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I got the ISO tunes ear buds but they were a bit too low volume for me- couldn't hear my audiobooks well enough. I gave that set to a buddy and he loves them, I got the over ear versions and they work great!
I am one of those local sawyers! I have a Wood-Mizer LT35 and mill whatever I can get my hands on. Walnut, Cherry and Oak are the ones I like to mill but just did some beautiful Spalted Hackberry and some Ash. I even set up my own kiln so I can dry the lumber. Have a ton of fun running it and make a bit of cash to keep it running. Thanks for mentioning us as a good resource! BTW - I am mostly word of mouth but also on FaceBook. Thanks! Love your channel and learn a lot!
This guy was raised by really great quality parents, having concern for low income folks who may cherish a piece of furniture over him disassembling it for wood. In other videos of his I've seen so much honesty & integrity. I wish there were more folks like him in this world!
@@raphaelklaussen1951 Engineer , doctor etc... If I had a brain tumor, I wouldn't hesitate to have him operate...LOL... As long as he doesn't use an angle grinder.
There is a saying among senior woodworkers: he who dies with the most wood/tools wins. Estate sales especially for members of woodworking clubs can be an incredible source of good collectible expensive wood that the family is just interested in liquidating.
I like the sentiment, but it's very idealistic. The store needs to sell it, the buyer needs to buy it, whereas the theoretical shopper who may or may not exist may or may not even want it when they do actually look for furniture.
Another recommendation that combines a few of the points mentioned in this video: when searching for wood on the various websites, keep an eye out for woodworkers who are retiring or moving, and are looking to liquidate their own stock. You may think that it'd be a hurdle dealing with a seller who knows the value of their wood, but I've found most I've encountered are eager to see their old treasures going to a good home, especially if you are starting out on the cheap like the people this video is targeted to. If they are moving, they also might be faced with a time crunch that is incentivizing them to sell their wood by any means necessary before they have to trash it, or worse, pay a mover to bring it with them. Another upshot is that if you can convince them that you're a decent person, they might actually pass some of their sources and contacts on to you, especially if they're retiring and don't see you as future competition. And on a less tangible level, in the process you might just find yourself a new wellspring of expertise and information that you would never find elsewhere on the Internet.
I was driving by a junk yard and noticed an old wood bed, I stopped by and took a closer look, it was solid black walnut at 1.5” thick by 6-8” wide for the frame. Took it home, planed the old finish off, and now building a few projects! Be on the look out for items like these. Great video!!!!
I was driving by a 40 units apartment and noticed an old wood furniture, it was oak. But I didn't take it home cause I was not sure it's dump and I don't wanna ask 40 units tenants. I wish I had your luck, Bro!🥴🙄🤑
I used to have access to glass shipping pallets. Those things are 8 to 12 ft big and full of character (and nails) but the grain and figure can be the most interesting with swirls from nearby knots and sap pockets. Most of it is pine but occasionally foreign glass pallets are hardwood.
Large cabinet shops are also a good place to check. I used to live near the Medallion Cabinet plant in MN. They had a "store" where they would sell the mistakes every Saturday morning for pennies on the dollar. I especially liked when they would dump raised panel doors. I bought a lot of cherry and walnut for 25 cents per door. A few minutes with a router on the inside of the door and my wife had some nice picture frames and I had a bunch of usable cherry and walnut from the raised panels.
was talking to a friend around the camp fire the other day and mentioned hard woods and he went to his trailer and said here have this cherry and black walnut blanks I was going to burn this weekend. Thanks for the reminder to ask builder/contractor friends! Now I have enough for some fun small projects.
Hi Stumpy, I want to add an idea to your list here: Used wine barrels. Where I live I can get them cheaply and there is a good amount of wood coming out of a barrel. Also the wood is often stained red on the inside. You have to learn to work with the bend, but if you are creative, there is a lot you can do with it.
It's all we could afford as kids if we could get the twisty nails out! We also had a furniture manufacturer in the neighborhood that we would get shorts from. Raiding their dumpster was more fun than the Frito-Lay one where you could find almost expired cases of Doritos.
You do have to be a little picky if chemicals are your concern (and should be). But there is good pallets/crates from factories. Generally you want to find the single use purpose built ones. Like the ones they would have shipped a motor on.
You make a fair point. I'm working in a store where we could several pallets in every day. Some of them are nasty indeed, especially the "good" euro pallets that have gone all over the world for god knows how long. I swear some of those pallets would have been going for years and must have some great stories to tell XD I know 1 supplier of us most always seem to use new pallets, the boards are small and thin but they're usually good quality wood and I already have a nice load of that. Otherwise I always keep my eyes open for anything that looks viable and take it home. The way I deal with pallets is simple. I use my circular saw to cut out all the slats so I don't have to deal with all the nails. Everything else usually ends up in the fireplace. Doing it this way only gives you small boards yes but you're almost guaranteed the wood to be metal free and saves a lot of time on prying apart pallets trying not to split everything.
I'm a little surprised you didn't mention my favorite place: Hardware stores that have a saw on site. A lot of customers request specific pieces and leave the offcuts at the store. All the stores around here have two bins next to the saw: valuable offcuts for cheap and scraps for free. I found a stretch of hardwood kitchen counter that exactly matched mine and some strips of MDF that were too narrow for most projects but were perfect for my shelving unit.
In my neck of the woods, Phoenix, AZ, we have bulk trash pick up days 4 times a year. That is an EXCELLENT source to score some great wood or trash to treasure pieces.
I am now a bonaified trash picker. I cruise with my trash harvested running stroller, and collect all kinds of treasure. It is amazing what people are willing to throw away! Just the other day, I was thinking I needed a good length of angle iron to fortify the underside of this cheap 2x4 pine laminated work surface a friend gave me. My clamps dig deep pits into the underside of the pine, or white wood, or styrofoam wood, whatever you call it. Though I could use a hardwood strip under there to toughen up the underside clamping surface... wood is now too expensive steel is cheaper, so was going to buy some angle iron, was out for a trash day dog walk and found a queen steel bed frame in a trash bin. All kinds of angle iron for free :) You just have to deal with the stigma of being a TRASH PICKER, and I'm sure 5-0 will show up soon, but I hope my cruddy smile will get me out of artificially hot water.
Great tips. I would add that also want to build relationships w/ contractors. I have always been generous and given anything to anyone if they needed it more than I did. The bread you cast upon the waters tends to come back to you. I have known contractors over the years who will just drop off wood if they wreck a nice deck or something.
