Question 603

What project you have going with the walnut wood? Just got some myself a couple of weeks ago and you are correct on it being expensive. Just curious as to who your supplier is and cost as I have a couple more projects I want to start and need to compare pricing.

Also BTW how is the arm coming. Mine took a turn for the good a week ago and I have been able to do a lot more activities since then. I have a rick of wood that I picked up yesterday that I have to stack but it still may take me a while to do it.

Howdy, I just saw this. My supplier, as if I had options in this part of the world, is Dakota Premium Hardwoods, out of Waco. They have other locations, but deliver out of Dallas. If you order more than $500 worth, they’ll deliver to you. Normally, I just pick the wood up at the Waco warehouse, but they messed up the order and finally agreed to deliver. I did spend well over $500.

Before moving up here, we lived in Houston, where I got all my wood from Houston Hardwoods. No pre-orders required. You just show up, get a big flat top cart and pick out what you want from their bins of wood. Then roll it to the front and they’ll work up the tab for you. I really liked buying there, and they had some really exotic woods. Too far for me to drive now.

As for why I needed the wood, my stock of Cherry and Walnut had finally about run out, so it was time to restock. And I have a project for the wife. She wants a small table for our Sprinter Van, and it needs to be fancy, and she said it had to be Walnut. The wood Dakota Hardwoods delivered is really some pretty stuff. I usually get it in rough and do all the planing myself, but they planed some of it (didn’t charge me for the planing when I reminded them I had asked for it in the rough). As for other wood uses, from time to time I make Shaker Keeping Boxes for special people. Hand cut dovetails for the really special folk. And I’ll make whatever sounds like fun and interesting.

As for the shoulder, the therapy got interrupted by my Gall Bladder surgery, so I’m back in therapy again, with 3 more weeks to go. The shoulder is pretty good now, with mostly full range of motion, but some of those small muscles are still real weak. I did one exercise yesterday with pink 1 pound weights, and it hurt. That said, I can do most of what needs doing here at the ranch - fixing fence, driving the tractor, lifting this and that. The recovery is a slow process. I’m being real careful to not hurt the shoulder again. I do NOT want a repeat on the shoulder surgery.

How are you doing with your shoulder recovery, as in how far to normal.

I’m about 70% to 75% on my arm with some pain every now and then. May have done too much today unloading a rick of wood. I’ll find out tonight and tomorrow.

Can you just walk into your place in Waco or is it order only. If you will PM me the board foot price of the walnut. Daughter is getting married in December and she and her Mother are having me make some of the stuff for the wedding. It’s an honor to do but a PITA to make with my critical thinking.

I usually just go by the Dakota office on Imperial Drive to place an order, since we are over that way often. I think you can order over the phone, but maybe you need an account or history with them. You’ll have to call to find out. Because of the order glitch I had with them on this most recent order (what I ordered was not what I got when I went to pick it up), I would recommend you go there to place the order and get them to give you a printout of your order. What I told the guy I wanted was what he wrote down, but not what he placed on the order. Very irritating. They used to have a big stock of wood on site, but I guess they don’t now. I hope you can order by phone.

As for prices, the Cherry was $3.75 per board foot. The Walnut was $9.00 per board foot. Ouch! The quality of the wood I’ve gotten over the years has been excellent. In the past I’ve bought some walnut and Cherry for turning table legs on some side tables the daughters wanted. I didn’t have any 2x2 stock on hand.

I got Cherry and Walnut for free for the last 15 years or more. A nephew has a couple of sawmills, but they quit milling those two woods. I finally used up my stock and had to resort to buying wood. Free was better. I had no idea what it would cost me to actually buy it. Now I know.