Nothing Severed Yet: Lumber

Speakers at CES

This year, all the cheap overseas speaker manufacturers have figured out that they can make absolutely gorgeous floorstanding speakers for not too much money, using the magical secret of veneer.

Getting wood online

I'm a big fan of Woodweb's forums. Here you can find anything from reclaimed antique pine timbers, 10,000 boardfeet at a time, to a box of snakewood selling for an unbelievable $4/lb (that's $18/bf).

Bring the wood dealer to you

Brian tries out two online wood suppliers and reports back on the results.

The handy dandy Shrinkulator

Want to get an idea of how much that table top or panel will move? Check out the handy dandy Shrinkulator.

Don't inhale the coco

I was messing around with some cocobolo this week. It's crazy stuff. When you finish sanding it, the red parts are suddenly yellow. And I don't mean "it gets slightly more yellow", I mean post-it note, bug-lamp yellow.

Your spalting is infectious

Spalting is the decay left behind by a specific type of fungus. The wood must be harvested when the spalting is pronounced and visible, but wait too long and the wood loses its structural integrity.

On building humidors (part I)

But what about the lining? You want spanish cedar. NOT any other kind of cedar, or your cigars will smell like a hamster cage. Spanish cedar is remarkably expensive for an otherwise-unremarkable softwood; it usually goes for about $5.50/bf in inconvenient thicknesses.

Cheap Wood

Where do you get lots of cheap boards so you can mess around without stressing about the cost? The solution is your local sawyer.

Retail wood sucks

Final stop, Crosscut Hardwoods. Their prices aren't always sucky, but man, do they bite the wax tadpole for walnut. 4/4 stock is well over $5/bf rough, and they don't have a single board over 6'.