Yup. Made a set of serving trays, a kids desk, and a dozen cutting board from a trash can of cut offs from the cabinet shop. Still had enough for the family camping trip 🔥. 👍
One of the key tricks with pallets, is that they're made with whatever wood is cheapest and easiest for the maker to obtain. In the U.S., that means a lot of low-grade oak, or poplar, but in countries like Singapore, it's often mahogany cutoffs. One company that makes cedar mailbox posts needs custom-sized pallets, so they make their own, from scrap red cedar. As for cull lumber at Home Centers, it varies from one store to the next: One Home Depot near me, prices culls and scraps per piece, but the Lowe's I used to work at, will go through their stock, load up a sheet goods cart with less-than-optimal lumber, and price the whole cart, sometimes at about 10% of the regular price. I used to tell the guys in the Lumber department to just label the carts "Sold to Buzz", because my biggest competition in snagging those cull carts, was Buzz, in Plumbing. It was frequently one of the two of us, that bought it. Either way, though, is terrific: Either you find a piece you want for a low price, or you get a truckbed-load, also for a low price. I haven't dismantled furniture for wood, (yet!) but I did recently refurbish an old dresser my wife bought: The ratty-looking drawer backs, once cleaned up, turned out to be BEAUTIFUL sycamore! And if you have a chain saw, and are willing to bring it, a strong back, and an empty truck, you can often get wood by helping somebody cut up a fallen tree. I've used most of these methods and they've helped a lot!
I love the straight face you have when you say "If your really not shy, you might try dumpster diving." Makes me thing you're not just suggesting something you've never tried yourself. Points for authenticity.
I didn’t read all the comments yet but when you get pallets try to also look for the stamp on the outside runner. You can go on line and see what all those symbols mean that are stamped on those pallets. They will give you an idea of what that pallet was used for, ie. hazardous materials, chemicals, food grade etc. I have in the past gotten lucky finding some made in USA oak pallets and after sanding the slats down they had some beautiful grain.
One thing I’ve noticed and done myself is grab up the crappy ikea furniture people put out front for free , with a bit of work you can salvage a lot of the hardware it’s saved me a lot of money from having to buy all the threaded inserts and screws , also the panels or table tops can be used for quick cheap shop shelves
I've rebuilt all of my kitchen countertops this pandemic including a 2 inch thick maple butcherblock island all from wood and equipment including the kitchen sink that I reclaimed from the curbsides on big trash day. It took a lot of work to repair de-nail/straighten/flatten with a planer and a crappy table saw. I'm gonna send you pictures soon. Everything was free except for supplies and cheap tools that I could afford to make it all work. I know these countertops will last 100 years if someone doesn't decide to remodel with new crappy materials you are likely to find in brand new 25,000 dollar or more POS pressed wood junk you will get from a cabinet shop or big box store that will rot out in 10 years. Also, I got a LOT of help from these videos and others on youtube.
I get a lot of pretty good pieces from the off-cut bins of a commercial cabinet maker. They have to dispose of it weekly so they're happy to decrease the load. You gotta sift through it like trash, but you can get a lot of good hardwood that it's not worth for them to reprocess, including some larger cuts with "mistakes". I've made whole projects with mahogany, maple, oak etc from this source.
We always have construction projects, fit-outs, strip-outs going on at work. They all produce masses of discarded materials. With full approval, I've carted off several sheets of plywood, quite substantial pieces of lumber, and unused hardware such as cabinet hinges. I just made a riving knife for my table saw out of scrap steel from old lifts (elevators) being replaced. For me it's the reduction of waste that's most appealing.
Worked at a utility plant years ago. We received some large machine parts that were crated with clear white pine 1 1/2” thick. I was able to salvage enough lumber to make two coffee tables.
Great compilation of tips. My wood collection grew significantly in quantity and variety when I started sawing my own. My favorite two sources are people giving away trees on Craigslist, and the local lawn-debris landfill. In my area of Virginia that's resulted in beech, birch, hickory, red cedar, poplar, maple, pear, plum, white oak, chestnut oak, walnut, ash, and several others. I almost never pay for wood anymore.
Thank you so much for this video. I’m recently laid up due to surgery and looking for a hobby to get me through rehab, been wracking my brain how to get started in wood working. I’ve all the tools(I do lots of diy stuff around the home) but no source for hardwood. Between the start and end of your video I’ve texted/called and now have 3 sources. Thanks a ton. Sub earned.
Very sound advice. I have done all of these. My local Woodcraft has hinted to me that they will scan Craigslist for barn lumber to sell in the store, so if retailers are doing it...you can do it. I saw some short poplar ends in a thrift store today. They were 1x6s about 18 inches long. Whoever bought them from Menards had obviously just sawn through the plastic wrapper since the paper label and plastic wrap were still attached indicating they were originally 10ft long.
I also picked up a small bed side chest torn down and separated outside a family home. I collected all drawers, sliding rail tracks, handles and fittings. I used couple of those perfect 90 degree box drawers to make a day bed with underneath storage.
I've been using pallet wood for about a year now, not only is it hard to breakdown and remove the nails, it also involves a lot of plaining to get it flat and straight, on the plus side, it's an excellent upper body workout.
I use a deck breaker to peal them off then a nail remover that I got off of amazon to remove the nails quickly. I can tear apart a pallet and have the nails out in about 5 min per pallet now.
@@klcunn58 5 minutes? You must have some nice pallets. In the ones I disassambled the nails were driven so hard into the wood that the wood partially closed over the nail head. Meaning it was impossible to grab the head at all, I had to remove it by hammering them very delicately from the other side. IN some cases it would only come out if I removed some of the wood over the nail head, which always leaves big marks.
I often keep my eyes open looking for discarded wood/furniture. I now have a 6 foot by 4 foot dining table that I use as workbench. I picked up a 8 foot by 4 foot American Oak dining table for $50 and use it as a second workbench.
My best pickup to date was an online estate sale; a listing for a single walnut board, hiding among all the other random estate items. There was nothing in the picture for scale, and I paid only a few bucks for it. The damn thing is at least 6/4 heartwood, 8" by at least 8 feet long.
Speaking of saw mills, there are a few near me. My father inlaw uses those cutoffs for fire wood and saves certain pieces to let sit for a few years. He has made some beautiful pieces from the wood he gets. I've been given some. He has gotten cherry, maple, red & white oak, hickory and others. We made my countertops from several of the ones I have mentioned above for our kitchen. I ABSOLUTELY love them! They are on my birch & popular cabinets I have made. That wood may be a ton of work at first but it's really worth it in the end! You can get some great pieces of wood from saw mills!
Here in Finland, there is a growing trend of local "trash bin"- groups. In those, people give away things they do not need anymore - for free! I've harvested several shelves and other furniture, plywood boards and lumber from my groups. Some of the furniture I have used as such for setting up my shop in the carage. But for the most part, I break them down for raw materials
Thanks for the top tips 👍 Really enjoying this series of your videos, I've been a woodworking for a while now, but am finding your advice very helpful. ❤️
To add to this, some local areas may have not-for-profit organisations that specialise in recycling and reclaiming wood to keep it out of landfill. Here in the UK, I've found two in the two different areas I've lived in since starting woodworking, and they've been a fantastic balance to me between the real leg-work of tracking down unwanted wood yourself and paying commercial lumber prices. Even for people that have the money for new lumber, using reclaimed stuff like this can do a lot to reduce the environmental impact of what you do as well.
My workbench is junk wood. The legs are cull ash from the baseball bat factory, back when they used to start with square stock. The stretchers are all pallet wood. The top is a used solid core door. It is as solid and useful as the pretty bench you are standing behind !
