Laptop?

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:54 pm

woodhead52 wrote:Phone Book, huh. Sounds familiar... Is it a Tablet or a Laptop?

A friend of mine sold Yellow Pages ads for many years. This year, she finally had to find a different job. Too many longtime customers told her that the results no longer justify the cost of the ads, and her commissions dwindled.

oldskull · Post by **oldskull** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:01 am

woodhead52 wrote:

So what kind of stores or other avenues to get some wood am I looking for?

Craigslist has a free section where people are giving away dressers, headboards, entertainment centers, etc. some of them are solid wood and some are plywood veneer. That's where I am going to start.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:02 pm

oldskull wrote:Craigslist has a free section where people are giving away dressers, headboards, entertainment centers, etc. some of them are solid wood and some are plywood veneer. That's where I am going to start.

If you plan to clean up much of that kind of wood, I suggest that you first learn how to sharpen your planer and jointer knives and saw blades.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:29 pm

dusty wrote:If you plan to clean up much of that kind of wood, I suggest that you first learn how to sharpen your planer and jointer knives and saw blades.

Or get a metal finder and lotsa finish remover.