I went to an auction today where there were thousands of board feet of home cut pine. I had no real interest in it, but had to do something while waiting for the woodworking equipment; so I watched. One pile of reddish 8'x6" boards were about to go "no bid" (they would have been added to the next lot for free) so I put a dollar on them. I figured at that price they had to be good for something. I just planed them. Curly Cherry. And not just curly cherry, but the curl goes in perpendicular directions; would that be quilted? And for $0.05/bf. Admittedly they plane to 5/8" (which might be why nobody wanted them, or maybe it was the funny color) but still...
They are also odd for their color. Even after planing, they are the color of cherry that has been exposed to light for several years. Is that just because they are old and the color has somehow penetrated down? Certainly makes them easier to match up.
They also had a pile of 2x6s there were purplish and heavy. No one got excited about them and they went for a low price, so I figure it was some non-commercial softwood that I was unfamiliar with. Geez, I wonder what they were, and if I missed out on an even bigger gloat.
The equipment was a bust. A Grizzly 15" planer went for $100 less than Grizzly's delivered price, and a crappy 30" long Craftsman jointer went for $230.