My friend's small business has a fairly steady stream of pallets coming in. Just him and his son. Eventually they have to cut them down. I graciously offer to haul several away to lighten their work load. I'm currently building a computer desk out of pallet wood and scraps. I've got enough tools to make use of the boards and clean them up. It'll be great. I've also found thrown away cut off from remodel projects when I'm out carpet cleaning. Got a nearly 7 ft 2x10 and several 2x6s and 2x4 cut offs.
Never had much luck with pallet wood, but I've found some GREAT stuff trashdigging, like the other day I got 14 board feet of good straight black walnut! They were in the form of leaves for a giant table, so they're already glued up into panels. Another time I got some nice thick quartersawn sycamore from an old bed that someone threw away. Got some big mahogany turnings and thickly veneered boards and panels from another curbside bed.
I used to visit a nearby furniture factory. They used to set out a 45 ft. trailer full of mainly maple offcuts. I stopped when they stopped using solid wood in favour of particle board. I made a ton of toys for my kids and others from those scraps of maple.
There is another benefit of sourcing waste wood and clean HT pallets. Less land fill, less going to waste by being burnt, less fire risk at these locations by removing a fuel source.
My father inlaw gets the ends & slabs from a local sawmill. They even deliver it. He has made some great pieces of furniture or kitchen items from that wood. He dries it out for a few years in his garage.
A note on pallets. Try places likely to get shipments of large/heavy equipment. Paper mills, and industrial machinery vendors are great for this. It can be hard to find because there is usually an employee that wants it but if you can get a few palets/crates from them it is usually good high quality wood including sheet goods that was single use and built well because well... You aren't going to ship a $40,000 machine and go cheap on the pallet.
I've been in construction my whole life mostly new construction but been remodeling for the last 6 years. You are exactly right, it's amazing what we throw away daily from cabinets to appliances to lumber and flooring especially after a tear out.. Our dumpster at the shop costs $600 to dump we do that at least once a week often twice so we love people who can use any of it.. ...but... Please ask... Some of that may be spoken for or may not be trash. Also no one likes people they don't know poking around their stuff without permission. If You ask you might find many places might even be willing to set stuff aside for you if they know you'll be there for it REGULARLY.. So your advice on developing relationships with a business or company is also very true. Most places will be happy to give you anything they don't want and probably even help you load it if you need help if they get to know you (make friends with the guy on the forklift) but if they set stuff aside and you don't come for it they won't like you.. Show up often enough and you'll be on their mind when they throw stuff away..👍
Much of the lumber I used for building my shelves came from one job site. They were remodeling, and I filled my SUV several times, and even got some live edge lumber with the bark still on it. This dated to the WW2 era where lumber was primarily used for the war effort. In this case, this was poplar lumber, and not usually used for carpentry, as it's a soft wood.
Beginning/end of the month moving week, check condo complexes trash. You will be amazed at what people throw out. Tabletops sheet and leather/vinyl sheets from couches and chairs. living room couches and chairs framework is often hardwoods. I have got 3x4 x 5 ft square stock and large blocks and large sheets of heavy cloth material many times. Hinges and handles and fancy nuts/bolts/hooks/springs, appliance sheet metal, electric motors with functioning speed control electronics from appliances and more. Made a great large-ish mini lathe from a kitchen blender, speed control with great torque, well mounted compact power head right at the start of 'adaptation'.
I like to keep the scavenger's battle cry in mind: "If it's free, it's for me." Though it's not woodworking related, your video reminded me of another low/no-buck technique for crafters in the field of kitemaking who are just starting out. It's been decades since I successfully tried it, but novice kitemakers should check out shops making sails for boats or windsurfboards; often they'll cheerfully give you a pile of their ripstop nylon scraps for you to play with - or, as one friend figured out, they'll really love you when you offer to pay a nice price for a dufflebag stuffed full of their discarded material, most pieces of which are enough to make whole kites on their own.
About palettes. In the middle of the last century, Marblehead cabin cruisers were built on hulls made in the Far East. Import duties were charged based on the value of the hull. Then someone realized that the shipping crates (frameworks) were made of teak and were worth more than the hull. Or so the story was told at the Marblehead dealer. Thanks for the video.
At the local Lowe's just down the street, I found a bargain cart with 5 to 6 tiers full of trim. Only some was actual wood but all of it was usable for some projects. The trim was up to & more than $40 per stick (7' to 8' +) on sale for $1 a stick. The stuff I needed was solid oak 1/4 round (3/4"). I picked up 6 sticks @ 10' long & more misc trim (20 total) for $20.53. What a deal. Sometimes you can talk to the store or front end mgr & make an offer.
So far I have a decent stock of pallet wood. Working in a store where we get several pallets in every day I always keep my eyes open for the good stuff. The way I process the wood is simple, I take my circular saw and cut all the slats out. Surely you're getting shorter boards but it saves a lot of time trying to pry the pallets apart and get all the nails out. I might have shorter boards but making only small stuff it's still very viable and my chances of finding any metal in my wood are very slim. Everything leftover usually finds it's way in the fireplace.
In regards to pallet wood, find places that ship heavy items like AC units. They use heavy duty pallets made of really great lumber. I have a stack of treated 2x4s that are 5-8' long. Had to take out deck screws, but I was even able to save several of those to reuse!
I go to my local lumber yard's and ask for cutoffs or shipping boxes. They are always happy to give it to me to just have the room for something else. It is usually a pickup load each time I go.
When I go to job sites I bring toys I made from scrap wood to give to the workers. They appreciate it and they will be more generous will the wood you can have.
I often hit up dumpsters at new home construction sites for rough lumber with a builder I know. I also garbage pick for some wood often, and hardware. Cabinet rails and handles start to add up!
One of my best finds of scrap wood was about twenty five years ago when a local library was being refurbished. Lots of hardwood shelves and plywood shelf backs.
Tear down barns for free if you want oak. It may take a few weeks, but you will get a huge amount of wood planking normally and you do need to pull the fasteners.
fun fact, most are actually just veneers and when you try to cut them to boards they twist and spring all wonky. breaking down mom's old one ended up just making me sad.
@@joesbarbecue1 "oh well, just get rid of it" she said. the piano was replced with a keyboard decades ago when the soundboard cracked ... lesson, don't store pianos without climate control.
I'm fortunate enough to have a local sawmill that resaws exotic wood and the pallets that come in are made of exotic wood. Be nice and build relationships with local businesses. Sometimes he will even discount wood that are leftovers from big runs. I have a millwork shop that does the same thing. Thank you for the additional tips!
