Steal of a Deal at a Flooring Liquidator

[sfhipchick]

Last weekend my husband and I went to a local hardwood flooring liquidator to see if they had any discontinued flooring/cut-offs/extra pieces at a fair price.

We ended up getting 61.5 board feet of wood for $43 dollars!
Granted, every piece is .75 in depth and the grooves must be planed down, so the uses will be for pens and segmented work. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! Within our treasure trove are pieces with lots of gorgeous figuring, chatoyance, curl, beautiful grain and lines, spalting, striping and patches, and warm gradations of color.

The species we could identify were:
Acacia (massive amounts)
Birch (lots and lots)
Walnut (a small amount)
Brazilian Teak (tiny bit)
Oak (plenty)
Hickory (a small amount)
Maple (a small board)

I'm including pictures of our prizes! Keep in mind that many of the pieces are stained as well as having a finish. Also, we were delighted to discover that turning the pieces over revealed beautiful details not seen on the facing side.

We hope to do this again soon, and are planning to visit nearby furniture-makers to ask about cut-offs and/or access to their dumpsters!

 

[Robert Taylor]

Definitely some nice pens in there

 

[RKB]

Looks like you got some great blanks coming from that selection. I also use flooring samples from time to time and have had very good results. Don't forget to show us your results. Good luck. :biggrin:

Rod

 

[sfhipchick]

Oh, I am planning on it!! In fact, I finished my first pen in over 8 yrs just TODAY and I used a piece of Acacia from the wood here to make it! Stay tuned for pictures. To be honest, because it's my first pen, we specifically chose "boring" wood so I wouldn't feel horrible if the pen exploded on me. It turned out very nicely though--looks a bit like ash and I put it in a black chrome slimline kit. There is a shimmer of chatoyance here and there. Nothing to write home about but a very nice first pen to get back into the game with.

 

[greenacres2]

Don't overlook boxes, my favorites are 1/4 or 3/8 thick sides. With good resaw (better than my skills!!) might even be able to get continuous grain.

Nice wood score!!
Earl

 

[sfhipchick]

Good idea on trying boxes! That would be fun too!

 

[JohnU]

I've gotten lots of floor scraps for pens over the years. My suggestion, cut your blanks by starting at the center of the grooves. This way there's no need to plane them down wasting the wood between the grooves, and the middle of your blanks will still be .75" Since They get turned round it won't matter that the edges of the blanks aren't that thick.

 

[sfhipchick]

Oh wow, John, that's a GREAT idea! I'll be sure to tell my husband--he likes to be in charge of the table saw. Super tip, he'll be sure to incorporate that right away.

By the way, I took a look at your snakeskin and feather blanks. They are super cool!!