how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

was fishing through all my wood looking for just the right pieces
and realized i probably have a solid year's worth of wood for making
things

that is probably a low ball
but i have to make sure i always have wood for things

i have taken wood and made nice things that 95% of non-woodworkers
would throw out or use for firewood

it is fun to chuck up some god awful scrap into the lathe and see
what becomes of it

the relatives were practically fighting over a manzanita vase

i rescued it from a fire pit in the early hours
it was so hard it didn't smolder and turn to ash like everything
else had

it is the only burnt wood i have turned

i am not sure if they liked the stry behind the vase or the vase more

I have some wood that is over 50 years in my holding. Still curing.
I have some Bois D'arc (Horse Apple) less but nearly that time. It was
Turned from a limb and left in rough cylinder awaiting drying and a
task. The other wood was Iron Wood from the South Pacific.

Lots of this and that. I'm into metal as well, have exotic and common
steel and Al, Cu, Bronze, Nickel and Stainless Steel.

I have double of the trouble...

Martin

On 5/16/2015 10:29 PM, Electric Comet wrote:

how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

was fishing through all my wood looking for just the right pieces
and realized i probably have a solid year's worth of wood for making
things

that is probably a low ball
but i have to make sure i always have wood for things

i have taken wood and made nice things that 95% of non-woodworkers
would throw out or use for firewood

it is fun to chuck up some god awful scrap into the lathe and see
what becomes of it

the relatives were practically fighting over a manzanita vase

i rescued it from a fire pit in the early hours
it was so hard it didn't smolder and turn to ash like everything
else had

it is the only burnt wood i have turned

i am not sure if they liked the stry behind the vase or the vase more

Electric Comet wrote in news:mj924g$hao$2
@dont-email.me:


how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

If measured in how fast I think I'm going to do things - years.

If measured by how fast I actually do things - even more years.

(I've got around 300bf of lumber, mostly cherry and maple).

John

On 5/16/2015 11:29 PM, Electric Comet wrote:

how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

was fishing through all my wood looking for just the right pieces
and realized i probably have a solid year's worth of wood for making
things

that is probably a low ball
but i have to make sure i always have wood for things

i have taken wood and made nice things that 95% of non-woodworkers
would throw out or use for firewood

it is fun to chuck up some god awful scrap into the lathe and see
what becomes of it

the relatives were practically fighting over a manzanita vase

i rescued it from a fire pit in the early hours
it was so hard it didn't smolder and turn to ash like everything
else had

it is the only burnt wood i have turned

i am not sure if they liked the stry behind the vase or the vase more


That depends on the project.
I have wood for about 3 to 4 years, but one project can exhaust one type
of wood b4 I am done with the project.

I had 100bd ft of white oak,
75 of maple
25 of cherry
30 of walnut
20 of aromatic cedar
25 of poplar
30 of pine

next thing I knew I was down to 5 bd ft of white oak, cleared out the
maple and poplar... so you never know.
it's project based.


--
Jeff

On Sun, 17 May 2015 14:09:10 +0000, John McCoy wrote:

If measured in how fast I think I'm going to do things - years.

If measured by how fast I actually do things - even more years

Same here - but I'll add that my wife will be selling wood after I'm
dead :-).

On 5/16/2015 10:29 PM, Electric Comet wrote:

how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

was fishing through all my wood looking for just the right pieces
and realized i probably have a solid year's worth of wood for making
things

that is probably a low ball
but i have to make sure i always have wood for things

i have taken wood and made nice things that 95% of non-woodworkers
would throw out or use for firewood

it is fun to chuck up some god awful scrap into the lathe and see
what becomes of it

the relatives were practically fighting over a manzanita vase

i rescued it from a fire pit in the early hours
it was so hard it didn't smolder and turn to ash like everything
else had

it is the only burnt wood i have turned

i am not sure if they liked the stry behind the vase or the vase more



Years of wood but never enough for the next piece of furniture.

On Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 10:33:42 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage

For me, that's a loaded/odd question, in that, my circumstances are not likely the same as with others, here.

