lumber

[Dav]

does anyone know of a good source of 1/4 maple at a good price, my last batch I bought at cherry tree toys

[GrayBeard]

Ocooch...1/4" X 4" X 24" ... $3.75 ea.

http://www.ocoochhardwoods.com/Scroll_Saw_Lumber.html

[sp_343]

I agree with GrayBeard...ocooch hardwoods is a good price...99% of the time I go with CherryTree...but I have gotten wood from Ocooch in the past and it is nice stuff

[budprine]

Just keep looking at building supply centers and lumber yards.  My fear is if you send away for it the price will be unrealistic.

Second suggestion is get a surface planer and plane down thicker stock.  Or find a friend with one. 

Some middle schools have wood shops that can be used as part of adult education or senior citizen groups, try them out.....you may find other good resources in your area.

Lastly, look in the yellow pages (do they still exist?) Look under millwork.

[dgman]

I agree with budprine. If you use a lot of thin woods as we scrollers do, then its time to consider a planner. I would be lost without mine!

[boxmaker]

I have ordered wood, and it is nice to have it all finished and dimensioned, and you are paying for that service. I have to agree with you guys about the planer, I did buy me a planer, but then it bothered me to plane away the wood to sawdust, so I bought me a band saw to re-saw the thicker lumber. Now I buy my lumber from a sawmill. It is in the rough, not planed, but it is thicker about 1". If you have a good blade (I use Timber Wolf) you can get a lot of thin wood out of one board. I believe it is all what you want to pay for. A finished piece of lumber delivered to your door, which is nice and the lumber is usually top notch. Or are you willing to invest in the cost of a  Planer, Planer Blades, Band Saw, Band Saw Blades. I never really figured out which is more cost effective, because honestly I have gotten some lumber from the mill that after you plane it, there are a lot more knots than you thought when you picked the lumber out. But I do enjoy surfacing my own lumber. I have also cut down a small cherry tree once let it dry then re-sawed it on the Band Saw and made some boxes out of it. It can be rewarding.

[dgman]

Boxmaker, I agree with you 100%. I get a lot of my wood free from our woodworking club. It is cut offs from furniture manufactures and wood milling shops. I take this wood and re saw on the band saw, then plane it on the planner. Then sand with a random orbital sander. It is a lot of work but think of all the money I save!
I also use this wood when I teach scroll saw at the local Woodcraft store!

[GrayBeard]

I have to agree with the 'do it yourself' production of your own wood.
However since I don't have that three car garage with room to leave the vehicles outside anymore and all my tools are on wheels so they can be put in the corner I must go with the pre-milled wood.
The only way I could go back to the earlier days would be to move to Wisconsin on my son's farm and take advantage of the three barns on the property!
Since I no longer care to have snow on the ground from October to April I will just have to keep getting my woods from someone who will do the work and deliver it to my condo!
Now if someone would like to invite me to live with them on a nice ranch in the Southwest with a 40' X 80' shop I could be persuaded to pack up and go!

[Rightarm]

     I'm pretty lucky. We have a little place about a mile from where I live that sells rough cut lumber, and old barn wood. Then I resaw it to whatever width I need. Dave

[ripchief]

Lowe's stocks 1/4 maple (along with oak, pine, and poplar) in a variety of sizes...Home Depot, on the other hand, only stocks oak and poplar, but in limited sizes...Woodcraft is also somewhat local, and has a large variety of species, but their widths for 1/4" stock are usually limited to about 3".

Although the prices might be slightly higher than some online sources, the cost of a local short drive is nothing compared to the shipping costs associated with ordering online.

[saw dust john]

I do this.

I brought a band saw, resawed the thicker pieces.  A little sanding and it's all good.  the thickness planner is nice, but all those shavings could be wood that you can make projects out of.

[BigE]

Those are all good tips for the lumber. I hate planning down good wood
just to get thin stock also. But, sometimes the wood would have been placed in the dump, or burned. Example: Redwood fencing and barn wood that is being dumped. When I see an old fence falling down I drop off my card to the person for when they replace the fence to call me. I usually have a few people besides myself to harvest that fence at that time. I've gotten some choice lumber for free. If you don't count your labor, it's a deal.