EPISODE TWO: Then, this week's classifieds had this ad:
"Door and Window Company Going Out Of Business Sale. Tools, Mouldings. Oak, Walnut, and Cherry Lumber. Exterior entry and patio doors. Many office desks, chairs, lateral files, drawing table, printers, and more. Weekdays only, 8-5. Cash and Carry."
Oh, I thought, this is too freakin' good to be true. Headed over there yesterday morning. The woman running the office says, "You'll have to talk to Ray - he's in charge." But she started telling me about some of the stuff that had already gone, like most of the cherry, and the jatoba that he'd sold already for $3.50 a foot (I nearly cried at the thought of missing that). So I meet Ray, who's the owner. He leads me around shop, just showing me what's available. What's available? Stacks and stacks of lumber. Stacks. Mountains.
I saw TONS of walnut, oak (mostly white) - he showed me a whole industrial cart laden with rift and quartered WO, and about a half-dozen other carts of similar. Most of the lumber of all species was big - he had walnut that had to have been 14 feet long. It was amazing. And it was all at least S3S. A few dozen solid six-panel doors of various woods. Lots of solid wood cabinet doors. A stack of fir in 12-16' lengths and longer at least 8 feet tall. Ipe lumber, mahogany flooring, both for $0.75 /LF. Hardwood plywood, moldings, casings and baseboards in a half-dozen species....my friends, it was woodlust gone mad.
If I had a place to store it all, I think I'd have spent twice what I did, which was too much already - $300. I drove off with a lot of 8/4 white and red oak, about 30BF of 4/4 cherry, and two hard maple slabs, one of which is
6/4"x10"x9'3, the other is 5/4"x12"x6'. Think I might go back for the ipe, since he only wanted 75 cents a foot for it...might even look at that mahogany flooring.Jason