"George" george@least wrote:
Not a big leap from a properly described "European-style steamed beech" to a
middleman or retailer's "European steamed beech."

My big kid says that the prices in Germany are much higher than
Poland/Russia for hardwood.

"Charlie Self" wrote:
George responds:

Well, it's advertisespeak which concerns me. If they really can import
Europe's premier hardwood to Colorado for the same price as domestic
maple
from Michigan, great. My concern is that they haven't.

Well, these guys are pretty reputable folks; I've bought some
equipment and a lot of small quantities of lumber from them. I talked
to them on the phone and they confirm it's actually steamed beech,
imported from Germany. The 4/4 is $3.61 a bf, and the 8/4 is $3.44 a
bf (yeah I thought that was odd but they say the price they charge
depends on the deal and volume they get). They sell hard maple at
$4.09 a bf, but another guy I know that trucks in once a month from
Iowa and sells his hard maple for $3.50 a bf.

Guess I'll build the bench out of 8/4 beech. Now if I can just figure
out how to keep from messing up the tail vise design :-P

For the last year or two I've been using a couple of pieces of 1" MDF
on a 2x4 frame with a metal face vise and a bench hook. It's going to
be really nice to have a real bench.

Thanks for the help, all.