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I love old wood.  Not only the wood found in antique furniture, but I mean old wood found in old barns and houses.  There are companies that systematically tear down old barns piece by piece just to reclaim their wood.  I once saw some lumber cut from large chestnut beams from a barn.  It was estimated to be at least 100 years old.  It was some of the most beautiful wood I’ve seen.

For me, using reclaimed wood in my projects means I can give new life to old wood and hopefully it’ll be admired for years to come.  Here’s an article I ran across that talks about the demand for old wood:  Race for Rare, Old Wood

I’ve been looking for a local saw mill that will sell me a veneer-grade red or white Oak log for green wood chair making. After doing a little bit of searching, I happened upon the Amana Shops. The Amana Shops is the online store for the Amana Colonies a popular tourist destination in eastern Iowa.

Buying hardwood (especially exotics) online has become more and more popular in the last few years. Finding a good source for cocobolo, paudauk, and even spalted maple or black cherry, often means making a patient, diligent search until you find an importer or saw mill that specializes in these products. I’ll guarantee one thing, you won’t find Bubinga or Purpleheart at the local big box. So going online to find what you’re looking for definitely has its place.

Sometimes though, it can be hard to find good, reputable suppliers who are willing to work with you. That’s why I’m glad I’ve found the Amana Shops. They’ve been real easy to work with.

I’ve lived less than 100 miles from the Amana Colonies for most of my life and I didn’t realize the Amana Shops even existed until I ran across them while searching for local hardwood suppliers at Woodfinder.

Note: I’m listing serveral other sources for online hardwood suppliers below. (Links to all of these suppliers and more can be found at Woodfinder. Be sure to mention them if you end up buying from one of these suppliers.)

Amana Forestry

Larry Gnewikow, forestry manager for Amana, is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked for the last 25 years overseeing the growth and development of Iowa’s largest privately-owned forest. Larry has put me onto some good pricing for white oak logs and after visiting their website (and with Larry), I’ve also found out a little more about their hardwood for sale.

Larry says they regularly work with buyers who have special needs and they’re now able to ship hardwoods to anywhere in the country. They currently list red oak, quartersawn white oak, cherry, locust, and spalted soft maple harvested and kiln-dried from their own forests. They also offer Iowa-grown walnut for sale. The prices are reasonable, and for simplicity’s sake, they offer 7 and 10 board foot bundles with maximum lengths of around 32″. But, Larry says they’ll work with anyone who has specific requirements or needs larger quantities.

Being one of the few green wood chair makers in Iowa, it’s been a slow process finding the right supplier for oak logs. But now, thanks to Woodfinder and Amana Shops, I’ve found several good online sources for hardwood lumber should I ever have the need.

Woodworkers Source

Collector’s Specialty

Talarico Hardwoods

Irion Lumber Company

Homecraft Veneer

Hearne Hardwoods

Sometimes (all the time?) one click leads to another, and another.

Yesterday, while researching the “…Best Woodnet Forum” post I found a link to Steve Cooley’s blog. A quick scroll down to the categories section on the blog led me to his posts on Woodworking. It turns out he’s a big fan of ShopNotes and recently built the lathe from Issue No. 73.

But, because of my interest in green woodworking, I was really drawn to this link on Steve’s blog to Gary Katz Online. Gary’s web page had some great pictures he took at the Hull-Oakes Sawmill. Gary goes On the Road and finds great places for virtual visits, like the Lummis Home and others.

You won’t believe the size of the logs they can mill at Hull-Oakes. Here’s a look at the huge band saw blade used to rip the logs to size. And the crosscut blade used to cut them to length. Pretty amazing.