An embarrassment of riches…
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2 March 2014 at 4:49 pm #28507
Went to an estate sale at an old farm in rural SW Michigan where I live and happened on one of those kinds of deals that people like us dream about. Two large barns and a smaller outbuilding were packed with old tools, furniture, and all manner of “stuff”, frankly some of it junk, but with some hidden treasures. In a loft of one of the buildings, I spied some cherry boards stacked up neatly, obviously stored there for some years. (I found out a couple of days later it had been milled from trees on the farm).
No price tag or signage was present so I asked one of the people from the company administering the sale if the lumber was available for purchase. He said yes, and when I asked the price, he said, “well, make us an offer.”
I couldn’t really see anything but the ends of the boards so didn’t really know how long they were or how much was there, but it looked to be about 50 5/4 boards, 4-6 inches in width. Being at an estate sale, I decided to start low, expecting at least a little bargaining. “How about $50 for the lot?”
To my surprise, and pleasure, he said, “Sold!”I didn’t have my truck, having attended with my wife, so paid for the lumber and got a receipt with the assurance that I would be able to collect it a couple of days later. After a quick bit of rough estimates and calculations, I scored approximately 200 bf of beautiful, mostly clear cherry with very little sapwood, and the occasional light curly, flame and quilted figure, for about 25 cents a board foot! Couldn’t believe my luck. Here’s how it looked in my truck:
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You must be logged in to view attached files.2 March 2014 at 5:02 pm #28510WOW Chris you have had a right touch there now we want to see some very special projects made in beautiful cherry
2 March 2014 at 6:24 pm #28515Yep…wow. A great example of nothing ventured, nothing gained. Look forward to seeing what you turn it into.
2 March 2014 at 8:07 pm #28518That was a good find. Cherry quite nice to use.
Will be interesting what you make with it.[quote quote=28507]smaller outbuilding were packed with old tools[/quote]
That was an awesome deal on the cherry, but didn’t you say there were old tools somewhere? 😉
Seriously, I have been in similar situations. You are in the right place at the right time. Makes the adrenaline flow…
3 March 2014 at 5:39 am #28543Tremendous find and some great day you had there! Nothing like hitting the pavement and checking these types of sales out. And to think, I paid $21 for two relatively small boards of cherry recently..oh well, enjoy!
3 March 2014 at 8:42 am #28546Yah, really looking forward to making use of some of this gorgeous wood…will be a little while before its warm enough to do anything ’round here tho as my shop is in an unheated garage and we still have massive snow on the ground..ugh.
As for the old tools, lots of junk, but I did buy a couple of old planes and saws for about twenty bucks, nothing spectacular but that should clean up ok.
I know what you mean, Carlos, even here in Michigan where cherry is relatively easy to find it goes for $4/bf and up usually, even from a small local sawyer I use whose prices are much lower than anyone else around here.
You lucky, lucky…. fella you. I am officially jealous of such a wonderful find. 😉
The cold weather may work to your advantage here. It’ll give things time to settle in your shop and help you to ensure you are able to make the most effective use of your purchase.
Hopefully it wont be too long though before things thaw out and you can get cracking. After working your way through that lot, you’ll certainly know how Cherry behaves.
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