@@sigfreed11 I just went into my local saw mill, he was easy to find. The millwork shop I found online and made contact in person so I could establish a connection. I feel that just making calls generally won't be enough. Just do a Google search for millwork or cabinet shops close to you
Even some non-woodworking businesses generate a lot of scrap wood. My employer manufactures steel products. We use a lot of wood as packaging material, and as a result we have a 40-yard scrap wood bin sitting out in our shipping yard. A lot of our off-cuts are small, so they're mostly good for firewood. Some of our employees will take a box of off-cuts for camping firewood. We also get a lot of longer pieces from tearing down crates, which don't typically get reused because the boards are too wide and too thin. Cruise around industrial parks and look for large roll-off bins. If you see three or more at one business, chances are good that one of them has wood. As James mentioned in the video, we have to pay to dispose of this stuff, so it's in our interest to give it away for free.
i have been using salvaged wood for years. A couple recommendations, seal the ends of each block of wood when it is freshly cut. I use melted candle wax. The other, remove as much bark as you can. Most insects live under the bark at the cambia layer. If you notice some worm holes etc. give a good spay of insect spray. Inspect it as it drys, if you see fine sawdust, give it more spay. It may help to put it in a black work site waste bag in the sun, I am told it helps kill the bugs. I cut it down into semi square blocks with a chain saw. I sticker it and add a fan to help it dry. I expect freshly cut wood to take several years to dry. I get some waste, but it was free in the first place. A power hand plane helps to bring it into shape to make it workable with power tools. I use the really rotted parts by adding some epoxy, the results can be specular. I noticed that one post suggested tree services, most will be happy to get rid of the larger tree trunks and limbs.
Thanks for the tips! I was lucky enough to obtain a black cherry, black walnut, and english walnut in the last storm that blew by (my friend's yard, the end of my road, and another friend's father's yard). It was a lot of work, but I was able to cut them up with my chainsaw, haul them with my truck and hire a local sawyer with a Woodmizer to come to my house. I also found an apple orchard on FB marketplace that invited anyone to come and take hundreds of cut down trees for free! I have enough slabs of this wood stickered and drying now to last me for years of projects, and all for around $700 for the sawyer's fee. Learn how to ID useful trees in your area - it can pay off big time.
Little sawyer here. If anyone lives near central Tennessee (or doesn't mind a trip), I have rough cut, live-edge hardwood lumber for sale. I have maple, spalted maple, red oak, hickory, elm, cherry, and Eastern Red Cedar, among others. Various thicknesses, mostly 5/4. Most of it has been air dried under roof for years.
I bought 2 stacks of walnut in the past. I bought them when I didn’t really need them because I found them on for sale boards or Craigslist. I bought the wood for 1-2 $ a board foot. There is some waste there, but it is usable for jigs, tomato stakes etc.
I once found some real nice baltic birch plywood behind a grocery store. It was from crates that their new reach-in freezers came in. It was nice enough that I made a coffee table and two end tables. That was about five years ago and I am still using them. I know another source. Ever hear of a thing called "Housing for Humanity"? They have stores where they sell excess lumber, trim, and hardware. It's cheap.
I made a living for several years salvaging and building furniture and cabinets out of America Chestnut. I am fortunate to live at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains where the chestnut trees died as late as the 1950. Lots of barns and even homes were built out of the sawn logs from the dying trees. Now that I am disabled I am going back to the years of shorts and cutoffs my father insisted on saving and building small projects that sell like crazy.
Commercial construction. Especially if you're a worker, the best source. The amount of plywood that's thrown out is crazy. Not often good quality but for shop furniture its great. Every job I usually get anywhere from 4-10 sheets of d grade 3/4 ply. Free classifieds sites like Craigslist or Kijiji if you're North of the wall fan be a good source sometimes too.
Just pitching in my 2 cents worth. The remodeling thing has done well for me the last few years. I got a piece of cabinet veneered plywood nearly 7' long by 20" wide from a business remodel. At another I got some small, but usable bits of East Indian Rosewood and Wenge. From pallets, I've gotten plywood, similar to Baltic Birch, but lower quality. Oak, maple, walnut and my prize piece, a plank of curly maple I'm saving for a future guitar project. Even got some pieces of Dark Red Meranti from one. You just never know.
That wood furniture you see at yard sales with heavily abused or water-damaged exteriors often have good-condition wood in the drawers and inner frame. And yes, old abandoned curb sofas/couches can sometimes have good wood in the frame.
I am going to add old farmers to your list. The older the farmer, the tighter the wallet. They save EVERYTHING. Old wood included. My friends grandpa had an entire building holding the wood he had saved from different building demolitions or projects. Watch farm sales and auctions.
Half the time the pallets we get at my work are made out of perfect 2x4x10 pine boards and then 1/2x4x4' oak slats across the pine boards. It blows my mind that they are using oak on these pallets.
There's a bin at my work that is full of 4x4's and 6x6, usually about 8' long. These come from flat-bed trucks. I've gotten a lot of really nice pieces from that bin.
Stumpy you surprise me you should know this the Orientals don’t throw Woodway like we do they say you had recycled wood their profession at it everything that was was something becomes something else they don’t just discard would do them is precious he should beat us to I would think that you would have use this opportunity to stress that towards everybody I love your program You’re the best amongst all of them for woodworking thank you stumpy merry Christmas
Just a few comments that i felt needed mentioning.. As far as firewood or even whole trees goes, consider their use. They've spent a lifetime being rifle and pistol target backstops and also conveneient fence and sign posts. The damage a bullet, nail or piece of barbed wire can do to a saw blade can be catastrophic and the damage to you even worse. As far as pallets, when using them remember that you don't know what they've been used for and often pallets are multi-use and although the last place was a tile distributor, the last place may have used it to ship leaky insecticide cans. Never use for food type items like cutting board. And also somewhat rare, always check for the international stamp on how it was treated. HT - heat treated is what you are looking for. MB - methy bromide should be left where it is - very toxic to touch, ingest, breathe as dust or inhale as smoke. And lastly, demolition wood. An excellent source if you know when the build being knocked down was built. Pre 2004 buildings likely have arsenic treated lumber in them. That became illegal on Jan, 1. 2004.
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I got the ISO tunes ear buds but they were a bit too low volume for me- couldn't hear my audiobooks well enough. I gave that set to a buddy and he loves them, I got the over ear versions and they work great!
I am one of those local sawyers! I have a Wood-Mizer LT35 and mill whatever I can get my hands on. Walnut, Cherry and Oak are the ones I like to mill but just did some beautiful Spalted Hackberry and some Ash. I even set up my own kiln so I can dry the lumber. Have a ton of fun running it and make a bit of cash to keep it running. Thanks for mentioning us as a good resource! BTW - I am mostly word of mouth but also on FaceBook. Thanks! Love your channel and learn a lot!
Thanks for the great advice and video James! 👍❤
@@thesquiresworkshop8560 I think that's really interesting! Good to know
This guy was raised by really great quality parents, having concern for low income folks who may cherish a piece of furniture over him disassembling it for wood. In other videos of his I've seen so much honesty & integrity. I wish there were more folks like him in this world!
Ya, it would be a better place.
@@blueblur6447 😊
I do this regularly and build and rebuild furniture to give away .. And it's great advertising for paying customers..
@@raphaelklaussen1951 Engineer , doctor etc... If I had a brain tumor, I wouldn't hesitate to have him operate...LOL... As long as he doesn't use an angle grinder.
@@martinoamello3017 That's AWESOME Martino !!!
The wisdom and humility in this channel is a genuine pleasure. Please keep it up!
There is a saying among senior woodworkers: he who dies with the most wood/tools wins. Estate sales especially for members of woodworking clubs can be an incredible source of good collectible expensive wood that the family is just interested in liquidating.
