Wood suppliers?

[dsphotog]

What kind of wood do you use for camera building? Where do you buy camera grade wood?

[Steve Smith]

Try musical instrument materials suppliers and boatyards.


Steve.

[Gary Beasley]

Try Woodcraft or Rockler if they are in your area.

[Peter De Smidt]

Check if there's a mill local to your area.

[Roger Thoms]

A source local to me which also sells online. MacBeath Hardwood, http://macbeath.com/

Don't build cameras except for a bamboo pinhole made from scavenged bamboo plywood, but if I did build a view camera I'd probably choose cherry.

Roger

[Pete Watkins]

I'm not joking but I heard that Deardorf used to buy old pianoes at auctions and use the mahogany for cameras. It would certainly have been well seasoned.
Pete.

[Scott --]

http://woodfinder.com/

[evan clarke]

I make exotic wood pool cues and have been buying lumber from this gentleman for about 30 years.. http://exoticwoods.com/home.php

[Jody_S]

I'm not joking but I heard that Deardorf used to buy old pianoes at auctions and use the mahogany for cameras. It would certainly have been well seasoned.
Pete.
If I needed that much, it's a great idea. A lot of old pianos here can be had for the bother of moving them. As it is, I scavenge smaller bits from Salvation Army thrift stores. One man's beat-up mahogany end table is another man's 4x10 back.

[BrianShaw]

If I needed that much, it's a great idea.

Maybe not. Most pianos are veneered. There really isn't much mahogany on a mahogany piano.

[John Jarosz]

I've used these guys for mahogany in a nice solid body guitar and my 8x20 conversion.

Blue Moon Cuban Mahogany (http://www.bluemoonexoticwood.com/cuban_mahogany.html)

Very good to deal with.

John

[Bob Salomon]

Wista uses quince wood, rose wood and ebony. Presently they can not buy cherry wood due to shortages of the wood and environmental restrictions on the wood. The quince wood is coming from China.

[imagedowser]

Folks,If anyone needs fine wood, lofted for 10 to 50 years, quarter sawn, concert instrument grade (mostly) I build one off classical, acoustic and bass guitars, renaissance lutes and an occasional middle eastern oud plus experimental/folk based instruments. I have MUCH wood (ask Eddie) and can sell some to those on this forum who have the need for that very fine camera or holder design lurking your creative unconscious .... Pickup only is most logical... Storing this much wood has been difficult and space consuming over the years so it has become valuable and generally unobtainable anywhere else (read: expensive) walnut, swiss and domestic pear,sycamore,rosewoods,maple(figured&unfigured), paduk,figured white oak,tulip poplar,local cherry,etc,etc. I,ll be 72 this September and nothings forever. I'm keeping enough for those lurking in MY creative unconscious. Also reducing my extensive collection of hand planes. I'm in the Woodstock/Ashokan area of NY 11 mi West of Kingston.

[goamules]

If I were going to build a camera, I would strongly consider using a quality second tier wood, but then laminate the outside with mahogany. I've got a solid mahogany camera that was made about 30 years ago that has split due to dryness, perhaps it wasn't aged properly. You can make a more stiff, warp-free camera from plywood or pine or whatever, then laminate the outside so that it appears solid (walnut, mahogany, etc). The wood shops I've been to sell this super thin laminate cheap.

[Drew Wiley]

Dimensional stability and machinability are paramount. That's why woods like cherry, walnut, and pattern mahogany are traditional choices. But even these need to be properly
cut and thorougly cured. True pattern mahogany is getting to be a scarce commodity. I think Dick Phillips was the first guy to make up a custom plywood for camera use. He used thin sheets of cherry to keep the weight down, impregnated these with penetrating expoy, then laminated to fiberglass. Now you've got folks throwing carbon fiber sheet into the mix. Anyone for honeycomb nanofibers? Bet the material science folks up on the hill
here could come up with something interesting.

[DrTang]

I'm not joking but I heard that Deardorf used to buy old pianoes at auctions and use the mahogany for cameras. It would certainly have been well seasoned.
Pete.

I heard church pews

[dsphotog]

I heard church pews
I thought they used mahogany salvaged from bars closed by prohibition.

[Steven Tribe]

"I thought they used mahogany salvaged from bars closed by prohibition."