Probably/Maybe, unlike many of you, I have/I've made the space for storing my cache. Since high school, I've salvaged lumber from many sources, not that I had a project or some projects in mind, but that I saw the aesthetic value of old lumber (and also old bottles, old furniture/pie safes/cupboards, old tools, old architectural hardware & certain trims/corbels/features, etc.). I salvaged & collected when & while the opportunity was good.... and convenient. In the past, my collecting, also, consisted of unusual stumps, root balls, limbs, conks (burls), driftwood and other natural forms.

I did do lots of projects with what I collected, as I collected. I didn't just "collect"! The cache grew faster than I could use it. I'm lucky to have or to have made the space to store it.

Most of the salvaged lumber came from old houses, barns, etc., many of those originally built in the 1800s. I've salvaged many hurricane-downed trees and had them milled.... I disliked seeing all those trees/logs hauled to the landfill, so I rescued selected ones. The latest walnut trees, I've had milled, was salvaged from some land-clearing, at the farm. A salvaged cypress scab (side of an old sinker log), about 16" thick, 6' wide, 23' long) was milled for door & window facings. About 5 yrs ago, I inherited a generous cache of lumber. I probably salvaged 50% to 60% of the construction supplies (among other goodies), from local construction job dumpsters, for remodeling my shop, .... *I collected more than enough 5/8 decking to re-deck the whole shop roof, about 900 sq ft!

These days, after all that work, collecting, I'm almost too tired and lazy to get out there and do some projects. I usually calculate what's needed, for a project, then get the nephews to come in and do the muscle work, etc.. I do most of the "fine"/patient-required/skilled detailed work, that the nephews don't have the patience and/or skills (yet) to do..... *not that I have great skills, to brag about.

I've never calculated, but I estimate 30K bd ft: Of cypress, walnut, white-red-live oak, red maple, cherry, pecan, ER cedar, Spanish cedar.... should last me/us a few years.

I can't recall the last time I bought lumber for a specific (hobby/"domestic") project. I have bought shop remodel/construction supplies: T1-11 siding, facia boards, 1/2" CDX (for the interior sub-walls), 2X10s for making beams, and the like. I have a standby cache of 3/4" cabinet ply, some 1/2" CDX and some 1/4" & 3/8" luan, for whenever/whatever(?) needed.

I improvise with project design(s), also, and some of my projects have impressed folks, as well, probably similarly as with your fire pit vase.

Sonny

Simple answer -- never enough. I probably have less than 50BF on hand at any one time. Mostly a factor of space. One thing I've learned -- keep the scraps. I always seem to have a little project that calls for a few pieces out of the scrap bins. Just completed a 3-bottle wine rack from a couple of odd pieces of hard rock maple and walnut.

Larry

On 5/18/2015 11:25 AM, Sonny wrote:
timate 30K bd ft: Of cypress, walnut, white-red-live oak, red maple, cherry, pecan, ER cedar, Spanish cedar.... should last me/us a few years.

I can't recall the last time I bought lumber for a specific (hobby/"domestic") project. I have bought shop remodel/construction supplies: T1-11 siding, facia boards, 1/2" CDX (for the interior sub-walls), 2X10s for making beams, and the like. I have a standby cache of 3/4" cabinet ply, some 1/2" CDX and some 1/4" & 3/8" luan, for whenever/whatever(?) needed.

I improvise with project design(s), also, and some of my projects have impressed folks, as well, probably similarly as with your fire pit vase.

Holly crap, 30k bd feet.
I knew you had a lot, just didn't know how much..

You da man!!!

--
Jeff

how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage
alright not even in cordage

No clue really as it's spread out over several different locations.
Doesn't matter because hubby said I am forbidden to get more.
I guess that is too much? LOL!

On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 11:25:41 AM UTC-4, Sonny wrote:
On Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 10:33:42 PM UTC-5, Electric Comet wrote:
how much wood do you have/keep on hand measured in months or years
not board feet or tonnage

For me, that's a loaded/odd question, in that, my circumstances are not likely the same as with others, here.

Probably/Maybe, unlike many of you, I have/I've made the space for storing my cache.

....snip...


I can't recall the last time I bought lumber for a specific (hobby/"domestic") project. I have bought shop remodel/construction supplies: T1-11 siding, facia boards, 1/2" CDX (for the interior sub-walls), 2X10s for making beams, and the like. I have a standby cache of 3/4" cabinet ply, some 1/2" CDX and some 1/4" & 3/8" luan, for whenever/whatever(?) needed.


