Where to find/purchase hardwood scrap?

[LASERDOUG]

Hi,

I'm looking to do some inlay/intarsia type work and I'm looking for a source for some various hardwoods, maybe some exotic woods. I'm imagining small pieces of irregular shapes, maybe as small as one square inch and maybe up to 5 or 6 inches. I'm thinking of thickness in the 1/8" to 1" thick range, not veneer.

I have no problem paying something for it ... the reason I refer to it as scrap is because it's not useful for most applications. I will need to purchase at a reasonable price naturally ... but I don't expect anything for free.

I live in Oregon where there is a lot of wood, but almost everything done in mills here is soft woods, mostly fir and cedar.

Can anyone recommend a good source?

Thank you in advance!

Doug [e-mail]

[Rob V]

Go to a local cabinet shop and/or woodflooring place and ask them for some scrap.

Thats what I do around xmas time - makes for some nice cutting board for pretty much nothing.

[Bruce]

On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 10:41:21 -0700, LASERDOUG wrote (in message ):

WoodCraft sells boxes of assorted exotic "scraps". Price is not bad and you get a nice selection. Check out their store or online.

-Bruce

[Pops]

I read an article one time about a guy that goes to cabinet shops and asked to dig through their dumpsters. Probably some small stuff, although probably not much of a variety.

[j]

lumberliquidators.com if there is one near you had a "woodworkers pack"

300 board feet of hardwood including some exotics for $99

[Pops]

I checked out lumberliquidators.com's web site and they are selling 1 1/2 x

25" x 8' butcher blocks for $168.00. They are made of maple. Would this make a good top for a workbench?

Craig Orput Cave Creek, AZ

[Pounds on Wood]

How is the grain oriented? If the endgrain is exposed, as it is in a true chopping block, it is not the best for a bench. A 1.5" thickness is on the thin side as well, but that is a good price compared to the Woodcraft offering here:

Grizzly offering here: might suit you better at a competitive price. Well, hell, the link doesn't work. Search the site for MAPLE WORKBENCH and you'll see the selection. Their search engine sucks, so searching for MAPLE BENCH and MAPLE BENCHTOP does not work.

[Gfretwell]

I paid $215 (after tax) for a 7'x25"x1 3/4" Edsal BB3072 from Grainger so your price is not out of line. I also glued up an 80"x25x1 1/2 using maple I bought from Croffwoodmills.com and I had $173 in the wood and shipping. I have a few sticks left over. Having it to do over again I would have bought them both. I sure didn't save any money making my own. I do think mine is nicer looking. The Edsal is made up of very short pieces with small knots in some of them but it gobbled up a lot of time making my own.

[Jim Wilson]

Drop me an email. I've been trying to figure out what to do with my exotic hardwood off-cuts.

Jim

[Steve Knight]

slice them thin and sell on ebay.

[Jim Wilson]

Dang, Steve! That sounds like work! (G)

Jim

[Steve Knight]

well what if you get 69.00 for 18 pounds?

[Jim Wilson]

Well, then it sounds like a job! (G) You know, working for money? Beats the heck out of just plain work, though, eh?

Jim

[Steve Knight]

it was scrap so it was the byproduct of work (G) but now instead of selling chunks I sell thin wood.