Small blanks of rareish woods?

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jrista

jrista

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I've been making a variety of other things than pens lately, including various kinds of small vases, various kinds of turned boxes (sometimes multi-level, often with more exotic woods for the lids and finials), potpourri bowls with carved lids, etc.

I've been trying to find interesting combinations of woods. I'm running out of interesting woods, though, especially in the sizes I need, which are often 4x4x2" and 5x5x2" that I frequently use for lids. I am able to find these size blanks in certain woods, but I've been looking for some woods that I just cant seem to find in certain sizes anymore in woods like yellowheart, osage orange, some of the redder woods (I used to be able to find padauk fairly readily, seems I'm only finding it in 6x6x2" and larger now), etc.

Now, I have never actually had yellowheart in a small blank. I have been able to find osage orange in blanks up to 3.5" wide by 6-12" long (spindle blanks rather than bowl blank cuts) that I then just re-cut into the bowl blank sizes I needed. I can't seem to find either anymore.

Are there reasons why these types of woods don't seem to come in a 4x4x2" or 5x5x2" blank? I have many ideas for how I'd use these yellow colored woods, or for that matter redder colored woods, in some of my projects. I just cant seem to find any these days. I have been able to find a couple of rosewoods in 4x4x2" blanks, but they aren't really all that red...more of a slightly reddish brown, which doesn't quite contrast the way I'm needing.

Anyway, thanks for any insights here, or tips on where I can find the kinds of woods I'm looking for. I guess, I don't actually need 2" thick in all cases. I could probably get away with 1.5" thick boards, if that's an option (maybe even 1" thick if I keep the lids a bit flatter.) Thanks!
 
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I'd just get what's readily available and glue different types together to get the size you need. I like the segmented look just as much as a solid piece. If you try that you could use small squares and roughly build your bowl or vase out of 1" square pieces and use cutoffs from previous projects.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
I'd just get what's readily available and glue different types together to get the size you need. I like the segmented look just as much as a solid piece. If you try that you could use small squares and roughly build your bowl or vase out of 1" square pieces and use cutoffs from previous projects.
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For the base parts, I could probably do segmented. For the lids, at least for the potpourri bowls, I'm going to be carving a web like structure into them with my dremel, and I don't think a segmented lid would hold up.
 
jttheclockman said:
Can try Amazon. and https://www.bellforestproducts.com/yellowheart/
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I checked them, and often order from them. Their yellowheart, like so many other sources, is all thin board stock. Which is why I wonder if there is something about yellowheart, that makes it poor for bowl blanks? I don't really see bowl blanks for yellowheart much. I've searched through a lot of online suppliers like Bellforest, and haven't found any yellowheart blanks.

Its half curiosity, half need. :P
 
So, I've scoured through all of these:

www.bellforestproducts.com
www.cookwoods.com
www.turningblanks.net
www.gvwp.net
exoticwoodsusa.com
exoticwoodzone.com

Also now:

exoticwood.biz
www.gilmerwood.com

And a few others, including Woodcraft, Rockler and Craft Supply USA. I have also bought fairly extensively through Ebay as well. Thought I would share the list of my sources.

GVWP (Green Valley Wood Products) actually does have a 12x12x3" blank that could be cut down to 4x4" sized blanks. A bit thicker than I need, though, and I guess I could try resawing those down to 1.5" thick... This is actually where I've bought osage orange turning spindle blanks in the past. All the yellowheart I find, though, is in board form. I really am kind of curious if there is something about yellowheart that makes it unfit for bowl blanks. I honestly don't know if I've ever found a yellowheart bowl blank, and now its a bit if a curiosity.

EDIT:

OH! Actually, I DID find one yellowheart bowl (well, platter) blank on Ebay. It was 6x6x2", which I couldn't really find a way to shave down to the size I needed without waste wood... An 8x8x2" blank, if they exists, might in fact work pretty well though, as I could cut that down into four of the 4x4x2" blanks. Osage orange might as well, but, I generally find yellowheart is a little easier to work...I think yellowheart is a good deal softer than osage orange, and since my goal is to carve out a lot of little oddly shaped holes, I am hoping to find some yellowheart.

Anyway, I guess there ARE bowl/platter blanks in yellowheart...they just seem rare...
 
jrista said:
I checked them, and often order from them. Their yellowheart, like so many other sources, is all thin board stock. Which is why I wonder if there is something about yellowheart, that makes it poor for bowl blanks? I don't really see bowl blanks for yellowheart much. I've searched through a lot of online suppliers like Bellforest, and haven't found any yellowheart blanks.

Its half curiosity, half need. :p
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Check on Amazon They have a ton of bowl blanks. Type in yellowheart wood. Bellforest has redheart and purpleheart bowl blanks. They seem to be out of yellowheart. Not sure why. But if you type in yellowheart bowl blanks you get multiple of hits. You can always stack boards to make the size you need.
 
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It looks like Barrington Hardwoods is the only place that seems to regularly stock yellowheart blanks. I purchased the two I linked off Etsy. They seem to have them on some other sites as well (including Amazon, at least a 6x6x2" which I couldn't really cut down to size without waste wood).

The key was SMALL blanks, 4x4x2" in particular, maybe 5x5x2" for some slightly larger bowls and boxes. I have plenty of sources for larger redheart, padauk, purpleheart, various rosewoods, etc. The local Woodcraft usually stocks 6x6x2" and larger of those woods. The trouble I have is finding the smaller blanks. I could certainly make my own, though, with 8x8x2" blanks sliced into quarters, and that may just be what I end up doing here. In fact, based on the price of these two yellowheart blanks, its probably the cheaper option as well...
 
GaryMGg said:
I can check the sizes of my yellowheart next time I'm up at the farm.
The Osage Orange I have is about 2-1/2" thick, 10-12" wide and about 12' long.
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If you have some boards 2" thick, that aren't too long, that might work. I decided to just use yellowheart when I need a yellower wood, the osage orange is a good deal harder and I don't think it will handle the carving as well.

I did order what I found on Etsy. I've looked around for other sources, but ATM they seem to be the only ones stocking yellowheart bowl/platter blanks.

I found 8x8x2" (and larger) blanks in all the other woods I was interested in, and I think that will work if I just cut them down to smaller sizes as needed. Cost wise, it will be a little cheaper that way, too. I suspect a whole 2" thick board might ultimately be the cheapest option, but I think I have enough of what I need for now.
 
Reminds me of the school children looking at the full size dinosaur remains in the Natural History museum
Child 'How old is that fossil?"
Curator "14million and 3 years and 12 days old"
Child. "How do you know that so precisely?"
Curator " Because I started working here 3 years and 12 days ago and it was 14 million years old then"

How has your piece of boxwood been aged at 300 plus years old? Not sceptical, just interested.

Mike
 
I'm curious where it came from. Even though it may not be thousands of years old like say bog oak, 300 years is pretty darned old (I man, it would be older than the United States has been a country!) That stuff is probably really valuable if its that old.
 
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