material... feast and famine.

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drewactual
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:07 am
Model of CNC Machine: Phantom S-Series 4x8

material... feast and famine.

Post by drewactual »

Good evening all. I hope this finds y'all well.

This, I hope, comes across as a 'tip', as that is it's intent. I'm willing to wager you all have your suppliers and i'm guessing they are often like fishing holes- you're happy to share those resources with some, but not all.

I live on the coast of North Carolina. There are two significant suppliers of woodcraft wood. There are exotic woods available in your choice of dimensions at a place in Wilmington- but they are keenly aware of it's value. There are a ton of saw mills, and some even equipped with a proper kiln which provides ready to work with wood of various kinds, yet mostly locally grown. then, there is the gold mine i (re)discovered last Friday.

A storm passed through the area... well, that isn't fair. A storm visited and wouldn't leave. it sat on us for over 80 hours and dumped as much as 37" of rain. The winds blew- and blew... it blew some more and it rained MAN did it rain. A lot of homes were destroyed, some floated away, and the area suffered... that storm was named Florence, and it was a bit over two years ago. a casualty was a veneer factory in Beaufort, NC. They also have a warehouse on the outskirts of town around 300' wide and every bit of half a mile long- complete with skylights courtesy the prior mentioned storm. I thought they folded, but it turns out they haven't.

I went with a friend who pulled his trailer, and he loaded up on some white ash to build some furniture. He is a proper woodworker. He is equally talented as skilled- meaning the mathematics and precision is perfectly ratio'd with his artistic vision. I'm not one of those- i sit in front of a monitor and design- fire up the shopbot- close one eye and squint the other and hit the "go for it" button on the screen. so far, so good, and some folks have been impressed. that's good, but it ain't me- it's the machine. but you know what the machine needs? a: Material.

i found some. i found a gold mine of wood. well, it's wood but it's value to me is that of a gold mine- not monetarily, but... y'all get the notion by now.

Before finally realizing the three helpful folks at that location weren't as enthusiastic about inspecting the selection as i was i finally approached the desk to settle up. I had a 15' long 5/4" thick 8" wide stick of selepe (african mahogany) and the same size of white ash. I had a 5/4" thick 14" wide 12' long board of white oak. I had two pieces of Cyprus 8/4" thick, 36" long and just under 10" wide and two pieces of pecan just a little more wide than the oak and the same L and W. It was just under $120.

my buddy now- boy... he loaded up. he purchased over 60bf of white ash 8/4" thick (and here is the truly amazing thing) and two 72L" x 6"D x 14"W BLACK WALNUT (the last two they had of that dimension)... all for $550. I asked him what he was going to do with that walnut and he responded "hang it up as it is and just stare at it from time to time"... I understood. it is at least that marvelous in it's present state.

there is another reason i bring this here- as i was taken a little back by their 'story'...

after the storm, a local newspaper wrote of their demise. they 'weren't' 'demised'... they WERE shut down for a few months, but both the raw wood and the veneer business is back up and running. bad news travels, it is known. they supply the world with veneer, leveraging the commercial docks only a few miles from their location for the bulk of the logistics of moving... they had contracts as far away as India and China that were calling frantically concerned about their production... they didn't lose that much of the business. what they 'did' lose, though, is much of the business they had build with the raw wood.

after a brief discussion with them, i fully plan on building them a website (it's something i do). I also plan on building a website to sell some of their wares for myself. It seems to me that the interwebz should be leveraged in the enterprise of fulfillment for not only my addiction, but perhaps that of others.

all of that^ is a distinct possibility that will likely find some variation come to fruition. in the meantime, i'm just tickled i found such a massive resource right in my backyard. Cherry, mahogany, oaks of all kinds, walnut, pecan, ash, cypress, cedar, rosewood, purple heart, blood wood, maples of varying kinds, and that is just planing the surface of selection... I mean- I was amazed at both the selection on hand (in massive quantities) as well as the prices.

so.........

what is your preference in woods to carve? what is your preference in depth of woods? is this something you guys 'specialize' in or do you carve wide spectrum's of sizes/depths? So far, i'm digging into oak most often, and i like 2" (8/4) media as it allows a magnitude of depth for relief. Is there anything you can share with a newbie about materials that can assist someone just getting my knees wet in this 'game'?

thanks for your time!!!

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TReischl
Vectric Wizard
Posts: 4575
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:04 pm
Model of CNC Machine: 8020 48X36X7 RP 2022 UCCNC Screenset
Location: Leland NC

Re: material... feast and famine.

Post by TReischl »

drewactual wrote: I live on the coast of North Carolina. There are two significant suppliers of woodcraft wood. There are exotic woods available in your choice of dimensions at a place in Wilmington- but they are keenly aware of it's value.

in the meantime, i'm just tickled i found such a massive resource right in my backyard. Cherry, mahogany, oaks of all kinds, walnut, pecan, ash, cypress, cedar, rosewood, purple heart, blood wood, maples of varying kinds, and that is just planing the surface of selection... I mean- I was amazed at both the selection on hand (in massive quantities) as well as the prices.
As you see over there------------------------>

I live right across the river from Wilmington. You got that exactly right about the two suppliers in Wilmington, wow! Last time I stopped in one of them the guy thought that $8.50/bf for run of the mill maple was a good price.

There was a place here in Leland that did go out of business that had a huge operation. One of the two places you mentioned is now operated by them.

I haven't stumbled across the place you were talking about though. I don't do much hardwood, furniture building, etc anymore so it is not that big of a deal. Care to share where the place is?
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

drewactual
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:07 am
Model of CNC Machine: Phantom S-Series 4x8

Re: material... feast and famine.

Post by drewactual »

i'll be more than happy to share! i'd like to see these guys get their feet back under them insofar as their raw wood sales:

Atlantic Veneer Distribution
2457 Lenoxville Road
Beaufort NC 28516
(252) 728-7620

User avatar
TReischl
Vectric Wizard
Posts: 4575
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:04 pm
Model of CNC Machine: 8020 48X36X7 RP 2022 UCCNC Screenset
Location: Leland NC

Re: material... feast and famine.

Post by TReischl »

Thank you! I did some digging and sort of thought that might be them but it is nice to know for sure.
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

drewactual
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 4:07 am
Model of CNC Machine: Phantom S-Series 4x8

Re: material... feast and famine.

Post by drewactual »

i'm going to head back down there this week. i'm eating through the supplies at around 10k IPS heheheheeee

question: what size of material, when cutting wood, do you all most often need as a tapestry? (read: largest piece to 'cover' most of your projects).

I'm serious about building a webpage to distribute this places material... it seems the best way i can contribute to this place (and others) as i'm certainly not in a position to give back with knowledge....... yet.... that will take years.

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