I’ve only dabbled with wood in the past but more and more of my projects are calling for it.
I’m thinking 6”x6”x2” bowl blanks are a good size to standardize on for projects and practice.
Unfortunately, I don’t really have the space/facilities to get larger pieces and cut them down myself
I’m wary of practicing on cheaper soft woods because it seems tangential to hardwood milling…not quite applicable enough to be considered good practice but maybe that’s wrong
Maybe I’m overthinking it and the experience from metal working is more applicable than I give it credit for? I just don’t want to go blowing $30 on a piece of bocote only to have it turn to a warped mess or dust
So considering my machining footprint is only ~ 8”x8”x3” and I’m on the east coast, do folks have recommendations on decent representative hard woods that are affordable in precut pieces?
It all depends on what your local lumberyard has, and if at all possible, any wood purchase should start there.
Next-best scenario is to buy at a specialty woodworking store such as Rockler or Woodcraft — in some cases they will source wood locally and make it available quite affordably — my local Woodcraft’s Facebook post from the other week:
I’ll search for a woodcraft near me.
I figure I might get lucky and find a good source for off cuts as well since my work envelope is so small
Maybe the offcut barrels at the https://www.exoticwoodsusa.com/ warehouse have some interesting stuff. It’ll be a trek but I’ll get out there eventually. I’ll report back if it’s promising.
Tyler.
If you are a little more specific in your location, folks might be able to direct you to some good places. If you want to work on figuring out wood, don’t start with expensive stuff. I have done a lot of learning on random scraps. I have played around with construction 2x8 material and other 2x material. Get a straight clear board and just slice it up into stock that fits your milling area, and go to town trying stuff out. There is high variability of the milling ability of that type of material (chip out, stringiness etc) but you can get a lot of learning cheap. And the pieces that don’t come out can go in the fire pit I have done a bit with cedar off-cuts from when I had my back patio redone.
East Coast from mid-Atlantic north has a lot better access to domestic hardwoods. Local sawmills and such.
I would also look for Woodworking clubs (guilds) as well as the woodturning community. Both groups will know the good sources for wood in your area.
John
p.s. on a quick edit–the species of construction lumber varies greatly depending on where you are location It could be SYP (southern yellow pine), Fir, etc. I used to work for a Canadian company and going to Home Depot in Ottawa was trippy, with stacks of Maple 2x4s (not the main construction lumber but they had them available). And the Canadian woods were a lot straigher and clearer (i.e. knot free) than anything I can get down here in Texas.
I get advertisements from Craft Supply USA. They are located in Utah but ship nationwide. They sell a lot of blanks. Woodpeckers also sells wood so check them out. I am sure there are a lot more but I have bought from Rockler at the store in Houston but never ordered wood blanks from them.
Since I retired and moved to deep east Texas 10 years ago I seldom ever buy wood. I am surrounded by wood. I get oak, walnut, pine (yuck), sycamore, hickory, osage orange, mesquite and a few more all for free. I am in a woodworking club and also in a wood turning club. Both of these give me access to wood from the other members. Now it is usually wood that has been slabbed or cut into chunks for turning but it is green. However I have friends with klins and if in a hurry use the kiln or just sticker and stack it up and wait.
as far as tools for cutting blanks, you’d be surprised what can be done with a good handsaw; just cut it oversize (the amount will reduce as you gain experience with the saw) and let the machine square it up.
I would also recommend woodbarter.com. As the name implies, it is a forum where you can buy, sell and trade wood. It is also a great resource for learning about wood and woodworking. This is my first post. I will be ordering the 2x4 5Pro later this week. Looking forward to the steep learning curve.
Fun fact about this book, it’s made almost entirely of wood…
That joke wasn’t very good but this book seems to be. I’ve only had a chance to leaf through it so far but I can already tell it’s going to be my kind of book.
Think, reference manual or technical document on wood as a material. One reason I’ve never really liked woodworking is because it’s more art than science and I’m no artist. This takes that feeling and shoves it far more towards the science side of the spectrum (unfortunately I’m no scientist either )
Thanks for the recommendation @WillAdams it’s sure to be a good read and a great resource
I have done a bit with cedar off-cuts from when I had my back patio redone.
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