"it's all about who you know and nepotism"
Man, much respect for the thoughts on thrift store furniture. People around here pick them bare for project wood.
I like the sentiment, but it's very idealistic. The store needs to sell it, the buyer needs to buy it, whereas the theoretical shopper who may or may not exist may or may not even want it when they do actually look for furniture.
Another recommendation that combines a few of the points mentioned in this video: when searching for wood on the various websites, keep an eye out for woodworkers who are retiring or moving, and are looking to liquidate their own stock. You may think that it'd be a hurdle dealing with a seller who knows the value of their wood, but I've found most I've encountered are eager to see their old treasures going to a good home, especially if you are starting out on the cheap like the people this video is targeted to. If they are moving, they also might be faced with a time crunch that is incentivizing them to sell their wood by any means necessary before they have to trash it, or worse, pay a mover to bring it with them.
Another upshot is that if you can convince them that you're a decent person, they might actually pass some of their sources and contacts on to you, especially if they're retiring and don't see you as future competition. And on a less tangible level, in the process you might just find yourself a new wellspring of expertise and information that you would never find elsewhere on the Internet.
This. When I sold my house, I was glad to give away the lumber to someone who would use and appreciate it.
I was driving by a junk yard and noticed an old wood bed, I stopped by and took a closer look, it was solid black walnut at 1.5” thick by 6-8” wide for the frame. Took it home, planed the old finish off, and now building a few projects! Be on the look out for items like these. Great video!!!!
I was driving by a 40 units apartment and noticed an old wood furniture, it was oak. But I didn't take it home cause I was not sure it's dump and I don't wanna ask 40 units tenants. I wish I had your luck, Bro!🥴🙄🤑
You didn't mention the Amish. They have mills all over. They don't charge like stores do. And they are very knowledgeable!
I used to have access to glass shipping pallets. Those things are 8 to 12 ft big and full of character (and nails) but the grain and figure can be the most interesting with swirls from nearby knots and sap pockets.
Most of it is pine but occasionally foreign glass pallets are hardwood.
The honesty in this channel is great
Large cabinet shops are also a good place to check. I used to live near the Medallion Cabinet plant in MN. They had a "store" where they would sell the mistakes every Saturday morning for pennies on the dollar. I especially liked when they would dump raised panel doors. I bought a lot of cherry and walnut for 25 cents per door. A few minutes with a router on the inside of the door and my wife had some nice picture frames and I had a bunch of usable cherry and walnut from the raised panels.
was talking to a friend around the camp fire the other day and mentioned hard woods and he went to his trailer and said here have this cherry and black walnut blanks I was going to burn this weekend. Thanks for the reminder to ask builder/contractor friends! Now I have enough for some fun small projects.
Hi Stumpy, I want to add an idea to your list here: Used wine barrels. Where I live I can get them cheaply and there is a good amount of wood coming out of a barrel. Also the wood is often stained red on the inside. You have to learn to work with the bend, but if you are creative, there is a lot you can do with it.
I worked in too many factories to trust pallet wood. You never know what was stored (or spilled) on it.
Grocery stores are likely to have pallets that will be chemical free (or so I would truly hope...)
It's all we could afford as kids if we could get the twisty nails out! We also had a furniture manufacturer in the neighborhood that we would get shorts from. Raiding their dumpster was more fun than the Frito-Lay one where you could find almost expired cases of Doritos.
You do have to be a little picky if chemicals are your concern (and should be). But there is good pallets/crates from factories. Generally you want to find the single use purpose built ones. Like the ones they would have shipped a motor on.
You make a fair point. I'm working in a store where we could several pallets in every day. Some of them are nasty indeed, especially the "good" euro pallets that have gone all over the world for god knows how long. I swear some of those pallets would have been going for years and must have some great stories to tell XD
I know 1 supplier of us most always seem to use new pallets, the boards are small and thin but they're usually good quality wood and I already have a nice load of that.
Otherwise I always keep my eyes open for anything that looks viable and take it home.
The way I deal with pallets is simple. I use my circular saw to cut out all the slats so I don't have to deal with all the nails. Everything else usually ends up in the fireplace. Doing it this way only gives you small boards yes but you're almost guaranteed the wood to be metal free and saves a lot of time on prying apart pallets trying not to split everything.
I'm a little surprised you didn't mention my favorite place: Hardware stores that have a saw on site. A lot of customers request specific pieces and leave the offcuts at the store. All the stores around here have two bins next to the saw: valuable offcuts for cheap and scraps for free. I found a stretch of hardwood kitchen counter that exactly matched mine and some strips of MDF that were too narrow for most projects but were perfect for my shelving unit.
In my neck of the woods, Phoenix, AZ, we have bulk trash pick up days 4 times a year. That is an EXCELLENT source to score some great wood or trash to treasure pieces.
I am now a bonaified trash picker. I cruise with my trash harvested running stroller, and collect all kinds of treasure. It is amazing what people are willing to throw away!
Just the other day, I was thinking I needed a good length of angle iron to fortify the underside of this cheap 2x4 pine laminated work surface a friend gave me. My clamps dig deep pits into the underside of the pine, or white wood, or styrofoam wood, whatever you call it. Though I could use a hardwood strip under there to toughen up the underside clamping surface... wood is now too expensive steel is cheaper, so was going to buy some angle iron, was out for a trash day dog walk and found a queen steel bed frame in a trash bin. All kinds of angle iron for free :) You just have to deal with the stigma of being a TRASH PICKER, and I'm sure 5-0 will show up soon, but I hope my cruddy smile will get me out of artificially hot water.
Great tips. I would add that also want to build relationships w/ contractors. I have always been generous and given anything to anyone if they needed it more than I did. The bread you cast upon the waters tends to come back to you. I have known contractors over the years who will just drop off wood if they wreck a nice deck or something.
Yet another new video worth Gold , its a pleasure to watch stumpy nubs woodworking channel👌💯
My neighbour works in window company. Fantastic source of high quality offcuts. Great for wooden toys and so.
I wish you were my neighbor too.😊
Yup. Made a set of serving trays, a kids desk, and a dozen cutting board from a trash can of cut offs from the cabinet shop. Still had enough for the family camping trip 🔥. 👍
One of the key tricks with pallets, is that they're made with whatever wood is cheapest and easiest for the maker to obtain. In the U.S., that means a lot of low-grade oak, or poplar, but in countries like Singapore, it's often mahogany cutoffs. One company that makes cedar mailbox posts needs custom-sized pallets, so they make their own, from scrap red cedar.
As for cull lumber at Home Centers, it varies from one store to the next: One Home Depot near me, prices culls and scraps per piece, but the Lowe's I used to work at, will go through their stock, load up a sheet goods cart with less-than-optimal lumber, and price the whole cart, sometimes at about 10% of the regular price. I used to tell the guys in the Lumber department to just label the carts "Sold to Buzz", because my biggest competition in snagging those cull carts, was Buzz, in Plumbing. It was frequently one of the two of us, that bought it. Either way, though, is terrific: Either you find a piece you want for a low price, or you get a truckbed-load, also for a low price.
I haven't dismantled furniture for wood, (yet!) but I did recently refurbish an old dresser my wife bought: The ratty-looking drawer backs, once cleaned up, turned out to be BEAUTIFUL sycamore!
