Purchasing Wood (review)

[JohnnyT]

Not sure where to put this, but I think my experience is important enough to warrant a review since i see this topic mentioned repeatedly.

I was hunting for a good place to buy wood. Based on a recommendation i found here to buy from Heinecke Wood Products.

I told him I wanted to buy enough wood to spend about $70 after shipping. I was looking for a lot of boards for chip carving and a handful of turners for making something whittling.

What I got was this:

Ten-3/8x6x12s Ten- 1/2x6x12s and 6 2x2x12s

All very straight, knot free, beautiful wood.

Now if you break that down. that's 26 pieces of wood. That comes out to 2.69 per piece, after shipping.

I don't know how it could get much better than that. I can sure tell you this wood is nice.

Here is the URL: Heinecke Wood Products

you will find the products you want, then use their contact form to get in touch with them. They weren't lightning fast in response, but it's not from being ignored, I just got the sense they were busy. I will say, he shipped right away, and they arrived precisely when promised.

[papasar]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Amen!

[pallin]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

There is an important message here. To buy carving wood, you need to deal with a source that understands woodcarving and sells wood selected for carving. This generally rules out the "big box" lumber departments and national craft stores. If you plan to carve "found wood" (driftwood, forest debris, scraps), be prepared for a long learning curve as you become expert at judging wood qualities.

[Brian T]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

I've had what I like to think are triumphs in western red cedar carving over the past 20(?)
years. Likely just as many disasters, too. It has taken a long, long time to "learn the wood." Pallin's comment about the big box stores is so true. That wood was not cut with carvers in mind. May look so wonderful but it's junk.

I explain that I'm a carver. I explain what I'm looking for. That usually gets me some one-on-one help with the search. Most of the time, I can find at least one stick/beam/board/fence post to my liking.

Being a gray-haired geezer might be working for me, as well.

[JohnnyT]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

There is an important message here. To buy carving wood, you need to deal with a source that understands woodcarving and sells wood selected for carving. This generally rules out the "big box" lumber departments and national craft stores. If you plan to carve "found wood" (driftwood, forest debris, scraps), be prepared for a long learning curve as you become expert at judging wood qualities.

Agreed. I had been looking for quite awhile actually. I went to two big name places. Sutherlands and Lowes (we don't have a home depot here) and got nowhere. In fact, both places made it seem like I was putting them out, and neither employee had the first clue what carving wood is.

I also shopped every hardwood place I could find. ended up finding one very nice guy at Royal Woodworking who did understand. he's a power carver, but he didn't have any wood in stock that fits my needs.

I called every lumber yard i could find.

I also shopped eBay, which does have a good selection, but i will say, I'm not really looking for an eBay type place. I got a couple pieces there and they were good, but I was looking for a place I felt comfortable doing business over and over. I think I found that place.

It's taken a few weeks to get the right spot. I actually resorted to buying the ridiculously priced blocks at Michael's because i couldn't find it anywhere else. Good wood, double the price. Thankfully, in case anyone here doesn't know, you can download the apps for both hobby lobby and Michael s and they both have a 40% off one item coupon that you can use every time you visit. so if you buy a big piece that can help tremendously.

anyway, I think I've found the place I want to work with.

[JohnnyT]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

I've had what I like to think are triumphs in western red cedar carving over the past 20(?)
years. Likely just as many disasters, too. It has taken a long, long time to "learn the wood." Pallin's comment about the big box stores is so true. That wood was not cut with carvers in mind. May look so wonderful but it's junk.

I explain that I'm a carver. I explain what I'm looking for. That usually gets me some one-on-one help with the search. Most of the time, I can find at least one stick/beam/board/fence post to my liking.

Being a gray-haired geezer might be working for me, as well.

lol I know that feeling. I'm 48 years old and don't have a single colored hair left. I don't say I'm gray, I say I have clear hair

Been gray since i was in my late 20s

[Brian T]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

I buy western red cedar from several places: 5/4 untreated deck boards, 4x4 fence posts and shake blocks.
What am I looking for?
Examine the end grain first. Growth rings parallel to one face or another, not angled as is common in quarter sawn lumber*. I need to see no fewer than 15 rings per inch and no more than 40/inch. Too few is punky, too many is bone-like.
Next, the faces: straight grained and knot free? Or, knots far enough apart to work around?
That's a keeper.
* Quarter sawn lumber alleviates most of the differential movement in the radial and tangential planes. Less cupping, bowing and twisting.

[BrandantR]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Yup, you sure can't beat Heinecke for basswood. Best quality, fair price, and good customer service. They have my business.

[medicinedog]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

But what if you wanted to carve in cherry, butternut, sycamore,cypress knee,or some of those woods. Is there a source for those? Lar

[Brian T]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Lar: it's a lot of asking around, everybody you know who might know somebody else who knows somebody else and then there are days you get lucky.
If you don't get the word out, nobody has any reason to know that you're looking for wood.

I've had, what the owners called junk wood, tossed into my front yard at night in the rain = just to get rid of it.

I hope to show you a result soon.

[JohnnyT]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

people toss wood into your front yard?

[snickerbocker]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Heineckes did our roughouts for over 15 years and we never had a complaint, they are great people and are a joy to do business with, highly recommend them.

[Brian T]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Yeah, they do (or did). All I have to do is ask and they'll do it again.

For years, I scavenged wood from logging debris piles up along the mountain logging roads. Really muddy but you still have to get there before they torch off the piles.

Anyway, in conversation, I learned that some folks outside of the village had piles of old western red cedar shake blocks that didn't get sold off. I must have said something like I could use those for carving and thought no more of it.

Cold, cold, pouring mountain rain one ugly night. Looking out the next morning, there was a dozen blocks! So old, some had moss & green algae growing out of them.
The sapwood had been shaved off with a Log Wizard (chainsaw attachment).

Right now, I'm just about ready to finish a dish carved from an 18lb block. The dish looks kind of clunky but it weighs less than 3lbs with more to go!

[Brian T]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Other than the dirt, the real puzzle with old wood is that the ends are more than likely going to be cracked quite badly and WRC is no exception.
Shake blocks are 24" long, width and thickness varies to get around knots.
My rule of thumb is that at least 4" on each end is useless, some I see 16" to carve, others might be as short as 12".
Same with the birch 6/4 and 8/4 mill cuts that I can buy. Some are solid right to the ends, some are split 6" into the plank (but I can use either side of that.)

[JohnnyT]

Re: Purchasing Wood (review)

Heineckes did our roughouts for over 15 years and we never had a complaint, they are great people and are a joy to do business with, highly recommend them.

i'm still trying to figure out how to get roughouts there.

Twice i've asked and i don't quite understand the answer. this is what they said (i was hoping to order 10 or even 20 spoon roughouts)

We do not sell any roughouts.
If you carve something we can make roughouts out of it for you.
We have an eight spindle machine so we like to do 8 or multiples of 8 at a time.
Let me know if you have more questions.

so they don't sell roughouts but they can sell roughouts. I don't quite understand what he meant.

so i'm not sure what this means.