I’m NEVER buying wood again by Anne of all trades
In this blog, we get to know the reason why it is better to harvest/saw your own wood than to buy wood for your projects.
Delayed Gratification
Delayed gratification involves the ability to wait to get what you want. In relation to woodworking. You need to wait a very long time if you’re air-drying.
Trees that are cut down recently will not be able to be used for another three (3) years at the minimum with air-drying methods. Even then climate, slab thickness, and other considerations need to be factored in.
If you get your wood from a traditional hardware store, it’s instant, but it’s just not the same. It’s already dimensioned and it really limits the products you can make and the quality of those products. Milling your own wood or getting it from a direct source opens up so much more opportunities as a woodworker and also is typically better from a cost perspective than sourcing wood from hardware stores.
Mentorship
For Anne, she says being close to someone like Greg and having some mentorship makes it really fun. It also provides an opportunity to learn more and do things you might not have thought of. It’s a great time to hone skills that can be used for the rest of your life and introduce a different way of doing things. For most people when they think about wood, the first place they think of is a big box store or commercial mill. In this industry, however, there are so many local sawyers and mill operators who are able to offer different insights and experiences on those raw materials.
Depending on the type of woodworking you do, if airdrying is an option some foresight and patience could give your business an edge not only financially but also in a creative and supply-driven context.
For Anne’s boards, Greg’s shop has white oak, red oak, sassafras, and poplar cherry. The drying process is based on year per inch, but if you get twelve quarters, it takes about a lot longer because there’s so much moisture trapped inside.
Love for woodworking
As Anne says,
“One of the reasons why I love woodworking or working with your hands, in general, is just the way that brings people together. I don’t like to sit and have coffee with people. I like to do something productive and something lasting with people.”
Visit Anne’s social media accounts here to know more about woodworking:
IG: @anneofalltrades