Questions To Ask When Buying Wood

[pmarlin]

I just found this place locally and I am going to go check it out this weekend, what kind of questions should I ask about the wood while I am there.

[Jon]

Ask about the moisture content of the wood. CAREFULLY inspect for cracks and splits. That's about it.

[fryovanni]

Price?? You should do your homework on what you want to look for. Drying method is a good question to ask. If it is air dried you may want to ask if they know when it was cut or what moisture content it is at(again it would help to know what moisture level to look for in your area as it varies with reginal humidity levels). You could let them know you want to use the wood for instruments and see if they can give you a bit of extra info on how to deal with wood. Most of the time wood dealers are pretty knowledgeable and really quite helpful, and that is even though we use tiny amounts of wood for instruments.

Peace,Rich

[westhemann]

i have a better suggestion for you...make the drive up to austin and go into hogan hardwoods...they are on industrial boulivard about 1 mile west of ih 35....i have never had an issue with any of the wood they keep in stock...especially the maple they have in stick...they sell it in perfect sizes to laminate for a 3 piece neck,and the flat sides are already planed well enough for invisible gluelines if you laminate...

there is also a cabinet shop on goodrich ave off of lamar...close to musicmakers...it is in the austin yellow pages under austin hardwoods ltd

the phone # there is 512 442 4001 they can give you directions and they have hands down the absolute finest selection of rough cut honduran mahogany i have ever seen..8/4 at about $8.50 per b.f....i buy it in 10 ft lengths at the width i want,then cut it into body blanks...let then sit for a few months inside to make sure they are finished moving,and then surface them to 1 3/4" for the bodies...

they also have alot of other high grade hardwoods,and the guy i talked to showed me everything he thought i might be interested in once i showed him a pic of a carved top i was making at the time...