I figured out how to never pay for wood again.

[@StumpyNubs]

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[@stevefirst9521]

"Free wood" is the standard joke with a friend of mine. We picked up perhaps 30 white oak logs that we spent all day hauling. I had about half the logs had it sawed at $75/hour, and paid for kiln drying. Waited almost a year for all that, and had over $2500 in it. I was building an arts and crafts kitchen and finally got material. I made up my parts and the quality was so bad, i went to my favorite supplier, paid $10/foot for 150 feet of beautiful, qtr sawed White oak. and could pick through the piles. After remaking the parts, i now have a job worthy of my kitchen. I do have still quite a bit of white oak, but just not top quality. So while it may be worth it sometimes, there was nothing free about it that time. We still take the free wood and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesnt. Keep up the good work Stumpy.

[@ronerbele6431]

I also go to a couple of cabinet builders and get nice walnut, cherry, hickory, maple, and birch. And another cabinet builder, dumpster diving and get large, usable, 3/4" cabinet grade plywood. And finally, a wood boat builder gives me all the mahogany I will ever need....for free. I haven't really needed to buy any wood for over a year.

[@pawpawstew]

I took a tip from a guy in the neighborhood named Fisher. I watched him one day disassemble our neighbor's raggedy shed and drag it back to his house. A couple of days and BAM... He'd built a nice credenza out of the wood! The guy is brilliant! Although, I am concerned. Our neighbor's house is down to the studs and Fisher has a new sailboat. Hmmm...

[@norm5785]

All good recommendations for sources of wood. When T-Mobile remodeled their stores a few years ago, I was lucky enough to be picking up a takeout order, as they were putting old shelving and tables into dumpsters. The table tops were solid and laminated. They were 2" thick and they loaded 3 of them into the bed of my truck. I made a workbench from them. From time to time, one of our local saw mills offers it's cutoffs for free, just call and come pick up what you want. Thank you for sharing. Everyone stay safe, warm, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia

[@peterboardman6407]

I also got a super long table from a closed t mobile. Even had built in electrical outlets! Win!

[@quarlow1215]

As a truck driver I've come across some real gems in pallet wood. Two particular pallets were under freight out of south america. One was completely made out of purple heart wood and another was made out of a orange tiger stripe type of wood. Both made some very attractive jewelry boxes for my daughter's. Just so happens one of them is s huge fan of the color purple.

[@johnritchie3889]

We have a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood. I regularly dumpster dive. I once found a dumpster with a pile of wide walnut flooring cutoffs. Made my day.

[@David-fy3in]

Wow sir, that comment about not buying a nice thrift store piece for a few cheap boards shows a lot of character. You made my day!

[@jabrwok]

Dumpsters around residential colleges can be absolute goldmines, especially if the school is renovating. End-of-semester diving will also produce lots of perfectly good, shelf-stable foodstuffs (canned, boxed, etc), school supplies, clothing, furniture, etc. Students don't appreciate the value of what they have, and they don't want to be bothered to take it home with them.

[@mikem1436]

I worked in the retail environment. When one business moves out and another moves in, they do a remodel for that store. Or it could also be new construction. Things move along quite rapidly as the crews are only scheduled to be there for a certain number of days and then move on to the next site/job. They don't want to hold up the job by running out of material so there is always excess ordered. The general contractor is responsible for getting rid of that excess and it goes into the construction dumpster. Doesn't matter if its cut-offs or whole sheets; in the dumpster it goes. It's possible to get that. Some may be reluctant to save it because someone at some point never picked it up. The contractor then had to go back and pay for another dumpster. When a store is getting a remodel done, they may be getting rid of the counters, shelves, and drawers located at the checkout. Those would be great for someone just starting out. Again, the contractor has to get rid of them which there is a cost to do that. The less they have to haul away the better.

[@adamdejesus4017]

I volunteer doing disaster response, we cut away trees that are downed by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc., free of charge to the homeowner. Most of the logs get hauled away by public works. However, I am OFTEN asked to preserve certain pieces of trees, or cut them a certain way, because the disaster survivor is also a woodworker. It's not a silver lining, but it is a way we pay respect to the people who we serve on their worst days. One note: if you are volunteering, do NOT assume you can take wood away for your own use, that could seem pretty slimy.

[@mxadema]

Too add to this. Check your local bio dump post storm. Where they take branch and leaf, grind them up, and compose it. They dont usually take big tree or let people take them. But in post disaster, everything goes, and by the truck load. I did my firewood there a few times

[@adamdejesus4017]

@@mxadema true. Eventually a large compost heap will start to smolder, so time matters.

[@silverXnoise]

I know where there are some large oak sections left near Asheville from Helene. They were cleared from my brother’s driveway and left in the yard. Burl sections too. If anybody’s interested, I’d hook ‘em up for a few spare slabs off the take.

[@bobalman]

Great info! Another potential source are tree service companies. They sometimes cut down some darn nice trees, and the owner may give the logs to you rather than pay to haul them away. I got a line on a local sawyer from the tree service that handled a fallen tree in my yard.

[@AirwolfCrazy]

A maple tree just a couple of houses up the street came down during a storm. I collected it and had it slabbed. I have been using it for items I sell on Etsy. The neighbor behind me was remodeling the back yard and changing how water was traveling away from the garage. There was a large and old Lilac bush that had to be removed. I was give the wood for the fire but it is very beautiful inside. I have been cutting it manually and setting it to dry. It is very dense and heavy. This fall I had to remove a holly branch that was hanging over the roof. The main branch was nearly 6" Dia at its largest. I have it cut into lengths and I next I need to start splitting it down. My large frame rip saw has been getting a real workout. It has been good exercise for me too.

[@marcmengel1]

Years ago, my uncle in Nazareth PA had a neighbor who worked at Martin Guitars, and that neighbor had offcuts from mahogany guitar necks in his firewood pile. My dad asked him at the time and took a station-wagon load of mahogany pieces home that he used to make Christmas presents...

[@LennartAangeenbrug]

Made a nice small cabinet style box for the barbeque with pallet wood. Was also fun to upcycle an old pallet.

[@TNtoolman]

I found California Closets shop is great for pallets. They get a lot of materials from Canada and the pallets can be oak, cherry, and even some walnut. Also, I rebuilt a Flexible Flyer sled for my granddaughter - the wood on the old was completely rotten. I found someone giving away a single wooden bed frame, cut the pieces to size, and the sled came out beautiful. I have gotten nice cherry, walnut, and other woods from people getting rid of the big old armoires or TV cases... free!

[@KenKanifff]

Another good option to look into is if you have a local trades school or something of that ilk. When I was in college we were told we could always check in to pick up scraps. I'd regularly pick up some good 3' to 4' boards that were considered "scrap"

[@cyclopsboi]

construction off cuts are a great resource

[@jimthesoundman8641]

Estate sales and auctions are an awesome source. But I'm talking about afterwards, they tend to just chuck out the furniture that doesn't sell. You can tear apart old furniture and recycle the lumber. Also apartment complexes are great, people just dump nice furniture by the dumpster, often it's something like a kitchen table with a broken leg or stripped out connector.

[@JoeC92]

As a construction worker it's the best. The amount of shit that gets thrown out that I can take is crazy. I was on one job where the elevator company was throwing out D grade 3/4 plywood that had two 2" holes right by the edge. The rest of the sheet was untouched. Wasn't nice wood but great for making shelves in the garage or whatever. I've gotten some nice wood as well from time to time. And plenty of other material for jobs around the house

[@halsonger1317]

A local architectural supply company sells figured maple at bargain prices. The cabinet makers he sells to only want the straight-grained boards and when they get something figured in they will set it aside if they know someone is interested.

[@onocoffee]

I've been dumpster diving and asking business and people for their spare wood a lot lately. You're right, it's cheap but a lot of work. All of my shop project pieces have been made with lumber salvaged in this manner, including pallets. But it's a good way to work your chops surfacing lumber to S4S.

[@donaldhorgan5927]

I once was able to get over 100 BF of lyptus for free. They were offcuts from trim for a music business renovating a new building that were being thrown out. I have built a wonderful end table and several other projects. To repay the owner, I made wooden bookmarks with an instrument cut into it to give to his students. He ended up ordering more!

[@Redthumb45]

I tried the landfill route once. Our landfill in AR is one-way only. Nothing can be removed from there.

[@DBrent-jf2wu]

Estate sales, might even get a lathe or bandsaw for a good cost. Often the wood is never listed, so look for estate sales listing power tools like table saws or lathes.

[@apcolleen]

Occasionally on craigslist in the free section I see a stone slab importer for countertops who advertise free pallets made of South American wood because that's where the stone comes from.

[@Damon_Barber]

I disassembled a piano for the wood once. Once. Never again.

[@garykreutzer1239]

I show up around 4:30 with a six pack to a case, depending on the size of the job, and ask to go through the cut off pile. It's not free, but ive come home with a truckload of usable "scraps" for the shop for a six pack!

[@raydriver7300]

I really miss my local supplier. His first words when I called were: “Cup of tea.” Nigel was a lovely man 🌞

[@johndollarhide]

There are vendor's malls near me that have booths with lumber. Local woodworkers rent the booth space to sell their short cutoffs and even long slabs sometimes. I buy short pieces of exotic wood or nicely figured domestic woods for not that much money. My best finds are 2 or 3 foot long by 6" by 3/4 up to 5/4 (or more in rare cases). I would suggest looking at places like these.

