UPDATE: In addition to the supplier below try Rare Woods USA. The owner is Rory though anyone one can help you that answers the phone. He is from South Africa and began importing exotic lumber to the US about five years ago. He is not new to the business since he worked with exotic lumber in South Africa for about 25+ years. I learned of his exceptional stock of woods from Tim Manney. Thanks Tim! He spoke well of Rory and after speaking to him myself I got the same vibe. He really knows his wood and very quickly understood what I was inquiring about. He does have a minimum order so please be aware of that. Currently it is $300+ shipping. This accounts for his valuable time in selecting the right boards that you may want. He also has quarter sawn European steamed beech for plane making up to 8/4. I encourage you to check out his video about his lumber on his home page. You will see what a unique place he has. If you buy from him please let me and others know your experience by posting in the comments below. I have not purchased anything from him but wanted to pass on the source.
Have you ever heard of over promising and under delivering. Guilty as charged.
Several months ago I offered to sell beech blanks for those that have been looking for some to make moulding planes. I unfortunately have yet to deliver on that offer. I have a number of readers that I presume are still waiting on me. Sorry!
Well thanks to Doug Moulder (a blog reader) I have an out. He found a good supplier in Ohio. The beech supplier regularly (according to him) supplies makers such as Matt Bickford with their plane stock. I wanted to pass on his information to those that are in need. I can't vouch for any of his material but he does have 100% positive feedback on eBay since 1998 and Doug Moulder made some nice planes from his stock.
Mike is his name and his number is 740-310-3984. He goes by user name Logbuyer on eBay. If you have used his wood and made planes from it please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments section below.
I really hope this helps anyone that is trying to get some wood to make a few planes. By the way his current prices are better than I would have been able to offer.
Happy making!
I just put in an orde, we will see
ReplyDeleteI bought some quarter sawn /rift sawn beech from the Logbuyer on eBay. It was mostly rift sawn. Will the rift sawn work for the moulding planes? It's nice stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe further you get away from perfectly quarter sawn the less you benefit form the stability of the wood. Plus the profiles will begin to distort at an angle to the profile face rather than evenly distributed across it. Think of a box that distorts to a diamond rather than just simply changing width. That is what happens when it is rift sawn plus your wedge area will become less stable so your fit may not stay good throughout the seasonal moisture changes.
DeleteYour wear characteristics of the sole will not be quite as good either. Just a few things to think of.
Usually one edge of a rift sawn board is more oriented to the quarter sawn plane than the other edge. I would place the side that is more to the quarter sawn orientation to the sole. Some might reason differently but thats what I would do if you are trying to make the best of what you have.
Would you happen to have Doug Moulder's contact info? I came across his snipes bill plane plans on the 'Net and wanted to see if he has the original diagram published anywhere.
DeleteDarren,
DeleteShoot me an email directly. Calebjames@me.com.
Let me see what I can find. I should have it somewhere.
A lot of the beech cut is just turned into giant rail road ties. Shame too, it really is pretty wood especially figured. I use to work as a sawyer in a mill in Northern Michigan and I seen some nice Beech logs come through. All the stackers groaned when they came through, its no fun piling a 9x9 10' long beech rail road tie, as it's basically a square log. QS takes a lot more time and you lose more wood when you are cutting it for that, so most mills don't mess with QS, as most furniture is cheap these days and made form more glue than wood.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I like learning all these tidbits.
DeleteI can imagine your pain stacking those huge "logs". That is crazy heavy stuff. You are the man. :O :P :)
Do you have an update of any good source of quarter sawn beech currently?
ReplyDeleteSorry, It is the same as before. I would still like to have a better source myself.
DeleteI purchased 15 boards of various lengths from Logbuyer on eBay and have had mixed results from it. Some arrived fairly far away from quartersawn and had very large annular growth rings, likely due to being American beech. It warped quite quickly on me,and by a large amount, after thicknessing and cutting into blanks. Even after truing them up by hand I fear they will warp/cut more (again?) so they have been relegated to wedge and tote stock. It's a shame because I didn't cut any until 6-8 weeks after receiving it, beyond the time to be able to return it for a refund.
ReplyDeleteI also inquired if he had any thicker stock (before discovering the problems), 8/4 or greater, and was told he is starting to retire and won't be offering beech much longer. Perhaps that explains the quality of the material I received, maybe it's the "bottom of the barrel" as he drains his stock. I will personally steer clear of his material from here on out.
I recently found Horizon Wood out of PA that stocks 4"x4" quartersawn European beech from Germany in both 32" and 44" lengths. The gentleman I spoke with, when I placed my order, said it's not steamed but is air dried to 10-12% MC. I recently received a piece of the 32" material and at first glance it seems decent. It tested at 11% MC inbound so I'll let it acclimate and dry a bit before processing it into blanks. The annular growth rings are 3x smaller than Logbuyer's, maybe 50% smaller than Rory's at Rare Woods and is very close to true quartersawn. I will be recording measurements of it, including MC, over the acclimation period as well as after processing into blanks. Hopefully it doesn't warp due to the fact that it's euro beech with much tighter growth rings and is a higher quality of quartersawn cut.