got wood?

[ahoiberg]

has anyone ever dealt with got wood? on ebay? i was looking at some of their green bowl blanks that are pretty cheap that could be good practice blanks. just curious if they're good to deal with, etc.

thanks.

 

[NMDoug]

I have bought some pen blanks from them and have been very happy with their service, shipping, etc.

 

[kent4Him]

I've bought a few. They were nice.

 

[Rifleman1776]

This comes up often. There are good dealers there and there are some real rip-off artists. Question comes to mind: Why? Many folks here and at TPS sell incredibly beautiful blanks at bargain prices. Deal with folks you know and can trust.

 

[GaryMGg]

Andrew,
Here's a stupid question:
IF it's a practice blank, why not just pick up some wood from anywhere and turn it?
Surely, there's lots of wood available near where you live and/or work?
I can't see paying for a practice bowl blank.

 

[GBusardo]

Disclaimer....I have no idea who "Got Wood" is and I don't know what is meant by "pretty cheap".

Gary MGg - Your question is not so stupid, but... What if you wanted a 8 inch across practice bowl blank and your band saw only cuts 6 inches high? What if there is just not a large enough limb laying around the yard or neighborhood, even if you could cut it.
A free bowl blank sized hunk of wood is not as easy to come by for some as it is for others.
Maybe my questions can be easily answered, but I wish I had a bunch of bowl blanks I could practice on kicking around the shop.

 

[GaryMGg]

Gary,
You're questions are all good.
I live in a rural area, I own two chainsaws, and a large bandsaw -- guess I'm just tainted.
Guess I have to preface my answer with: If you have access to the proper size of a wood, why buy it.
Someone could cut and glue-up a couple of 2" x 4"s and make a practice turning blank if there's
nothing to be had off the land.

 

[MarkHix]

I made multiple buys (8-10) from Got Wood. It has all been bowl blanks. They have always shipped fast and the wood has always been what was pictured. I am currently bidding on some bowl blanks they have offered so stay away from the cherry(LOL). I agree w/ Gary on the practice blanks. If you can get it, scrap is great for testing ideas. I spent Sunday turning some bowls in some scrap off of the neighbors new fence. I got to turn, got to test some new ideas and now I get to do it again on some better wood. What more could you ask?

 

[Fred]

I would recommend that you visit your towns park services division or maybe the local tree cutter up the street. Ask them what they have in the dump or on their trucks and see if you can retrieve some sections. Many government services cannot/will not allow you to go into the dump area and get 'wood', so be sure to ask first.

I have great luck asking my power company about nearby areas they may be in the process of clearing. A few bucks to one of the guys in the field could get you all kinds of wood. Just be discrete when asking and maybe you can get it for the cost of a pen you just happen to have with you ... []

 

[ahoiberg]

thanks for the replies. i guess by practice i mean for different species and i certainly will be turning them in the hope that they become keepers, but if not, then at least i got some practice in on them. i've got a decent chunk of resources for scavenged wood, it's just that i don't have a ton of time to mill them into blanks. so, this eliminates a couple steps for me to get them pre-circle cut and ready to mount. once work settles down a bit and my schedule isn't so hectic, i'll definitely get back to cutting my own blanks. for those who've done it a lot, it probably doesn't take much time to get a blank cut, but for me it still takes a while...

thanks again for all the responses.