And if you have a chain saw, and are willing to bring it, a strong back, and an empty truck, you can often get wood by helping somebody cut up a fallen tree.
I've used most of these methods and they've helped a lot!
I love the straight face you have when you say "If your really not shy, you might try dumpster diving."
Makes me thing you're not just suggesting something you've never tried yourself. Points for authenticity.
I didn’t read all the comments yet but when you get pallets try to also look for the stamp on the outside runner. You can go on line and see what all those symbols mean that are stamped on those pallets. They will give you an idea of what that pallet was used for, ie. hazardous materials, chemicals, food grade etc. I have in the past gotten lucky finding some made in USA oak pallets and after sanding the slats down they had some beautiful grain.
One thing I’ve noticed and done myself is grab up the crappy ikea furniture people put out front for free , with a bit of work you can salvage a lot of the hardware it’s saved me a lot of money from having to buy all the threaded inserts and screws , also the panels or table tops can be used for quick cheap shop shelves
Apartment complex dumpsters are a great place to find old furniture when someone moves out
veneers over mdf, plywood, and partical board, even stuff built before 1970
I've rebuilt all of my kitchen countertops this pandemic including a 2 inch thick maple butcherblock island all from wood and equipment including the kitchen sink that I reclaimed from the curbsides on big trash day. It took a lot of work to repair de-nail/straighten/flatten with a planer and a crappy table saw. I'm gonna send you pictures soon. Everything was free except for supplies and cheap tools that I could afford to make it all work. I know these countertops will last 100 years if someone doesn't decide to remodel with new crappy materials you are likely to find in brand new 25,000 dollar or more POS pressed wood junk you will get from a cabinet shop or big box store that will rot out in 10 years.
Also, I got a LOT of help from these videos and others on youtube.
I get a lot of pretty good pieces from the off-cut bins of a commercial cabinet maker. They have to dispose of it weekly so they're happy to decrease the load. You gotta sift through it like trash, but you can get a lot of good hardwood that it's not worth for them to reprocess, including some larger cuts with "mistakes". I've made whole projects with mahogany, maple, oak etc from this source.
We always have construction projects, fit-outs, strip-outs going on at work. They all produce masses of discarded materials. With full approval, I've carted off several sheets of plywood, quite substantial pieces of lumber, and unused hardware such as cabinet hinges. I just made a riving knife for my table saw out of scrap steel from old lifts (elevators) being replaced. For me it's the reduction of waste that's most appealing.
Worked at a utility plant years ago. We received some large machine parts that were crated with clear white pine 1 1/2” thick. I was able to salvage enough lumber to make two coffee tables.
Great compilation of tips. My wood collection grew significantly in quantity and variety when I started sawing my own. My favorite two sources are people giving away trees on Craigslist, and the local lawn-debris landfill. In my area of Virginia that's resulted in beech, birch, hickory, red cedar, poplar, maple, pear, plum, white oak, chestnut oak, walnut, ash, and several others. I almost never pay for wood anymore.
Thank you so much for this video. I’m recently laid up due to surgery and looking for a hobby to get me through rehab, been wracking my brain how to get started in wood working. I’ve all the tools(I do lots of diy stuff around the home) but no source for hardwood. Between the start and end of your video I’ve texted/called and now have 3 sources. Thanks a ton. Sub earned.
Very sound advice. I have done all of these. My local Woodcraft has hinted to me that they will scan Craigslist for barn lumber to sell in the store, so if retailers are doing it...you can do it.
I saw some short poplar ends in a thrift store today. They were 1x6s about 18 inches long. Whoever bought them from Menards had obviously just sawn through the plastic wrapper since the paper label and plastic wrap were still attached indicating they were originally 10ft long.
I also picked up a small bed side chest torn down and separated outside a family home. I collected all drawers, sliding rail tracks, handles and fittings. I used couple of those perfect 90 degree box drawers to make a day bed with underneath storage.
I've been using pallet wood for about a year now, not only is it hard to breakdown and remove the nails, it also involves a lot of plaining to get it flat and straight, on the plus side, it's an excellent upper body workout.
I use a deck breaker to peal them off then a nail remover that I got off of amazon to remove the nails quickly. I can tear apart a pallet and have the nails out in about 5 min per pallet now.
@@klcunn58 5 minutes? You must have some nice pallets. In the ones I disassambled the nails were driven so hard into the wood that the wood partially closed over the nail head. Meaning it was impossible to grab the head at all, I had to remove it by hammering them very delicately from the other side. IN some cases it would only come out if I removed some of the wood over the nail head, which always leaves big marks.
@@jankoodziej877 that’s were the nail remover is really nice. It’s an air gun you shot from the sharp side of the nail and hit it right out.
@@klcunn58 ahh, that's what you mean. Interesting.
I grew up in an area that was transitioning from rural to suburban. I got all the wood for my tree forts from dumpsters.
I often keep my eyes open looking for discarded wood/furniture. I now have a 6 foot by 4 foot dining table that I use as workbench. I picked up a 8 foot by 4 foot American Oak dining table for $50 and use it as a second workbench.
My best pickup to date was an online estate sale; a listing for a single walnut board, hiding among all the other random estate items. There was nothing in the picture for scale, and I paid only a few bucks for it. The damn thing is at least 6/4 heartwood, 8" by at least 8 feet long.
Speaking of saw mills, there are a few near me. My father inlaw uses those cutoffs for fire wood and saves certain pieces to let sit for a few years. He has made some beautiful pieces from the wood he gets. I've been given some. He has gotten cherry, maple, red & white oak, hickory and others. We made my countertops from several of the ones I have mentioned above for our kitchen. I ABSOLUTELY love them! They are on my birch & popular cabinets I have made.
That wood may be a ton of work at first but it's really worth it in the end! You can get some great pieces of wood from saw mills!
Here in Finland, there is a growing trend of local "trash bin"- groups. In those, people give away things they do not need anymore - for free! I've harvested several shelves and other furniture, plywood boards and lumber from my groups. Some of the furniture I have used as such for setting up my shop in the carage. But for the most part, I break them down for raw materials
Thanks for the top tips 👍 Really enjoying this series of your videos, I've been a woodworking for a while now, but am finding your advice very helpful. ❤️
To add to this, some local areas may have not-for-profit organisations that specialise in recycling and reclaiming wood to keep it out of landfill. Here in the UK, I've found two in the two different areas I've lived in since starting woodworking, and they've been a fantastic balance to me between the real leg-work of tracking down unwanted wood yourself and paying commercial lumber prices. Even for people that have the money for new lumber, using reclaimed stuff like this can do a lot to reduce the environmental impact of what you do as well.
My workbench is junk wood. The legs are cull ash from the baseball bat factory, back when they used to start with square stock. The stretchers are all pallet wood. The top is a used solid core door. It is as solid and useful as the pretty bench you are standing behind !
My friend's small business has a fairly steady stream of pallets coming in. Just him and his son. Eventually they have to cut them down. I graciously offer to haul several away to lighten their work load. I'm currently building a computer desk out of pallet wood and scraps. I've got enough tools to make use of the boards and clean them up. It'll be great.
