Kreg Owners' Community

I have held off bringing up this topic long enough. My fear has been that the answers from the many knowledgeable woodworkers are going to make my purse a little lighter. I have worked mainly with ash, aspen, pine, cherry, walnut, and oak… both store bought and local. I have spent many sleepless nights looking through galleries online only to learn that my eye has a taste for exotic woods. Mainly the combination of exotic and local. I love the creative factor.  I would love some input from you.

I live about 2 hours from any source of wood other than Lowes, or local lumber yards. I do have an uncle with a sawmill so I can “branch out” to hickory, curly maple, wormy chestnut, and lots of hemlock without spending an arm or a leg.  And I would love to find time to go through all his cast-offs.

My question is threefold…

1) If I do make the jump to buying small quantities of exotic or other woods what do you recommend for starters? I can order online just about anything of course. I have a cart full at Rockler.com that just sits there patiently. Every time I revisit the site I have to just say a quick hello and dream of all the creative inlays I could crank out.  I would love to hit the "checkout" button but I do have some self-control.

2) What sources are trustworthy for ordering? Of course (having past experience with the ecommerce development industry) I know that the possibilities of getting burned without doing my homework are very real!

3) And finally, what finish do you recommend for the wood.

I have several projects in the completion stage and frankly I am tired of seeing and smelling the same old wood. ..OK no I am not really as I still love the smell and sight of wood grain. But it would be nice to incorporate something different into the Sketchup plans hanging on the clipboard. I am not so concerned with using solid wood as I am working in some inlays in veneer table-tops, drawer and door fronts, or even edging.

Thanks in advance!

PS… Does it mean you are a real woodworker when you read what you just wrote and you spelled “wood” instead of “would” every time?

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This is Marble Wood that I got from Woodcrafters store with Poplar in the midddle. I am also a fan of mixing it with local "normal" wood. I have also used Purpleheart and Boccata I think it is called. They turn out very nice and are very pleasing to the eye.

Www.angeluswoodworking.com
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Kim,

I have three words for you:

1. Dumpster diving (that's 2)
2. Free

Now look, I'm not a cheapskate (does spell check pick that up?) but, if you have seen the CNC carved boxes in my photos, I got them from a friend's woodworking shop.....they were going to be discarded.....OMG! That material is sapele, an African wood much like mahogany. Very consistent in color and almost no knots. I priced it recently at about $6 pbf.

Seriously, if you can do with small amounts or sizes of material (inlay?), then check out the local cabinet shops or millwork shops. They get rid of mounds of material on a daily basis. This would certainly be a good start.

As for finishes, I have gotten into using spray-on lacquer for small projects. Lowes sells Deft aerosol cans for under $6.00. You can re-coat within say, 10 minutes. I usually do about 5 coats. I can usually do about 3 small projects with one can.

The good news is that you may have to buy a bigger purse!

Good luck,

Ted
Kim,

I sent you a brief response to your welcome note and addressed a couple of things about branching out. It's easy to stay in one's comfort zone in any endeavor; mine has been cherry, black walnut, claro walnut, mahogany and maple. I've obtained a variety of exotic woods over the past few years - purple heart, bubinga, padauk, curly maple, makore, spalted maple and teak among them. My plan for the exotics is small projects like jewelry boxes and maybe an accent on a larger project.

Like you, I'm two hours from the nearest source of exotic woods and have only stopped there on the way back from a beach area in Florida. Atlanta is four hours away, so that's not practical unless I get real desperate! I haven't used any of the online sources so far.

A less expensive and perfectly acceptable way to incorporate exotic woods (as well as less exotic species) in a project is veneers. I've amassed a variety of veneers primarily buying them when attending The Woodworking Shows. I have also re-sawed my own veneers. With a good bandsaw and blade, one can make veneers from any type of wood to stretch one's dollar.

You mention having a cart full of wood at Rockler. I've bought a lot of stuff from them but have always seen their wood prices as being extremely high. The same with Woodcraft. I would look at all other sources before ordering wood or veneer from either of them.

The answer to what finish to use can be all over the chart. I've used everything from a simple oil rub to waterborne conversion varnish depending on the material and project application. I know this might not be very helpful but I don't limit myself to a single finish schedule. For instance, open-pore woods like oak and mahogany require a grain filler to get a smooth finish, whereas cherry and similar woods look great with an oil rub following by application of a "Danish oil" that you mix yourself.

Bill
Thanks! I am encouraged to try something new! There aren't any shops around that I have found that use exotic woods. Most consider the wood available locally to be exotic enough. The man who supplies curly maple to the Gibson guitar compay lives a few miles from me. I thought of giving him a call. The only dealers within a couple hours from me of milled wood maily recapture old wood from the hundreds of old cabins and barns in the area. It is beautiful wood but I am kind of burnt out on the rustic look.

I will probably have to resort to ordering some veneer. I don't mind the expense since I am making it for my home and intend on passing it on. Also, that is basically all the expense I will have in it... well that and Kreg screws. LOL

Once I settle on one I will probably need some specific advice on finish. The two species I have narrowed it down to are:

1) Purple heart for veneer on my daughter's vanity.
2) Bubinga to use with maple or cherry on a stand alone charging station for our family's numerous electronic do dads.

I have no idea about the best finish for either.



This is called Jarrah wood,comes from Australia and grows to 120 feet.It is same color as pictures and hard as Ironwood.Perfect for inlay work and as far as sanding it can be like a glass window. Manly used for out door furniture.As far as cost I have no idea on account I got about twenty picnic table end frames for free from store that had fire damage but the frames where not really hurt but they chose to turn in for claim.I think I ended up with a good amount of money there.These where built b4 I had Kregg system .The pictures are a cheese cutting board and foot stool

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