North American wood

[spaco]

Get out of town and locate small to midsize sawmills. I live in western Wisconsin and there is a sawmill about every ten miles or so. Maybe there's a newsgroup for sawmillers and or hobby sawmills. Our closest sawmill buys everything in the woods, finding something to do with it. That was about circular saw mills. There are also lots of band saw mills around. Most of them around here are part-timers, but they saw whatever comes their way, too.

Pete Stanaitis

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Michael Faurot wrote:

[dadiOH]

Because those are in plentiful supply, work well and are durable.

[Michael Faurot]

Try looking at my original post[1] again and carefully read the entire message. Especially the last line. Hell, I'll go ahead and even quote the last line right here:

Or to phrase the question a different way, why is Cherry, Walnut, Oak, Poplar, Maple, etc. what's predominately available?

How do you interpret that to mean I'm looking to buy or acquire lumber from Elm, Willow, Sycamore, etc.?

[1]:

[Michael Faurot]

Well, since I wrote that message, I did some looking around and I've seen some Beech now. It reminds me of Oak, but without the open pores and a little softer. I rather like the look of it myself.

So I guess if I were to see two tables, constructed and finished in a similar fashion, I'd probably opt for the Beech table if it was less expensive and I didn't need the table to withstand a lot of abuse. If this was to be dining table--definitely Maple as that should stand up better to abuse.

[Charlie Self]

Well, life's a wee bit funny that way. When someone asks about availability, it tends to be because MOST someones have more than a passing interest in buying, renting, leasing, stealing or otherwise grabbing hold of at least some of the items they're asking about.

If you don't want it, why do you give a rat's tuchus whether or not it's available?

[Michael Faurot]

[Availability of Elm, Sycamore, Willow, etc.]

That's the general impression I got. People don't know it's out there and there's a certain inertia/tradition that goes with Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Oak, etc. Those issues, coupled with things mentioned in other posts such as disease, workability, ability to cultivate/harvest apparently make these other types of wood less common.

[Michael Faurot]

Thanks for the info on these species. I may have to look for some quartersawn Sycamore--that sounds like it would be interesting to work. I probably won't use it for furniture, but perhaps some boxes.

[Michael Faurot]

Thanks for the reply and to everyone else that has mentioned something concerning this topic. I believe I've got the general picture now about why these other North American types of wood aren't seen as much.

[Doug Miller]

I do too -- and quartersawn, it's really pretty.

Depends on which type of maple. Beech is not as hard as hard maple (sugar or black maple), but it's a *lot* harder than soft maple (usually red maple, sometimes silver or bigleaf). For a dining table, given the choice between soft maple and quartersawn beech, IMO the beech wins, hands down. Hard maple vs. quartersawn beech depends mostly on visual appeal; either one is plenty hard enough for a dining table.

[Doug Miller]

Should work well for that, and you'll enjoy working with it. It works easily, and has a very pleasant spicy odor when machined. Kind of reminds me of nutmeg.

[Leon]

I have noticed that the less known woods are used in the furniture that you find at the furniture store. Typically it is used in the pieces that are heavily stained and have the description of Cherry Finish, or Walnut Finish, etc. If the description of the piece has the word "Finish", chances are that the wood being used is not the type used in the Finish description. A classic example, "Fruitwood Finish".

[J T]

Fri, May 11, 2007, 6:26pm (EDT-1) [e-mail] (Michael=A0Faurot) doth burble: Try looking at my original post[1] again and carefully read the entire message. Especially the last line. Hell, I'll go ahead and even quote the last line right here: =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Or to phrase the question a different way, why is Cherry, =A0 =A0 =A0 Walnut, Oak, Poplar, Maple, etc. what's predominately =A0 =A0 =A0 available? How do you interpret that to mean I'm looking to buy or acquire lumber from Elm, Willow, Sycamore, etc.?

So? Reading it again doesn't change a thing. Still reads like you wanted woods to buy, other then just the ones you quoted.

JOAT What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new humiliations?

- Peter Egan

[Michael Faurot]

The whole point of the questions, for me, was to learn more about other types of North American woods, with the *possibility* that I might ultimately want to use some of these things. I didn't want to buy first, and then potentially learn the species was not suitable.

Because Walnut, Cherry, Oak, is so readily available, it's almost like osmosis to become familiar with them. You see them all the time--so it's easy to pick up information about them. With these other types of woods, because they aren't as readily available to me, I haven't learned much of anything about them.

From what I've recently learned, I may indeed want to use Beech and Sycamore for some future projects. For the Sycamore, I'll want to insure it has been quartersawn. Elm could come in handy as well, but I probably won't find much due to disease. As for Willow, I probably wouldn't want to use any of that as it sounds to be problematic to work with.

[Leon]

Beech is commonly used in the pieces that are sold in discount stores. Typically it is a light colored, closed grain wood. There are a lot of TV tray sets that are made out of beech.

[J T]

Sat, May 12, 2007, 11:12am (EDT-1) [e-mail] (Michael=A0Faurot) doth burble: Because Walnut, Cherry, Oak, is so readily available, it's almost like osmosis to become familiar with them. You see them all the time--so it's easy to pick up information about them. With these other types of woods, because they aren't as readily available to me, I haven't learned much of anything about them.

That's because you didn't try. You'e on the web! Remember? You can find out about almost any wod thee is, in minutes. You 'have' heard of google, right? So google sycamore, pink ivory, or whatever wood you're curious about, and find links that'll tell you all about it. Might want to check out wood toxicity while you're at it. Or, you could just type in something like North American woods.

JOAT What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new humiliations?

- Peter Egan

[Father Haskell]

Beech is hard enough to make plane bodies from, which by design have to withstand abuse, by being dragged over miles of rough lumber and by being smacked with a hammer on ends and topdeck. Interesting that you see more old beech planes than maple if the latter is significantly harder or more stable.

Looks like those old plane bodies were cut from split lumber, which would be even more expensive than QS. Split lumber is the most stable, since the fibers all run parallel to the surfaces.

Both woods age beautifully, with beech taking on a deep ivory color and glow.

[Father Haskell]

Split willow is used for chair caning and basket weaving.

Likewise, chestnut, which I'd give my right foot and left big toe for.

Disease-resistant American elm strains being introduced to the market. HD supposedly bought 5,000 saplings. In 50, 100 years, maybe elm will be as common as #2 white pine.

[Toller]

Thats my point, you haven't seen beech and would be skeptical of furniture made of it. People know oak, maple, cherry, walnut, mahogany, and teak. That is what they will buy, so that is what woodworkers use, lumberyards carry, and sawmills process. I happen to love butternut and ash, but they are tough sells in furniture; people want what they are used to.

[B A R R Y]

Me too, especially ash. Done right, it can really look cool.

[B A R R Y]

I have a purchased workbench of Beech.