I've also found thrown away cut off from remodel projects when I'm out carpet cleaning. Got a nearly 7 ft 2x10 and several 2x6s and 2x4 cut offs.
Appreciate the new lighting configuration and/or color correction on this recent vid. 👍 Nice to see some warmer tones.
btw sometimes pallet are made out of a few thick beams and those pallets are super easy to take apart
Thanks pal for discussing all the aspects of wood working.As a new hobbyist I am learning a lot from your channel.Cheers from India .🇮🇳
Thanks for the ideas. I just started wood working as a hobby about a month before the prices jumped up
Never had much luck with pallet wood, but I've found some GREAT stuff trashdigging, like the other day I got 14 board feet of good straight black walnut! They were in the form of leaves for a giant table, so they're already glued up into panels. Another time I got some nice thick quartersawn sycamore from an old bed that someone threw away. Got some big mahogany turnings and thickly veneered boards and panels from another curbside bed.
Thanks James.
Very good info!
And very respectful, as others have mentioned :)
I used to visit a nearby furniture factory. They used to set out a 45 ft. trailer full of mainly maple offcuts. I stopped when they stopped using solid wood in favour of particle board. I made a ton of toys for my kids and others from those scraps of maple.
There is another benefit of sourcing waste wood and clean HT pallets. Less land fill, less going to waste by being burnt, less fire risk at these locations by removing a fuel source.
My father inlaw gets the ends & slabs from a local sawmill. They even deliver it. He has made some great pieces of furniture or kitchen items from that wood. He dries it out for a few years in his garage.
Another awesome video with usable, valuable information as always!!! Thanks...
A note on pallets.
Try places likely to get shipments of large/heavy equipment. Paper mills, and industrial machinery vendors are great for this. It can be hard to find because there is usually an employee that wants it but if you can get a few palets/crates from them it is usually good high quality wood including sheet goods that was single use and built well because well... You aren't going to ship a $40,000 machine and go cheap on the pallet.
I've been in construction my whole life mostly new construction but been remodeling for the last 6 years. You are exactly right, it's amazing what we throw away daily from cabinets to appliances to lumber and flooring especially after a tear out.. Our dumpster at the shop costs $600 to dump we do that at least once a week often twice so we love people who can use any of it.. ...but... Please ask... Some of that may be spoken for or may not be trash. Also no one likes people they don't know poking around their stuff without permission. If You ask you might find many places might even be willing to set stuff aside for you if they know you'll be there for it REGULARLY.. So your advice on developing relationships with a business or company is also very true. Most places will be happy to give you anything they don't want and probably even help you load it if you need help if they get to know you (make friends with the guy on the forklift) but if they set stuff aside and you don't come for it they won't like you.. Show up often enough and you'll be on their mind when they throw stuff away..👍
Much of the lumber I used for building my shelves came from one job site. They were remodeling, and I filled my SUV several times, and even got some live edge lumber with the bark still on it. This dated to the WW2 era where lumber was primarily used for the war effort. In this case, this was poplar lumber, and not usually used for carpentry, as it's a soft wood.
Beginning/end of the month moving week, check condo complexes trash. You will be amazed at what people throw out. Tabletops sheet and leather/vinyl sheets from couches and chairs. living room couches and chairs framework is often hardwoods. I have got 3x4 x 5 ft square stock and large blocks and large sheets of heavy cloth material many times. Hinges and handles and fancy nuts/bolts/hooks/springs, appliance sheet metal, electric motors with functioning speed control electronics from appliances and more.
Made a great large-ish mini lathe from a kitchen blender, speed control with great torque, well mounted compact power head right at the start of 'adaptation'.
Sir, you are TREASURE TROVE of useful information. Bless you. Great video!!
I like to keep the scavenger's battle cry in mind: "If it's free, it's for me."
Though it's not woodworking related, your video reminded me of another low/no-buck technique for crafters in the field of kitemaking who are just starting out. It's been decades since I successfully tried it, but novice kitemakers should check out shops making sails for boats or windsurfboards; often they'll cheerfully give you a pile of their ripstop nylon scraps for you to play with - or, as one friend figured out, they'll really love you when you offer to pay a nice price for a dufflebag stuffed full of their discarded material, most pieces of which are enough to make whole kites on their own.
About palettes. In the middle of the last century, Marblehead cabin cruisers were built on hulls made in the Far East. Import duties were charged based on the value of the hull. Then someone realized that the shipping crates (frameworks) were made of teak and were worth more than the hull. Or so the story was told at the Marblehead dealer. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for sharing with us James, lots of good information about finding deals on wood! Appreciate you sharing with us. Fred 🙏🏻🙏🏻👋👋👍👍👏🏻👏🏻
At the local Lowe's just down the street, I found a bargain cart with 5 to 6 tiers full of trim. Only some was actual wood but all of it was usable for some projects. The trim was up to & more than $40 per stick (7' to 8' +) on sale for $1 a stick. The stuff I needed was solid oak 1/4 round (3/4"). I picked up 6 sticks @ 10' long & more misc trim (20 total) for $20.53. What a deal. Sometimes you can talk to the store or front end mgr & make an offer.
So far I have a decent stock of pallet wood. Working in a store where we get several pallets in every day I always keep my eyes open for the good stuff.
The way I process the wood is simple, I take my circular saw and cut all the slats out. Surely you're getting shorter boards but it saves a lot of time trying to pry the pallets apart and get all the nails out.
I might have shorter boards but making only small stuff it's still very viable and my chances of finding any metal in my wood are very slim. Everything leftover usually finds it's way in the fireplace.
2 good and easy ways to start build in wood and cheap.
Great informative video. Never thought of some of the sources you mentioned. Thanks for posting..
I always like your videos. I don't always comment. Sensitivity and ethics - thank you.
Great video!! I got walnut from an old basketball court, wood was amazing! All free ..
Walnut pallets? Woah!
In regards to pallet wood, find places that ship heavy items like AC units. They use heavy duty pallets made of really great lumber. I have a stack of treated 2x4s that are 5-8' long. Had to take out deck screws, but I was even able to save several of those to reuse!
I go to my local lumber yard's and ask for cutoffs or shipping boxes. They are always happy to give it to me to just have the room for something else. It is usually a pickup load each time I go.
When I go to job sites I bring toys I made from scrap wood to give to the workers. They appreciate it and they will be more generous will the wood you can have.
I often hit up dumpsters at new home construction sites for rough lumber with a builder I know. I also garbage pick for some wood often, and hardware. Cabinet rails and handles start to add up!
One of my best finds of scrap wood was about twenty five years ago when a local library was being refurbished. Lots of hardwood shelves and plywood shelf backs.
Tear down barns for free if you want oak. It may take a few weeks, but you will get a huge amount of wood planking normally and you do need to pull the fasteners.
With the price of wood these days, I'm considering home burglary for grand piano lids.
fun fact, most are actually just veneers and when you try to cut them to boards they twist and spring all wonky. breaking down mom's old one ended up just making me sad.
@@jthadcast How did it make Mom feel?
