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alright, so i screwed up the first time i tried making a body...oh well, big deal...

okay okay, so it was the first three times. i lost two maple bodies and then a magonany body.

but anywho! i feel comfortable now with what i am doing. after running through nearly $80 worth of wood that will now be used for...er...um...smaller...projects, i am having trouble finding cheap mahogany online. i had a local vender, but he charges nearly $90 for a size i need of wood that is way too high quality for what i'm looking for.

what i need to buy:

1-1/2 mahogany (looks don't matter, only tone)

2x 1/2 flamed maple veneer

if anyone knows someplace in the US that can get me stuff like that for cheap, that would be really cool.

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Have you really exhausted your local options with a good thorough on-line search?

Man, I was looking for another resaw source today, using my state and the word resaw, jeesus, I came up with a lot of hits, and I only need one.

Have you used a search engine to really hunt out your local guys?

Reason I ask...even if you found a good source on-line:

1) there's nothing quite like picking out your own piece when it's right there in front of you to look over.

2) whatever you'd save in finding a good deal, shipping will eat it up, so buying on-line, you might find a 'decent' acceptable price, but I doubt you'd find a *really great* deal once you toss in shipping...

I would think there's more around you locally??? Hardwood lumber suppliers don't exactly stick out like a sore thumb, but they're there, under the radar, just gotta sniff 'em out.

PS, if I ever told how many bodies I screwed up when I was first starting out...well...just you nevermind :D

Veneer is a different story altogether. I find really great veneer on e-Bay, and I'm now pretty familiar with the guys who have the really superior product on a regular basis.

Do a search on flame maple, see what you come up with. One of the HOTTEST pieces of flamed maple I've come across just went tonight, I lost the auction (outbid), but JEESUS it was sweet, like a cross between flame and quilt, very cool...

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I think the outfits that sell pre-sized body blanks are making a pretty hefty profit, even the discounted ones.

I bought an alder blank for $45 and brought it over the the wood shop I'm using, and the owner of the wood shop said it was about $8 worth of wood. There are several places in town that sell tonewood by the boardfoot. You'll need nome more advanced tools, like a planer and a joiner to prepare the wood, but you can save a lot of money over time this way.

-Sven

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i will try that "illinois" "resaw" search, now, and that was actually 1-1/2 inches thick mahogany. after reading that again, i realized that made no sense, and as for local dealers, well, there aren't that many. i'm in a really small city, mostly an arts community, too. musicians/media guys in majority, so there's no real market for wood venders and hardware stores. they just sell tools.

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I just went by my hardwoods store today and bought 4 board feet of black limba, 3.5 board feet of Alder and 2 tagua nuts for $31.83 Now I know that I live in a great area of the world to buy wood cheap and I'm not trying to taunt others (not much anyway), it is just to let folks know that the deals are out there. The place I went to has a primary business of selling hardwood flooring. Mostly to contractors, but they have a side business where they sell to anybody. When you are doing your seach, try flooring places and good luck.

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Drak, I'll ask you to call me Mr. Bastard, please.

While the Adler trees number in the millions out here, there are no Limba trees. I think they come from Africa. Scout around, it's fun to walk around a wood seller and look at all the variety. You can also heft the piece you're thinking of and judge it's weight.

If any of my brother (or sister) builders want to vacation out this way, I'd be glad to ecsort them to some good deals.

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Its literally lying around on the beaches out here, Vancouver Island BC. One fisherman I know was walking a beach on west coast Queen Charlottes and found a mahogany log. Fell off a ship I guess. It was 16' long X 4' in diameter. He took it to a local sawyer and got it cut into 2" planks to be later cut into flooring pieces when he got back home. I had a close look when he was stacking it on the deck of his boat and it was so tight I couldn't even see a grain.

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