January 7, 2008
When Rick and I went to the wood show in Toronto last fall, we stopped at a booth that had a variety of veneers on display. When I picked up the written information I discovered that they were located in Cambridge, not too far away from me. Rick, who had lived in that area his entire life didn’t know the store. Well, it turns out, after we tracked it down on the weekend, that it’s “that blue building by the river”. He had passed it a zillion times in his life – always seeing it but never knowing what it was.
They are open on Saturdays until noon, so we made it our first stop of the day as we did the “to do” rounds. What a surprise; what a treasure – and it had been sitting under our noses all this time. First, we went upstairs and found rows and rows of wood. There were hardwoods, soft woods, exotic woods; there were spalted woods and burl woods; there were blocks of wood, chunks of wood, planks of wood; there were woods for pen blanks, and intarsia; they had a room specifically for musical instruments (but we forgot to go there). They had several HUGE wood slices of tree that were about oh… 10 feet high and 8 feet wide.. it seemed that big anyway.. HUGE. I am pretty sure the one was a “burl” and it said “sold” and if I read the writing correctly it said that the down payment of $4000 had been received.
There were also some small pieces of burl …. something really heavy… the pieces were about 2×2x8” and they were $49. (I think… the cost made my eyes water and I couldn’t see straight after that so I’m not sure exactly.)
The rest of the wood, the “plain ol’ wood” was quite reasonably priced, I think. Then, we went downstairs and they entire floor was dedicated to veneer. That was fascinating. There was also another building that held even more wood, but we didn’t go out there.
oh.. AND
AND
.. wait for it..
wait for it..
AND
they had willow! Ha. beautiful pieces of willow.
Yes, Tom, I took a picture.. just for you. Here’s what I brought home to play with. 
And then, this morning, I checked Freecycle and this little baby was posted to give away. Lucky me, I got it; drove to town and picked it up and it’s now sitting waiting to hung up in my living room. It’s a 26” square antique tin ceiling tile (which was from “the Right House”, a store I frequented as a young girl with my Mom). The frame is 100+ year old barn board, from a barn in Elmira, Ontario. 
Don’t you think it is going to look awesome along with my TV frame that Rick and I made a few weeks ago??
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
22 comments so far
GaryK
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8482 posts in 469 days
posted 273 days ago
It would seem that you found a gold mine! I wish I had a store like that close to me.
Good Find!
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 273 days ago
it sure felt like a gold mine. Pretty exciting.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Jeff
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964 posts in 574 days
posted 273 days ago
What a cool thing to learn you have this establishment so close to you. What are you going to buy first? <grin>
-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 273 days ago
I’m not sure, Jeff… but it won’t be those little blocks of burl … or one of those big slices of tree trunks…
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Mike Lingenfelter
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389 posts in 594 days
posted 273 days ago
There’s nothing like a good wood find.
-- Mike - http://inquisitivewoodworker.blogspot.com/
Blake
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1997 posts in 355 days
posted 273 days ago
Boy am I jealous. I wish we had a place like that around here. Are you sure it was real? Doesn’t sound like it to me. You might want to go back and check. I would be interested in seeing some pictures of the place, if they would let you.
-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com
BlueStingrayBoots
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315 posts in 482 days
posted 273 days ago
Dont let the high prices on some of that wood intimidate you, those are just pieces that arent really for sale. The owner also gets amazed at some wood pieces too, but his salesmen side without realizing it posts them for sale. Start a conversation with the owner about the high priced wood, after a while go to the stuff you want to buy….and ask for discount. lol
I love messin with salesmen.
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 273 days ago
http://www.amwoodinc.com
here’s the website. Next time I’m there, I’ll take a camera and ask permission to post some pictures for you
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
rikkor
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7593 posts in 355 days
posted 273 days ago
Man, I can’t believe your telling people about this!!! ;^)
-- Maplewood, MN
YorkshireStewart
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636 posts in 382 days
posted 273 days ago
Mmmm! the nearest thing to heaven Debbie! The numbers written on the board ends – are they your ‘board-feet’ measure?
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 273 days ago
rikkor… it was just a dream.. yah, that’s it.. just a dream… picture is a fake.. didn’t happen.. yah…
Y.Stewart – you can tell me what a board foot is and I’ll remember it for a moment.. but then tomorrow I’ll go “huh?”
I think it was the cost for each of the pieces.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
TreeBones
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1408 posts in 504 days
posted 273 days ago
It sounds like you had a good time there. I get so excited in a place like that that my wife laughs at me.
-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3
Grumpy
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5546 posts in 331 days
posted 273 days ago
Great blog Miss Debbie, how about sending some of that willow down under.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 273 days ago
part with willow??? be still my heart
haha
it is So beautiful and so light.. hey, it would be cheaper to ship, I guess…
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Paul
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589 posts in 573 days
posted 273 days ago
If someone can drive by it again and again and not know what the business is, sounds like that place needs a better sign. Must be run by the same folks that said the church I serve didn’t need a sign.
-- Paul, Texas
Karson
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12889 posts in 881 days
posted 273 days ago
I’ve been to their web site before. good find and in your neighbourhood.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Allison
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323 posts in 279 days
posted 272 days ago
Sounds like the ultimate find. To be so close. You are indeed lucky. It also reminds me of a place I go to when I go down to Southern Ca. and you now have given me an idea for posting my first “Real” blog here. Not like the first five mistakes I made Ha! Ha! But seriously tho’ the store I am talking about allowed my hubby and I to take all the pictures we wanted inside the place they even encouraged it. They knew what I was going to do with them (Posting on my blog) So I would think they will let you.Let’s hope they do. Can’t wait to see them Allison I’m jealous over your wood purchase. There is just something magical about a store like that!
-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 272 days ago
I don’t think there was a sign.. but they were busy when we were there.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Douglas Bordner
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2549 posts in 544 days
posted 272 days ago
There used to be a restaurant in Lawrence, KS that I frequented, called The Red Lion. There was a ceramic Red Lion in the window, in front of closed blinds. No sign. Placards on the counter stated “Don’t tell anyone about The Red Lion—the seat you lose might be yours.” Some places just are so good they survive on their legend, without proper advertising. Maybe they have such a clientele at your wood store. Well, the cat is out of the bag now. Hope they don’t have a run on willow…
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
MsDebbieP
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11909 posts in 641 days
posted 272 days ago
Douglas…. shhh!!! don’t even whisper that.. don’t even think that…. I have a source for beautiful wood and not rotting ol’ firewood….... shhhh
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
GaryCN
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80 posts in 415 days
posted 272 days ago
And they are only 3:20 min from my home. I’ll have to stop by next time I’m in Toronto.
-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
odie
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694 posts in 320 days
posted 272 days ago
Ah, Heaven
-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke".