Wood in July

Well, it hot here in Wisconsin. But its July and it should be. Sorry, I don't believe in that global warming stuff.

But enough of that. Got a kiln load of wood to pile and sort. Got started with some really nice white hard maple that comes from a veneer mill. They hate figure. Thank you Jesus! What I get are pure white boards that have light birdseye and curl. Its usually not heavy enough figure for me, so I sell this for 4.50 board foot. Makes beautiful drawer sides or whatever you want. It runs from 6" wide to over 12" wide. 8 feet long with a little 10 foot stock. If you can use a few hundred feet or more, I can give you a bit of a discount. This costs me more then regular hard maple as it is all FAS and better.

Another thing this time is 8/4 bark pocket hard maple. I only have about 130 bd ft, so there is not much. But is it pretty. And some are 12" wide. Its all 10 feet long.   I have some 4/4 in the same thing, but with deep curl in it. I have maybe 500 ft of the 4/4.

Curly red oak is in stock. Wide and heavy curl for the most part. Again, this comes from the veneer mill. So the stock is all top shelf. A lot of wide  stock and also some 6/4 and 8/4 available. For red oak, it is nice!

Some crazy heavy curl in hard maple is here. It is one the hardest woods to get. But the curl is stunning. I have both 4/4, 5/4,6/4 and 8/4. I have a good supply of the 4/4, but the rest is much smaller amounts. If you want something pretty and breathtaking, the hard curl is it. Most is white one side at least and a lot of the 4/4 is white both sides. I love the heartweood, but some only want white. I do try and make surete curl goes all the way through.

One last thing. I get boards of neat stuff, but only a couple boards. This stuff is usually all hard maple with burl clusters, wierd colors, all sorts of stuff. If you want to make some cool boxes or smaller projects, this works great. It comes and goes, but I rarely get more then 4 or 5 pieces of one tree. I also get boards that have defects. Birdseye and curl mostly. The mineral streaks can cause cracks in hard maple boards. So I pull these and only charge for the sound material. Right now I have some wide boards , but you only pay like 25$ , as I only figure on the good stuff andcharge way less per board foot.
Got sa few photos for you this time. Let me know how I can help. I will help with advice on woodworking or finishing to anyone who buys from me. Its almost 40 years experience working with this wood and building custom pieces. Not many wood sellers can offer that. Check me out on facebook and instagram as well. Lots more pictures. My instagram is bobkloes456.

Kiln unloading-March 2016

Hello folks.
It has been a pretty crazy few weeks. Lots to do and get done . I got the kiln unloaded this last week and thought you might like seeing what came out.

Mostly 4/4 birdseye, hard curly maple and flame birch and some bark pocket and odd stuff. Some 5/4 as well. Here are some pictures.
This is the bark pocket. Nice small bark inclusions in the boards. Curl and figure as well. All hard maple. 

 This is heavy white birdseye in the rough. The one piece on the right has some "color" in it.

 This is hard curly maple. There was lots of beautiful stuff in this batch. White and wide. And loads of intense curl.

 This is the flame birch. You can see the "barber pole" effect in the side grain. Some of this goes into my kitchen.......sometime.

There was only about 2500 ft this time. Next load will be about 4500 ft. not sure where it will all fit. But I sure love seeing it come out.
Thanks for following along.Email me or call if you need really nice figured wood. I am not always fast, but I keep trying. Look at my web site for contact info.
www.bobkloes.com
Almost forgot the curly red oak. Its some nice wide materiel and runs 4.50 board foot. Has a big crescent moon curl in it.

Walnut and Cherry crotches just out of the kiln.

I always hesitate before writing the title to this blog. Not sure if I like the word crotches in the title, but then again, that is what they are called.

Just unloaded the solar kiln after almost a year. I had it loaded with walnut and cherry crotches. Got a big skid full that are ready to go. All 8/4 [2" thick]. Some matched sets, some singles. Only 5 cherry ones in the whole bunch. Great feather figure in most all of them . Some checking is always in these, but for the most part, its not bad. I dried these really slow. Would make great turning stock as well as resawing. Sizes are , what I think , is very large. Some are close to 18" wide and up to 48" long. I also have a 3 piece set of 1" thick walnut that is 23" wide and 69" long.

I will be unloading another load of green stock tomorrow. it has picked up from the mill as of late. Mostly all birdseye, heavy figure, 5/4, 6/4 and i am hoping for 8/4 tomorrow.

Also have a new delivery service for parts of the mid west. SpeeDee is the company. They are about 30 to 40% less then fed ex. They do Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and parts of Missouri and North Dakota. Look them up online and you can see what zips they all deliver to. Pallets will still go Fastenal, but I will also check other prices.Email me or call. Always glad to help with questions.

Springtime, 2015

Not a lot of pictures this time. The weather has seemed to finally have warmed a bit. Than again, its Wisconsin, so who knows?

The amount of stock that came out this winter is down from past years. I was up by the mill last week and talked with the owner. I always have known figured wood is rare. How rare is a matter from folks to debate. I can only pass on what I am told by the guys who saw it.
He sawed 75,000 board feet of yellow birch last week. I got 60 feet to bring home. Does that tell you anything?

This winter has been one of the best logging winters in several years. The weather was very cold and not a lot of snow, so the loggers could get into lots of areas that had been hard to get to for several years. The mill yard is full and its been a very slow winter to get figured wood. They have been sawing like mad, but there has been little stock that has been pulled. I have gotten about the equivalent of 2 full loads this winter. I normally run 7 to 10 loads.

Now this spring can still be good, but I am just in a holding pattern. I am getting a small load in today.
But I have gotten some really nice stuff this winter. It will be a year or so before the 4/4 and 5/4 stock is ready. 8/4 and thicker takes years. Just can't rush it.

I have gotten some wonderful birdseye, flame and curly. Like I sad, not a lot of pictures this time, but then again, I do have a few. Let me know if I can help with any of your needs.I always have material in all thicknesses. Just got a nice load of 6/4 birdseye and tiger maple out of the kiln. It is pretty.

 rough sawn birdseye, you know its good figure when you see it in the rough.

 Piles of thick birdseye, 8/4 and 12/4.

 A nice crotch piece of cherry, I have a few like this. All 8/4.

Walnut crotches. Really nice book matched sets.

Birdseye maple flooring, it took a year to get the material and have it made, but it turned out beautiful!