Wood source?

[Steven Jones]

This question is like asking for a great fishing spot. But does anyone know where i can get hard woods in the orlando, central fl area besides wood craft. Back home i had conections in fl i have non .

I dont need big pieces, Thanks for any help.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Connections

Open your Yellow Pages to "TREES" where you'll find the guys who get paid to cut and haul them away in your area. They're always happy for some help getting rid of the wood. Give them a nice bowl as a 'thank you' and you'll have more wood than you can turn!

 

[odie]

This question is like asking for a great fishing spot. But does anyone know where i can get hard woods in the orlando, central fl area besides wood craft. Back home i had conections in fl i have non .

I dont need big pieces, Thanks for any help.

Steven........

Woodcraft is an excellent source of wood, if you purchase online. You will not find local woods in the online store.

I'm a little confused as to what you want. Are you looking for local woods that are for sale locally? If so, then Mark has made a good suggestion......contact tree surgeons in your area.

I live in Montana, so hardwoods are in very short supply around here. Because of that, I have to rely on sources on a national and worldwide scale. I have extra expenses for shipping, so this is a very expensive option. This is not a good source for wood, unless your level of expertise is refined to a level that makes expensive pieces of wood a worthwhile consideration. I've paid as much as $200 for one piece of wood that is suitable for a single bowl, and the majority of the best and unique pieces are in the $50 range. For the average turner, this is much too expensive, even after some suppliers give me discounts for repeat business.

Reality check........

Your comment about "where's the best fishing spot", is more right than many people will know......and spot on. This is the reality, because most of us will not tell you their best sources. The last time I did that, the supplier was swamped with orders.......availability went down, and the price went up........so, you must understand and except the truth about the "best fishing spot" analogy. I don't have any suppliers that you can't find, if you dig for them.......so, even I can't really keep my best suppliers a secret from those who do their own "leg work".......

If you are a member of AAW, check the advertisements in the back pages. There are always a few ads there for wood.

Here are a few other sources for wood that will require shipping.............

http://woodbarter.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=7

http://www.amazonexotichardwoods.com/

http://www.choice-woods.com/

http://www.woodfinder.com/ (a lot of links here, check it out)

http://www.texaswoodcrafts.net/



That ought to get you started in finding your own best sources.......

ooc

 

[Rob Wallace]

More connections....

Join a local chapter of the AAW, get together with other members, and develop a wood-swapping network. There are several woodturning chapters in central Florida - to find what chapters are in your area, have a look HERE: http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/LocalChapters.asp
You will gain far more by joining a chapter than just finding wood to turn!

Most of our chapter members here in central Iowa do not have to buy wood to turn (unless they want exotic or other non-native species) and there is usually more than enough wood to go around. There are several chapter members that have chain saws and routinely seek-out and obtain local wood for turning; this is another obvious perk associated with being a member of a woodturning club.

If you ARE a member of a chapter and DON'T have a wood sharing system set up, that should become one of the priorities of your group!

Rob Wallace

 

[Charlie Knighton]

at the upcoming symposium there will several wood vendors, and the vendor area is free admission

 

[Steven Jones]

I have been networking but orlando has a lot of places off the grid just always looking for unique wood sources. I do have a couple of tree cutters that give me a call. I am also going to going the local AAW the next meeting.

Thanks for the info

 

[Laurence Giglio]

I found a local arborist in the Dallas area that gets wood from his tree service and also gets wood from other tree guys that do not have a yard to keep/split/sell it. So he has lots. I call twice a week to see how busy he has been in cutting trees, and then go with the pickup before his round crew splits it for his firewood sales. I give him a bowl or two and even when I pay, I can get 10 or 12 logs in the 20 inch diameter range that each is good for two bowl blanks and a center cut that when split again will make a platter for about 20 bucks. That works out to less than a buck per bowl. Older homes with lots of large growth showpiece trees, he has pecan, pear, mulberry, catulpa, ash, maple, some elm and lots of hackberry. I dont mess with oak, its too much a pita. The drought we have had the past 2 years has caused lots of large maple trees to be cut down. Some to far gone to turn, but then you can still find some that have some moisture in them and not cracked up.