"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...

pyotr filipivich wrote:


I picked up a couple dozen 4'x8' sheets of Lauan plywood from a
local
company that repairs large truck & trailer bodies. They get roll
up
doors & parts bolted to them, but there is a lot of good clear
lumber
left for my projects. I picked it up for free, and someone else
paid for
the gasoline.

I got some mahogany 2x3 from a shipping crate. Plus a fair
amount
of presawn thin oak boards from the pallet collection. Real nice
for
use in making small jewelry boxes and the like. Also scored a
couple
skins of 3mm ply - but most that's been used for is to make a
"costume" for a guitar in a school play.
My "No! Really?" moment was pricing 4x4 at Lowe's - I'd
scored a
dozen or so, in eight to fourteen foot lengths, from the shipping
department's scrap bin. Used to ship AL billets. What they wanted
at
the store, highway robbery!


I like the 12' x 4' crates they ship bulk plate glass in. Two nice
13' 2x12s and a bunch of other good lumber.


I built two sheds out of ~4"x3"x10' hardwood stringers from the
pallets that kitchen counters come on. A 4' wrecking bar disassembles
pallets fairly easily.

Sometimes the big box store managers will give me a good price on
plywood damaged in shipping, like $8 a sheet for thin oak, when I had
gone in to buy Lauan underlayment to make small cabinets.

It bothers me to see useable stuff sent to landfills.
jsw