Laminated Maple Tops for Free in MA!-10 Bowling Alleys being taken out

One of these would be nice for a bench top once you get past the nails. I hope that someone can find a use for these. I would hate to see them go to a landfill.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I agree, if it wasn’t for the 400lbs factor, I would go there right now and get 3 of those…

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I would rent a truck and get as many as I could.
sell a few to get the truck rental money back and give some to fellow LJ’s :)

One of my woodworking buddies had the same idea about making a bench out of a couple of those slabs, oh about 15 years ago. They’re still pieces of a bowling alley. I was tempted myself, but dealing with the nails, and flattening them in lieu of a wide planer or hauling them to a cabinet shops wide belt sander was not something I wanted to tackle. Figured I’d eventually make one from scratch. But I do hope somebody snarfs them up verses going to a landfill.

-- -Curt, Milwaukee, WI

Aw, you’re killing me, Purp! I would love to get some bowling alley maple. And 8’x3’x3”!? Are you sure? I didn’t realize bowling lanes were so thick underneath. I’m guessing it’s all thin strips glued edge to edge, like 1×3 planks glued face-to-face on their 3” sides, stood on their edges. I’ve been a fan of some projects I’ve seen made of this stuff for awhile now, including this workbench and this table (from the bottom of this post – looks like it is 1×3s on their edges!), and these tables are fun, and very pretty. I hope all of it gets rescued.

This post on a bar that redid its floor in bowling lane wood links 2 places at the end that do reclaimed wood. They have some cool stuff. Oh, and our own Karson used some bowling lane material here to nice effect.

Thanks for alerting us! I wish I wasn’t so incredibly far away. I have a truck now that can tow almost 9000lbs! :)

-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator

That’s exactly what I made my bench from. I wouldn’t do it again. Read my story:

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Take your saw, cut, load, put back together in your shop!

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Purp, I might head down there today with my truck. Wanna go with?

Jason

dang it why didnt i see this post i was just thier and i have a tractor trailor grrrrrr

-- I buy tools so i can make more money,so ican buy more tools so I can work more, to make more money, so I can buy more tool, so I can work more

Thanks Jason – It’s awesome to get all the positive responses and offers – I must say, that although I’m used to the positive attitude on this site- I was happily surprised to get these offers to go with and pick those up!

awesome!

as I PMed you – I don’t need any more (can’t fit any more) but am willing to go there with you and help you load some.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

Went down there today. Had been pretty well picked over.

Nothing but junk. An hour drive for nothing. SIGH…...

Oh well—thanks for the heads up.

Jason

I think I’m with you, Gary.

The slabs I looked at today were 1×3 maple alright, but each board had been nailed through into the piece beside it. Lots of gaps, too.

I suppose I could take them all apart, re-mill and re-glue them all together—but not without first removing about a ga-zillion nails first. Not worth my time.

Jason

Sorry to hear that Jason.

for what it’s worth – now that I see those laminated floor slabs, I would have to agree with Gary that buying the lumber and building it from scratch would be LESS WORK and should cost around $100-$150 for maple (I believe)- I still am happy with the find, as I like the recycling idea a lot, and the story to add to the bench.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

PurpLev – plus, you could just have hard maple 1×3s on the sides, and then, say, plywood, or poplar 1×2s across the middle, with a thin layer of hard maple 1×1 rips on top of them. Unless you really need it to all be maple to the core, you could probably save a small chunk of change by not having all 400lbs of it be maple.

-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator

that is true Gary. I think It was Moai which posted not too long ago about his search for a bench, and as he researched , only the top 3/4” or so needs to be hard lumber to take the beating, a 2” top is really more for the weight than for hardness. but I believe that doing all those laminations and layers, and aligning everything might be more work that it’s worth – easier to suffer the “cost” difference, and just go laminated maple all across (can be 2” thick – and only the skirts be 3”-4”).

P.S. for anyone new to the thread- here is the follow-up thread about our trip to pick some of those up

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.