I see a lot of guys here using nice woods like cherry and exotic stuff to make their fretboards and neck and such.
Looking at the web sites that sell luthier supplies, they want hundreds of dollars for a couple pieces of wood.
Home depot etc. have poplar and oak and that's about it.
So, I sure would appreciate any tips or links to find some nicer varieties of wood that don't cost a fortune.
As such, I also see in the photos that some CBG builders are using these nice woods for fretboards in thicknesses of 1/4" or so.
Are you cutting this stuff down? or are you buying it in that thickness?
I want to make something really nice looking but ain't having any luck finding wood.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.


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Hey, thanks/
Looks like the WOODCRAFT has what I'm looking for.
I ordered some stuff from their site and I will be visiting their retail outlet this weekend.
Did not know they existed.
I appreciate the info but a lot of us don't have the equipment to rip down and plane large hunks of wood.
Also the Rockler site helped and I hope any other newbies will read this discussion.
Thanks
Clay Lake said:
Hey, thanks/
Looks like the WOODCRAFT has what I'm looking for.
I ordered some stuff from their site and I will be visiting their retail outlet this weekend.
Did not know they existed.
I appreciate the info but a lot of us don't have the equipment to rip down and plane large hunks of wood.
Also the Rockler site helped and I hope any other newbies will read this discussion.
Thanks

Normal lumber yards will just sell dimensional lumber, but most goos hard wood dealer will sell wood in very usable sizes, and offer services for the reduction of lumber if needed.

Matt
The cheapest way to get good (hard) wood for this or just about any other purpose is to:
a. find it. In my city, especially my neighborhood, you can find items, such as discarded futon frames, that are made of oak, maple, mahogany, and many other useful woods.
b. visit any one of a gazillion flooring stores, especially ones that also install. Somewhere, usually on pallets (sometimes made of decent wood, themselves) or in a dumpster or truck out back, they will have tons of discarded wood of many domestic and exotic varieties, free for the taking (best to ask first). I literally just started a craft business making wood items (mostly jewelry boxes) with this "waste". I actuallly have to limit myself as to what, and how much, I take (only a type of wood that I don't already have or wood that is so beautiful, I can't resist) because I have so (too?) much stock material, all of it acquired in this manner.

Clay Lake said:
Hey, thanks/
Looks like the WOODCRAFT has what I'm looking for.
I ordered some stuff from their site and I will be visiting their retail outlet this weekend.
Did not know they existed.
I appreciate the info but a lot of us don't have the equipment to rip down and plane large hunks of wood.
Also the Rockler site helped and I hope any other newbies will read this discussion.
Thanks
Sounds like Clay found his solution, but an important fact that I didn't mention in my previous post, that my be useful knowledge to others reading this (or maybe to Clay, for his next project), is that you do not have to have any/expensive/many woodworking tools in order to use free wood. Wood flooring scrap is basically already dimensioned to the (approximate) right size, as to be useful for building the neck of just about any of the instruments that we build/discuss on this site. So, if you know what instrument you are building, and therefore, what size piece of wood you need for the neck of that instrument, you may rest assured that you will have no problem finding exactly what you need, given the amount of scrap material that you will (usually) have to choose from in the waste pile/area of many/most flooring stores/installers. Even if, on a given day, you arrive to find slim pickings, or that the scrap has just been hauled, a return trip (even 1 or 2 days later) will yield completely different results, in terms of types and amounts of wood that will be there for you to choose from. I'd highly encourage anyone to try this, as it gives you a very satisfying feeling to find that perfect piece of (good) wood for free (instead of paying $$ for a piece that is similar/exactly the same), you help reduce the waste stream, it's more in-line with the original intent of making a "cigar box guitar/instrument", and it's almost always same-day service with no shipping charge! Happy hunting.

Mark Guthrie said:
The cheapest way to get good (hard) wood for this or just about any other purpose is to:
a. find it. In my city, especially my neighborhood, you can find items, such as discarded futon frames, that are made of oak, maple, mahogany, and many other useful woods.
b. visit any one of a gazillion flooring stores, especially ones that also install. Somewhere, usually on pallets (sometimes made of decent wood, themselves) or in a dumpster or truck out back, they will have tons of discarded wood of many domestic and exotic varieties, free for the taking (best to ask first). I literally just started a craft business making wood items (mostly jewelry boxes) with this "waste". I actuallly have to limit myself as to what, and how much, I take (only a type of wood that I don't already have or wood that is so beautiful, I can't resist) because I have so (too?) much stock material, all of it acquired in this manner.

Clay Lake said:
Hey, thanks/
Looks like the WOODCRAFT has what I'm looking for.
I ordered some stuff from their site and I will be visiting their retail outlet this weekend.
Did not know they existed.
I appreciate the info but a lot of us don't have the equipment to rip down and plane large hunks of wood.
Also the Rockler site helped and I hope any other newbies will read this discussion.
Thanks
Great advice Mark.

I have found another source of shipped wood.
They are a partner store to Rockler. They cary a huge stock of domestic and exotic wood. As well as tools and supplies. When you check thier inventory drop them a line and they will actually send you pictures of what they have available, so know what you are getting. They are local to Cincinnati Ohio and currrently have one location. But its worth a shot. As far as prices i thought they were fair, I recently picked up a 2" x 6" x 4' (actual demensions) piece of poplar for $11.60
You have t o call the local old places in the phone book. Ohio has many good small lumber yards.
I ordered my first "proper" guitar-making wood online from Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc. The prices seemed reasonable, and I loved the planks they sent me. Most of their woods are available in both "A-stock" (the amazing stuff) and "B-stock" (the pretty good stuff) pricing. I ordered all B-stock to save money, but was completely satisfied with what I got.

But I also agree with the other guys on this post: scavenging for scrap wood and discarded furniture is not a bad way to go. As they say, one person's trash is another's treasure. On trash pickup day in my neighborhood, there's always someone throwing out some untouched 2x4s, an ancient coffee table, or some other perfectly good source of hardwood. I once drooled over a discarded bunk bed frame -- it had about 15 perfectly-shaped hardwood slats that would have made excellent guitar necks.

Someone mentioned these guys before, but it's worth mentioning again for a decent source for all kinds of wood... and they'll cut to pretty much whatever size you need if you ask.

They even have 1 X 2 @ 36" which is basically what you can get at Home Depot and Lowes, but they have many varieties of wood. Prices, even with shipping, are very reasonable.

Quartersawn it's not, but the boards I've gotten are very straight, kiln dried, and finish quality sanded.

Ocooch HardWoods

What Mark Guthrie said - bigtime. Also, add cabinet shops to the list - especially cabinet shops that do a lot of custom work. .75" X 1.5" is one of the standard sizes for cabinet face frames, and a good percentage of those shops will let you rummage through their scrap for free if you don't make a mess. That's the perfect size for necks and such.

Another place to check is hot tub, swimming pool, and deck installers. I recently got some nice ipe scrap from a pool company, and will soon be getting some more. 

I have started to take logs to a sawmill for building material. When I hear of a tree to be taken down i ask for the trunk and have picked up 7 so far. Last trip to the saw mill i came home with 230 bd. ft. of lumber for 80.00, about .25 a ft. You won't find any thing cheaper than that.

I'd love to be able to do that. We have lots of saw mills around here (southern Oregon.) My problem is that I just don't have the space to stack lumber and let it dry. I see trees being taken down here and there, and I just know that the majority of that wood is going into someone's fireplace. Sad, really. Especially when you consider that this area is going through a big transition. This valley used to be filled with pear and apple orchards. The current trend is small vineyards and wineries. I can tell you how many acres of pear and apple trees have been ripped out and grapes planted. And all of those fruit woods are very desirable - especially to wood turners. 

One of these days I'll have the room to store lumber for drying, but for right now, I don't dare even try.

I stack mine on the patio, cover it and wait impaitiently. Next week I'm taking a Black Locust, 2 Ash, White Oak, and a Walnut. Can't wait for this!!!!

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