Do you ever....

[troy_curtis]

...find yourself in a lumber store browsing for wood and you dont even have a project in mind? Lol...if anyone told me a year ago that I would be doing just that I would have thought you were crazy. On my lunch break I can get to a Woodworkers Source store. Well today I left with a nice piece of purple heart and a piece of soft maple. The pile of wood is growing larger at my house. Now I just need time to use some of this wood to make some nice things. Thanks Steve for giving us so many free plans to use. 

[cdrover(Clyde)]

I also visit the lumber supply store and drool over the small collection of exotic woods on display there.  Sometimes I ever buy a foot or two thinking it to be an exceptionally nice piece to use in that special project.

[dgman]

If I had a Woodworkers Source Store near by I would be in there often too!

[troy_curtis]

Well I deliver Hospice Meds for a living. There is a store near the pharmacy. On the way back from my rounds I stop in a few times a week to look....and perhaps buy. You should see look on my boss' face when I come in with box of wood pieces and a foot or two of wood. He has seen my projects now so he is used to it.

[Nick]

I also buy wood with no particular project in mind and the pile gets bigger.But no matter how much wood I keep, I never seem to have quite the piece I want!
Nick.

[slowcutter]

Wood store 2 hrs away.
At $4.27 gal  that's $25 just for the trip.
Think I'll go cut down another tree.

[mrsn]

oh yes, I've done that many times. Tools and wood are relaxing so it is a fun thing to do. My husband and I occationally go out shopping and stop at the welding store for him and the wood store for me, then usually to menards for both of us. One of our date nights is dinner and menards, lol.

I also understand slowcutter's idea of going and cutting down a tree when finances get tight. I often find myself scaning firewood piles and fallen tree branches for useful material. It is a running joke between our friends about wether I can come to the bonfire without taking something home.

[GrayBeard]

It is a real pleasure when out and about to NOT be driving! I often see piles of things being discarded and if time permits we will stop for a few minutes while I search for ANYTHING that might be useful in projects.
Discarded furniture sitting at the curb for pickup is a tremendous magnet! As are piles of pallets!

~~~GB~~~

[BilltheDiver]

I hardly ever look anymore.  I've found a couple of absolute steals on Craigslist in the last couple of years and now have a stash of 8 to 10 foot hardwood boards split between my shop and my warehouse at work.  I have about 150 board feet of walnut, a bunch of cherry, loads of curly or birdseye maple, some purpleheart, cuban mahogany, and odds and ends.  Now I just get tortured figuring what to use on what project.

[troy_curtis]

It is a real pleasure when out and about to NOT be driving! I often see piles of things being discarded and if time permits we will stop for a few minutes while I search for ANYTHING that might be useful in projects.
Discarded furniture sitting at the curb for pickup is a tremendous magnet! As are piles of pallets!

~~~GB~~~

I can relate to this. One advantage of my job is I cover a large area of neighborhoods every day. When there is bulk trash pick up I can scan for any broken furniture pieces which might have a nice piece of wood. Glad to know I am not the only one doing this.

[thumbs]

all the time--I also have friends who find wood and drop it off at the house --I'll be driving some where and see wood  and say"I can use that' and my wife says "no you can't"--the garage is filling up along with my shop in the basement--there is no such thing as a bad piece of wood--Richard 1 thumb