@@joesbarbecue1 "oh well, just get rid of it" she said. the piano was replced with a keyboard decades ago when the soundboard cracked ... lesson, don't store pianos without climate control.
I'm fortunate enough to have a local sawmill that resaws exotic wood and the pallets that come in are made of exotic wood. Be nice and build relationships with local businesses. Sometimes he will even discount wood that are leftovers from big runs. I have a millwork shop that does the same thing.
Thank you for the additional tips!
How did you find the local businesses?
@@sigfreed11 I just went into my local saw mill, he was easy to find. The millwork shop I found online and made contact in person so I could establish a connection. I feel that just making calls generally won't be enough. Just do a Google search for millwork or cabinet shops close to you
Firewood is a great resource for turners
Even some non-woodworking businesses generate a lot of scrap wood. My employer manufactures steel products. We use a lot of wood as packaging material, and as a result we have a 40-yard scrap wood bin sitting out in our shipping yard. A lot of our off-cuts are small, so they're mostly good for firewood. Some of our employees will take a box of off-cuts for camping firewood. We also get a lot of longer pieces from tearing down crates, which don't typically get reused because the boards are too wide and too thin. Cruise around industrial parks and look for large roll-off bins. If you see three or more at one business, chances are good that one of them has wood. As James mentioned in the video, we have to pay to dispose of this stuff, so it's in our interest to give it away for free.
Why is no one talking about the familiar doggo sound at 6:12!! 😊
Just got into woodworking and its been fun on the bank (: been going to home depot and shopping the 70% off.
i have been using salvaged wood for years. A couple recommendations, seal the ends of each block of wood when it is freshly cut. I use melted candle wax. The other, remove as much bark as you can. Most insects live under the bark at the cambia layer. If you notice some worm holes etc. give a good spay of insect spray. Inspect it as it drys, if you see fine sawdust, give it more spay. It may help to put it in a black work site waste bag in the sun, I am told it helps kill the bugs. I cut it down into semi square blocks with a chain saw. I sticker it and add a fan to help it dry. I expect freshly cut wood to take several years to dry. I get some waste, but it was free in the first place. A power hand plane helps to bring it into shape to make it workable with power tools. I use the really rotted parts by adding some epoxy, the results can be specular. I noticed that one post suggested tree services, most will be happy to get rid of the larger tree trunks and limbs.
Thanks for the tips! I was lucky enough to obtain a black cherry, black walnut, and english walnut in the last storm that blew by (my friend's yard, the end of my road, and another friend's father's yard). It was a lot of work, but I was able to cut them up with my chainsaw, haul them with my truck and hire a local sawyer with a Woodmizer to come to my house. I also found an apple orchard on FB marketplace that invited anyone to come and take hundreds of cut down trees for free! I have enough slabs of this wood stickered and drying now to last me for years of projects, and all for around $700 for the sawyer's fee. Learn how to ID useful trees in your area - it can pay off big time.
Little sawyer here. If anyone lives near central Tennessee (or doesn't mind a trip), I have rough cut, live-edge hardwood lumber for sale. I have maple, spalted maple, red oak, hickory, elm, cherry, and Eastern Red Cedar, among others. Various thicknesses, mostly 5/4. Most of it has been air dried under roof for years.
I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.
I bought 2 stacks of walnut in the past. I bought them when I didn’t really need them because I found them on for sale boards or Craigslist. I bought the wood for 1-2 $ a board foot. There is some waste there, but it is usable for jigs, tomato stakes etc.
I once found some real nice baltic birch plywood behind a grocery store. It was from crates that their new reach-in freezers came in. It was nice enough that I made a coffee table and two end tables. That was about five years ago and I am still using them. I know another source. Ever hear of a thing called "Housing for Humanity"? They have stores where they sell excess lumber, trim, and hardware. It's cheap.
I made a living for several years salvaging and building furniture and cabinets out of America Chestnut.
I am fortunate to live at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains where the chestnut trees died as late as the 1950.
Lots of barns and even homes were built out of the sawn logs from the dying trees. Now that I am disabled I am going back to the years of shorts and cutoffs my father insisted on saving and building small projects that sell like crazy.
Commercial construction. Especially if you're a worker, the best source. The amount of plywood that's thrown out is crazy. Not often good quality but for shop furniture its great. Every job I usually get anywhere from 4-10 sheets of d grade 3/4 ply.
Free classifieds sites like Craigslist or Kijiji if you're North of the wall fan be a good source sometimes too.
Old pianos are surprisingly hard for some people to get rid of. These have thick, pre-milled hardwood pieces and slabs.
Just pitching in my 2 cents worth. The remodeling thing has done well for me the last few years. I got a piece of cabinet veneered plywood nearly 7' long by 20" wide from a business remodel. At another I got some small, but usable bits of East Indian Rosewood and Wenge. From pallets, I've gotten plywood, similar to Baltic Birch, but lower quality. Oak, maple, walnut and my prize piece, a plank of curly maple I'm saving for a future guitar project. Even got some pieces of Dark Red Meranti from one. You just never know.
That wood furniture you see at yard sales with heavily abused or water-damaged exteriors often have good-condition wood in the drawers and inner frame. And yes, old abandoned curb sofas/couches can sometimes have good wood in the frame.
I am going to add old farmers to your list. The older the farmer, the tighter the wallet. They save EVERYTHING. Old wood included. My friends grandpa had an entire building holding the wood he had saved from different building demolitions or projects. Watch farm sales and auctions.
Half the time the pallets we get at my work are made out of perfect 2x4x10 pine boards and then 1/2x4x4' oak slats across the pine boards.
It blows my mind that they are using oak on these pallets.
I really appreciate it!
Fantastic tips, dude! Thanks a lot! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
There's a bin at my work that is full of 4x4's and 6x6, usually about 8' long. These come from flat-bed trucks. I've gotten a lot of really nice pieces from that bin.
Stumpy you surprise me you should know this the Orientals don’t throw Woodway like we do they say you had recycled wood their profession at it everything that was was something becomes something else they don’t just discard would do them is precious he should beat us to I would think that you would have use this opportunity to stress that towards everybody I love your program You’re the best amongst all of them for woodworking thank you stumpy merry Christmas
I am not sure how my video contradicts that, or why it should disappoint you. I am talking about recycling wood, not throwing it away.
Just a few comments that i felt needed mentioning.. As far as firewood or even whole trees goes, consider their use. They've spent a lifetime being rifle and pistol target backstops and also conveneient fence and sign posts. The damage a bullet, nail or piece of barbed wire can do to a saw blade can be catastrophic and the damage to you even worse. As far as pallets, when using them remember that you don't know what they've been used for and often pallets are multi-use and although the last place was a tile distributor, the last place may have used it to ship leaky insecticide cans. Never use for food type items like cutting board. And also somewhat rare, always check for the international stamp on how it was treated. HT - heat treated is what you are looking for. MB - methy bromide should be left where it is - very toxic to touch, ingest, breathe as dust or inhale as smoke. And lastly, demolition wood. An excellent source if you know when the build being knocked down was built. Pre 2004 buildings likely have arsenic treated lumber in them. That became illegal on Jan, 1. 2004.