Wood comes from What?

My woodworking teacher often comments that we have an entire generation of people that don't know that wood comes from trees.  I thought that was an exaggeration until one day when I was discussing furniture with a young man thought I was making a joke about making furniture from trees. I had to call my mentor and apologize for doubting his observational skills.

On Saturday November 12, 2011 I took a friend to one of my favorite places to buy lumber Hickory and Oak. Hickory and Oak is owned by Steve Van osdol. Hickory and Oak is a small custom saw mill that specializes in custom wood flooring and taking good care of craftsmen.
 

The first, and smallest, advantage of buying lumber directly from the sawyer is price. I can save the middle man's cut by going directly to the producer. The second advantage is that I can pick out the pieces that I need for a specific project. The advantage of buying from Hickory and Oak is that they will actually help you do that.

  

 

 Roger is an employee at Hickory and Oak. In the picture above he is actually sorting wood as Jeff reads specification from his cut list. I've never gotten that kind of assistance from a retailer

In order to to differentiate my work from similar pieces that you can buy from a retail outlet I need both meticulous craftsmanship and extraordinary raw materials. The next advantage of buying from Steve at Hickory and Oak is that Steve understands the needs of craftsmen like me and sets aside the best and most unusual pieces of lumber.

For example, check out this piece of poplar. The picture doesn't do justice to the amazing purple and brown accents surrounded by creamy white. Poplar is a wood that I would normally avoid because of its streaks of drab green mineral stains and dull off-white appearance. Without a custom sawyer looking out for my needs that piece would have speant the rest of its life cut into thin strips as a piece of a pallet or as fire wood.

 Another piece Steve set aside was this wide board of red oak. I tend to avoid red oak because it is so common. This board looks like a bird's eye effect.

Steve and I went into another building to check out this maple monster.

I asked Steve to step into the picture to add some perspective.

I then put my hand in view to show the thickness of this piece. Overall it is (going from memory) 8 feet long, 2 feet wide (at the narrowest) and over 3 inches thick. My mind's eye sees an amazing table in there. Contact me if your living room needs an amazing conversation piece.

A trip to Hickory and Oak is not complete without meeting and throwing sticks for "Log Dog."

So my friend, Jeff, picked up 150~ board feet of some of the most beautiful quarter sawn white oak (we'll discuss quarter sawn soon) I've ever seen to build two cribs. Me, I was there not to buy lumber but because I have a giant truck to bring home Jeff's future baby's future bed so I only bought these:

A big piece (8' x 6"x 2") of quarter sawn beech, for making tools.

A short piece of walnut for inlays and small gift items.

A beautiful piece of gummy cherry. I can't wait to see this when I'm finished. What can I make for you?

Yep, I couldn't resist. A big ole board of a wood I rarely use. I think I see a Christmas gift or six in there.

W. C. "Bill" Sias, Joiner and Cabinetmaker.