[@bonilsson3161]

You could add garden worker in city parks, I once got some nice boxwood, almost 6 inch diameter 3-4 foot long (6 inch is pretty good for boxwood). But remember to mill them right away, boxwood crack really bad if you dont.

[@ronerbele6431]

Found some beautiful spalted birch in a pile of firewood. Made a stunning bandsaw box out of it.

[@richsparkman9980]

You talked about skid wood I made my one car garage into my workshop the inside was unfinished I threw up some installation and tore apart skids and they made my wall so now I have a solid wood wall going to Florida ceiling I can install any kind of hangers I want and it looks cool the nail holes the different coloration it looks fantastic to me I love it my wife said it looks good my friend said it looks good and that's all It really matters

[@GrantHendrick]

Thank you for the tips!

[@ChrisStCyr-gnt7]

Time is money…The time a beginner invests into making what appears to be junk wood into good wood saves then the cost of paying a tuition fee to learn how to select woods, use your tools, and understand how to milk any wood into what you need for your project. After they sell a project or two, they can reinvest that money into taking a lesson, buying better tools, buying better wood, just, um what did Randy’s boss used to say about opening a cold one, you have to buy one first!

[@buckmcfarland6638]

I scored about 1600 sf of solid oak flooring that was headed for the dump, pulled a ton of nails, but worth it.

[@glencrandall7051]

Some pretty good suggestions here. Thanks James. Have a great 2025 and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@kommissar.murphy]

Your own old furniture is a goldmine for free screws, washers, stanchions, wheels. An unwanted table can become shelving, a cabinet, or just a smaller table....

[@triplefreeerror]

fallen trees is great for carving, where you want green wood

[@dillonbuford]

Tilt up concrete jobs often only use 2×8 once. If you have a truck and trailer just advertise yourself as free trash pickup

[@JimboOrr]

Its good to find a real sawmill near you if possible. Hardwood can be inexpensive, if you are willing to surface it yourself.

[@Provocateur3]

At one time harbor freight had a specialized pallet disassembly tool. Haven't seen it in several years. In fact, their website hasn't been up for a while. Anyone seen one of these tools?

[@mikesinistar8834]

If you have to let your wood dry, paint the end grain. That should limit the checking that will happens.

[@rjm7168]

I got a 4 ft long, 20 inch diameter log for free once when I was driving past a home where I live where they were cutting down a tree.

[@murphymmc]

Not sure where you're getting free pallets, in my area the guy getting pallets from his supplier is charged for those pallets. Craigslist? Not here, folks selling on Craigslist think their stuff is worth more than new, they must apply some kind of invisible gold-plating on their junk. Your best suggestion is curb side free stuff. Driving around looking for cast-offs is unproductive in most cases. Yeah, I've processed wood from cut down trees, you need storage space for wood curing and a great deal of time. You can get some interesting wood that way. Firewood here is Doug fir, Western Larch, white fir, good for ....fires.

[@andrewkennedy9704]

Around here places leave pallets outside by the curb for people to take for free. I used to live near a pallet manufacturer and they would leave peices outside as well.

[@johnnyb95678]

Thank you for the great information. However, to quote a writer from eons ago... Remember TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch)

[@sinrock85]

Thank you sir 🙏🫡

[@loujacobs9291]

You kept glancing over to the side. Made me wonder what we were missing on our side of the camera!

[@chickenfoot911]

Glue your sawdust back together, then bam you've got infinite boards

[@philliparudolph9595]

and it's only going to get MORE expensive

[@Artexmadera]

I live in a forest, some afternoons just grab tha chainsaw and go for a walk, like being in a supermarket! I might even end up with way more that I can carry though

[@ZOMBIEHEADSHOTKILLER]

where i live, every construction site i see, they either lock up the dumpsters, or they just fence off the whole construction site and lock it up.............. i miss the days of being able to dumpster dive construction dumpsters..... its sad that we live in a world where people would rather lock up their "trash", then allow some one to get something for free.

[@bobalman]

When I worked as a carpenter building subdivisions, we locked the dumpsters to keep people from filling them up with garbage, couches, etc.

[@Jack-es9xq]

there's liability problems with letting people on a site willy-nilly

[@monohedron9633]

if you have time: pallets. Yes it's a horror to take them apart, but once that suffering part is done, and the boards happen to be good - great stuff. Made some cabinets with that wood.

[@mikethompson9745]

You know I have looked at your bench and from my perspective, the Harvey logo isn't centered or maybe its a camera angle, But you are not centered to the Harvey logo, it is distracting, Have a great day!

[@A_Retired_MSgt]

If that's all it takes to get you upset, you are either very privileged or you are in serious need of some mental health counseling.