# Reclaimed Lumber Ideas



## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

I have a bad habit of stopping to pick up lumber, logs, pallets, anything else made of wood. So far, I've learned that in my neighborhood, the best place to pick up usable hard wood is at a tile store that sells imported tiles. I've gotten a lot of wood that resembles Jatoba, American walnut, more pine than you can shake a stick at, and other stuff I just can't identify.

I also had another idea when I heard that Steak 'n Ale and Bennigan's are going out of business. Since they are filing chapter 7 to liquidate the assets, the buildings will either be remodeled for new tennants or torn down. Last time I was in one, they had a bunch of fancy wood. I'm going to keep an eye out for any activity. You never know.

Do Lumberjocks who have the same habit have there own favorite places to hunt they are willing to share?

Happy hunting,


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

I dumpster dive construction/remodeling sites in my neighborhood for old douglas fir beams and fir flooring. I just watch as dumpsters arrive or the old wood is piled out.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

Funny you should mention this just now. Wednesday is trash day here in my neighborhood and I just made a few good finds sitting on the tree lawn yesterday. There was a nice solid oak mirror frame; evidently the mirror broke but there was nothing wrong with the frame. I disassembled that and added it to my lumber store. There was also an old dresser with solid wood drawers. The top and sides were veneer that was peeling so I left the carcass, but all the drawers went home with me; it is difficult to find any 1/2" solid wood stock anymore so I disassembled the drawers and kept the backs, sides and even the 1/4" plywood that formed the bottoms of the drawers.

Recycling old furniture from treelawns has been a good source of fine wood for me for many years.


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## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

Hi Jim:

I mainly use natural form wood in my rustic crafting business, e.g. twigs, slabs and roots.
However, I'm always on the lookout for reclaimable wood materials.
Here's a short list of some of my target sources:

1. Used Bourbon Barrels
Kentucky produces about 750,000 oak barrels a year. Generally, they are constructed from quarter-sawn white oak. A requirement in the bourbon industry is that a new barrel can only be used once. There is a big secondary market in Kentucky for used bourbon barrels, most of which are disassembled and shipped to Europe for whiskey/whisky making. Scotland and Ireland are big importers of our used bourbon barrels.
I mainly use the round ends for rustic table tops. I'm currently finishing a batch of 20 bourbon barrel heads for table tops.
I also use the barrel staves and even the iron barrel hoops in my creations.

2. Architectural Materials
There are many old houses near us, mainly in Covington and Newport, Kentucky, that are being remodeled are torn-down for new construction. Many old wood treasures await the thrifty refurbisher - oak, walnut, cherry, poplar, yellow pine etc.

3. Old Furniture
I'm always on the lookout for good quality used furniture made from interesting wood. Of course I'm careful not to destroy a true antique or collectible. Well, as far as I know. <grin>

4. Sawmill Scrap
I generally make small furniture items. So, I don't need large pieces of wood. Also, I'm looking for rustic character such as mixed heart wood/sapwood and an occasional strategically placed knot or imperfection.

5. Trade with other Woodworkers
We have a local network of woodworkers and professional crafters that keeps an exchange list of swab wood.

Hope this is a start…


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## RobS (Aug 11, 2006)

*Out of the way beaches….*




*Local creek bottoms…*


*and , as mentioned above, trash days and alley ways..*


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

Turn old to gold!

That is the plan


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## relic (Aug 16, 2007)

I take some pallets from work, if I don't it gets tossed into the dumpster. I try to find out if anyone wants them for projects or fire wood first though. Most of the pallets that do come in are maple, oak, birch, and sometimes we get mahogany. The mahogany pallets are hard to come by, but if you know a business or an importer, that brings in battery cells or furniture from overseas you might get lucky. I read somewhere that some pallets are sprayed with pesticides, so dust from these could be an issue.(any foreign wood for that matter)
Furniture manufactures or flooring companies have a lot of cutoffs that could be used for smaller projects or crafts, just ask it usually headed for the dump anyway.


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## Tinyshop (Sep 1, 2007)

I recently scored a chunk of cherry 8" wide by nearly 5' long. I live near a bunch of trim mills and you would not believe the wood they trash. Never to proud to dumpster dive!


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## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

I just found a company that has large pallets (4'x6') left over from moving large pieces of glass that are solid pine over one inch thick and 4-6 inches wide. I also found a millworks supply company the other day that has huge cedar logs waiting to be processed and a small sawmill in the back. Can't wait to get to know that guy.

Another thing I found that helps is that anybody that lets me collect free wood from their business gets a small box made from some of their wood as a thank you present.

More ideas are welcomed…


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## Sac (Jun 14, 2008)

Whew I thought I had a real problem, always wanting to look at a way to reclaim lumber. My 4th piano picked up the other day and I have had it with them for a long time. When I head to the landfill each week I look at the pallets just in case. We use them to store hay on and wood for the fireplace. So I got a good one the other day that I took apart.


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## trifern (Feb 1, 2008)

I picked up as much wood as my car would hold today. It should make several rather large bowls. I traded for 5 cigarettes. I left the two guys my business card and told them to call me when they run across some walnut, cherry, maple, honey locust… I told them I definitely would make it worth their while. I don't know for sure, but I have a sneaky suspension I will be getting a call soon.


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