Sonny

So, if I'm reading this correctly, the only wood you've bought is the wood required to build the storage space for the wood that you got for free. ;-)

On Mon, 18 May 2015 08:25:37 -0700 (PDT)
Sonny wrote:

For me, that's a loaded/odd question, in that, my circumstances are
not likely the same as with others, here.

for me it is simpler to think in terms of length of time until the wood
is used up

i have lots of odd shapes and lengths/widths so hard to measure in any
other way

I did do lots of projects with what I collected, as I collected. I
didn't just "collect"! The cache grew faster than I could use it.
I'm lucky to have or to have made the space to store it.

nice to have room to collect
i could easily collect too much and right now i am on hold for getting
any more


what's needed, for a project, then get the nephews to come in and do
the muscle work, etc. I do most of the

good to hear that younger folks are still finding interest in wood

those co ops i mentioned in other thread are popular for the younger
and more mobile


cedar.... should last me/us a few years.

a few years is a good buffer
i think when i get down to a few months worth i will start looking
again


I can't recall the last time I bought lumber for a specific
I have bought shop remodel/construction supplies: T1-11 siding, facia
boards, 1/2" CDX (for the interior sub-walls), 2X10s for

yep sometimes there's no way around buying wood


I improvise with project design(s), also, and some of my projects

improvising can be half the fun and is more interesting for me
keeps the boredom away

On Mon, 18 May 2015 11:07:18 -0700 (PDT)
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

Simple answer -- never enough. I probably have less than 50BF on

like clamps

hand at any one time. Mostly a factor of space. One thing I've
learned -- keep the scraps. I always seem to have a little project
that calls for a few pieces out of the scrap bins. Just completed a
3-bottle wine rack from a couple of odd pieces of hard rock maple and
walnut.

i agree and keep most of my scraps
tool handles and all the other little things you can turn on a lathe

On Sun, 17 May 2015 11:13:42 -0400
woodchucker wrote:

That depends on the project.
I have wood for about 3 to 4 years, but one project can exhaust one
type of wood b4 I am done with the project.

you ever do a project just based on stock at hand

i am in that mode
no one has come to me with a commission and i think that i like it that
way
of course if someone did i would probably stunned

i am going to try to exhaust what i have and when it gets low i will
get a little more based on what generated interest

On Sun, 17 May 2015 14:09:10 +0000 (UTC)
John McCoy wrote:

If measured in how fast I think I'm going to do things - years.

If measured by how fast I actually do things - even more years.

(I've got around 300bf of lumber, mostly cherry and maple).

i have a tiny bit of cherry
it is nice

to get motivated i just start doing something/anything and then i get
going
gathering momentum i guess

Electric Comet wrote:

to get motivated i just start doing something/anything and then i get
going
gathering momentum i guess

For me - to get motivated, I have to "think about it" for a few years
first...

--

-Mike-

Electric Comet wrote in news:mjijk1$j7h$7
@dont-email.me:

i have a tiny bit of cherry
it is nice

Cherry is my favorite wood to work - it's hard and tight-
grained, so makes nice edges and profiles, but at the same
time it's not so hard that working with hand tools is
painful. Plus it finishes up beautifully with a little
linseed oil to bring out the color.

Walnut has similar properties, but the dust from cutting
or sanding it irritates me (it's a known lung irritant),
so I don't hardly ever use it.

John

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 2:33:11 PM UTC-4, Mike Marlow wrote:
Electric Comet wrote:

to get motivated i just start doing something/anything and then i get
going
gathering momentum i guess

For me - to get motivated, I have to "think about it" for a few years
first...


It's worst when the motivation comes easy and the work starts, then various factors slow you down and the project stalls. My winter kitchen project is suffering from that right now.

Equipment (and expertise) issues slowed me down and now spring has sprung. I've got a lot of door frames cut and organized, almost ready to be glued up, but now there's landscaping to do, a stoop that needs some work, daughters to move as they change colleges, etc.

It's tough to walk past all that wood on the way to the backyard, but I'd rather be outside than in the shop.

John McCoy wrote:


Walnut has similar properties, but the dust from cutting
or sanding it irritates me (it's a known lung irritant),
so I don't hardly ever use it.


You're singing my song here John. I love walnut. I've never noticed any
irritation when working it, and I just love the look and feel of it as it
finishes.

--

-Mike-

"Mike Marlow" writes:
John McCoy wrote:


Walnut has similar properties, but the dust from cutting
or sanding it irritates me (it's a known lung irritant),
so I don't hardly ever use it.


You're singing my song here John. I love walnut. I've never noticed any
irritation when working it, and I just love the look and feel of it as it
finishes.


I agree, walnut (and cherry) is beautiful and a joy to work with.

I've 25bf of dalbergia nigra that I'm holding for just the perfect
project. I've been holding it since the early 80's, and it
is not possible to acquire more.

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 11:01:54 AM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

So, if I'm reading this correctly, the only wood you've bought is the wood required to build the storage space for the wood that you got for free. ;-)

No. For hobby type projects or projects for friends and relatives, I haven't had to buy lumber in years. I've used what I had, from salvaging and some from the inherited cache. The only lumber I've bought in the past 5-7 (maybe more) years was supplies for remodeling the shop, that the salvaged stock wouldn't accommodate.

Like this morning, Jonas and I began making a coffee table (cypress salvage), for Jonas' friend's camp.

My storage facilities are a barn and several sheds, some of which were already in place since my grandparents' days. When we salvaged that old house from the farm, I built an overhang on the back side of my shop, to store some of it.... some of this lumber (beams and big stuff) is still on saw horses, behind the barn.... we haven't pulled the nails, yet. All the other facilities are just about full, or have no convenient space.

Sonny

On 5/20/2015 2:52 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
"Mike Marlow" writes:
John McCoy wrote:


Walnut has similar properties, but the dust from cutting
or sanding it irritates me (it's a known lung irritant),
so I don't hardly ever use it.


You're singing my song here John. I love walnut. I've never noticed any
irritation when working it, and I just love the look and feel of it as it
finishes.


I agree, walnut (and cherry) is beautiful and a joy to work with.

I've 25bf of dalbergia nigra that I'm holding for just the perfect
project. I've been holding it since the early 80's, and it
is not possible to acquire more.


I especially like working with walnut, and looking at a walnut project
when completed but I absolutely don't enjoy that it is so soft when a
project is completed. Walnut furniture is much more sustainable to
dents and dings than furniture made with a harder wood like oak.

Leon wrote:


I especially like working with walnut, and looking at a walnut project
when completed but I absolutely don't enjoy that it is so soft when a
project is completed. Walnut furniture is much more sustainable to
dents and dings than furniture made with a harder wood like oak.

What? You actually use things made from walnut?

--

-Mike-

Leon wrote:


I especially like working with walnut, and looking at a walnut project
when completed but I absolutely don't enjoy that it is so soft when a
project is completed. Walnut furniture is much more sustainable to
dents and dings than furniture made with a harder wood like oak.

Though I made a TIC reply to this comment a moment ago, I should have also
stated that every time I grab my Kreg benchtop jig that I build out of
salvaged walnut, I absolutely delight in grabbing it, feeling it, and using
it. It's the second best thing in my hand, after a set of 34-B's...

--

-Mike-

Mike Marlow wrote:
Leon wrote:


I especially like working with walnut, and looking at a walnut
project when completed but I absolutely don't enjoy that it is so
soft when a project is completed. Walnut furniture is much more
sustainable to dents and dings than furniture made with a harder
wood like oak.

What? You actually use things made from walnut?

No big deal. When they tore down the elementary school my elder brother
attended (he was 90 a couple of days ago) all the structural beams were
solid walnut. The school was probably built circa 1880-1895. Indiana.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

dadiOH wrote:


No big deal. When they tore down the elementary school my elder
brother attended (he was 90 a couple of days ago) all the structural
beams were solid walnut. The school was probably built circa
1880-1895. Indiana.

Salvage that stuff brother! Send a few hundred board feet to me - I'll give
you my mailing address. Free, of course...

--

-Mike-

"Mike Marlow" wrote in
:


Salvage that stuff brother! Send a few hundred board feet to me -
I'll give you my mailing address. Free, of course...


I wouldn't pay anybody to get their mailing address, ever!

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.