Wood? like Gold, is where you find it?. Ya just gatta get a little creative! If you?re a cheapskate like me!
I am not around your area but... do you have any sawmills in your area? Hear in SW Indiana there is a pallet factory/sawmill about 15 miles from my house... for the past 8 years I have been using it for my daytime woodstove wood... now that I am into scrolling... I have found that I get all of wood for my scroll saw from the woodpile... If you look you might find something similar... mostly hardwoods of different types some spalted maple. alder, and colorful poplar. (some vibrant greenish) some walnut, & winge (sp?) (Osage orange) etc... And IT?S FREE! I get it by the truck load for firewood! Seems like a shame to burn some of it...I save only the highly figured stuff, the rest goes into one of my wood stoves.
Most of the wood from our mill is thicker than you mentioned, but I can resaw on my band saw or plainer, or sometimes even use my 12 inch table saw.
Recently I got 3 truck loads of alder/oak/maple/poplar slats... about 1/4 - 3/8 X4 wide x 4 ft... rough cut but good for things like ornaments... I found out the chipper was down for 4 days at the mill? normally this stuff gets put through the chipper. Working on the mill boss to let me get it on a normal basis before it hits the chipper? but? how much can one guy use? Its stacked 4x8x 8feet high in my pole barn now!
We also have a venire company that makes venire for guitar makers not far from the house? they have a culls box. gets burned in there wood stove If I don?t clean it out for them. (I have not made it down their in a while)
Have you thought of dismantling pallets? Most are hardwood! Sometimes if you get them from a store that imports. The pallets are from other countries are often made from what we call exotic wood that cost an arm and a leg if bought from a store.
If there is a cabinet shop nearby maybe you can buy/beg there scraps, also maybe coriann cut offs at the same place.
How about watching the dumpsters on construction sights or behind the stores when remolding is being done? You would be amazed what hits the trash!
I get some wood every year when I am cutting trees for the my woodstoves? (trees) you can mill your one if you get creative? and have a few normal shop tools. or have the mill cut a whole tree for you if you luck into a walnut or something. (once you build a relationship with the guys at the mill)
All this might sound like brag, but what I am trying to say is? you would be amazed what you find if you don?t mind scrounging around a little.
