Hmmm. I posted this to the "woodworking" group, but it appears it may
be better situated here.



I'm hoping this is a good location to find a bit of information.

I'm looking for a location/someone where I can purchase smooth wooden
circles, 3
1/2 inches in diameter, and 1 inch high. Higher quality wood is
preferred, walnut, oak,mahogany, etc...
I need a lot of these, IE thousands. My biggest problem is locating
anyone that deals
with wood in this size.
Any ideas on where I can go for something like this?

Thanks,

In article . com,
"ryan" wrote:

Any ideas on where I can go for something like this?

How many thousands? Once ("I need 7 thousand"), or repeating/continuing
("I need 7 thousand every month")? How fast do you need them? Center
hole OK, or no hole? What level of finish do you need (ranges from
"chopped out with a holesaw" through "cut/turned" to "finely sanded")?
Labor, and thus cost, increases as you go up that scale. How precise?
wood disks are only circular at a single moisture content - if you want
"perfectly" circular disks, any savvy supplier will want to know "at
what temperature and humidity you will be storing and inspecting them",
and still needs a tolerance other than "perfect".

Speaking of cost, what were you thinking of paying? If these need to be
a finished 1 inch thick, you'll need at least 5/4 stock to start with,
and can't expect more than 9 per square foot (1.25 bd ft) if there are
no defects (and the stock happens to be a good width for getting things
out efficiently). Actual yield may be less. If "what you are willing to
pay" is too close to "what the wood costs", it may not be economically
sensible for anyone to make these - ie, black walnut looks to be
$8.15/bf from my closest supplier (and that's probably for 4/4 - 5/4 is
often extra), so a buck each would not even cover the wood. You can
probably get whatever "high-quality" wood species and grade you want -
if you're willing to pay for it...

There used to be mills that specialized in this sort of thing ("turned
novelties"), but I don't know if any are still alive at this point.
Several of the ones that used to be local employers in Maine are now
vacant lots...seems to be at least one on-line supplier at
www.craftparts.com, but their disks are not as big as you need, and
likely not so high-quality either.

As a turning project, its rather boring (ooh, making hockey pucks!), but
if you were paying enough to make it worthwhile there might be some
folks here who'd be interested.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Here are a few links that come up on a search for "wood turnings".

http://www.osbornewood.com/

http://www.smithwood.com/

http://www.tapeease.com/wood_turngs.htm

http://www.bearwood.com/

Wanna tell us about the application?

B.



"ryan" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hmmm. I posted this to the "woodworking" group, but it appears it may
be better situated here.



I'm hoping this is a good location to find a bit of information.

I'm looking for a location/someone where I can purchase smooth wooden
circles, 3
1/2 inches in diameter, and 1 inch high. Higher quality wood is
preferred, walnut, oak,mahogany, etc...
I need a lot of these, IE thousands. My biggest problem is locating
anyone that deals
with wood in this size.
Any ideas on where I can go for something like this?

Thanks,

Wow, Buddy. Great links.

Robert