This is the usual source given and the framing/panels would have ideal for camera making.
The ban on Mahogany came around 1940, although the quality of the available wood as new, had been deteriorating since the 19th Century.
I think it is more likely that modernisation, rather than prohibition, released most mahogany planking.

[Louis Pacilla]

I always thought the way to go if I where to build a camera would be to look for an OLD wood process camera. The type made of mahogany or cherry.

I have one in the garage a 20x24 with a large thick 60" rail and two big wooden standards.Lot's of stock high quality Kiln dried cherry/mahogany wood. I figured the camera would yield several new cameras . it certainly cost me far less then buying high quality kiln dried wood .

[E. von Hoegh]

I always thought the way to go if I where to build a camera would be to look for an OLD wood process camera. The type made of mahogany or cherry.

I have one in the garage a 20x24 with a large thick 60" rail and two big wooden standards.Lot's of stock high quality Kiln dried cherry/mahogany wood. I figured the camera would yield several new cameras . it certainly cost me far less then buying high quality kiln dried wood .

Kiln dried wood isn't seasoned wood. You want properly seasoned wood, and that is what most older cameras were made of. Kiln drying is a modern shortcut.

[E. von Hoegh]

I thought they used mahogany salvaged from bars closed by prohibition.

Bars, church pews, and pianos. I always thought Deardorff used pattern-grade mahogany for it's dimensional stability.

[Pete Watkins]

Dr. Tang,
Over here church pews are generally made of English oak.
Pete.

[Steven Tribe]

"Kiln dried wood isn't seasoned wood."

It certainly isn't. It is a process invented to reduce storage of timbers for the necessary number of years. The results are not suitable for fine joinery.

[Steve Smith]

Over here church pews are generally made of English oak.

Perhaps in the millionaires' area of town where you live! Down here they are usually made from pine.


Steve.

[Steven Tribe]

I bet the church pews around Osbourne House are made of oak or perhaps Prince Albert had something imported from Germany (Prussia)?

[Steve Smith]

Not in the churches I've been in.


Steve.

[Brian Ellis]

When asking for supply sources it helps to know where you're located.

[dsphotog]

When asking for supply sources it helps to know where you're located.

I'm in Ca, but any info might be helpful to other readers.

[E. von Hoegh]

"Kiln dried wood isn't seasoned wood."

It certainly isn't. It is a process invented to reduce storage of timbers for the necessary number of years. The results are not suitable for fine joinery.

Kiln drying came in around the same time as balloon framing for houses. I always laugh to myself when someone says something like "the finest kiln dried lumber". Seasoning and forced drying are completely different processes.

[c.d.ewen]

I'm in Ca, but any info might be helpful to other readers.

I applaud altruism. Here's my local place, in White Plains, NY: M. L. Condon Lumber. (http://www.condonlumber.net/home.html) Highly recommended. I love to stop in and fondle their exotics. There's no mention, on their website, of shipping. Maybe I need to stop by soon and ask.

Charley

[Drew Bedo]

Try looking premium woods for fine woodworking at:


Woodcrafter
http://www.woodcrafters.us/

Rockler
www.rockler.com

Another place to look might be "antique" (junke) furnature. I have seen tables in thrift stores thjat are unsalvageable as furnature but have large amounts of hardwood that could be used for a project.

[Richard Wasserman]

I used to have a cabinet shop specializing in kitchens and bought most of my lumber from Paxton Lumber: http://www.paxtonwood.com/

They are wholesale only

[c.d.ewen]

I applaud altruism. Here's my local place, in White Plains, NY: M. L. Condon Lumber. (http://www.condonlumber.net/home.html) Highly recommended. I love to stop in and fondle their exotics. There's no mention, on their website, of shipping. Maybe I need to stop by soon and ask.

Couldn't resist a quick visit. Yes, they ship, but I didn't ask about minimums. Retail's OK. No credit cards, though.

Charley

[Graybeard]

I heard church pews

Bar tops from saloons closed due to Prohibition.

[John Jarosz]

Oh come on. Everyone knows it's from dashboards from alien spacecraft that crashed in area 51.

Seriously, while Woodcraft and Rocklers have very nice high quality wood, they are usually hideously expensive compared to wood suppliers. Kettle Moraine Hardwood is also a good source just south of Milwaukee.

John

[E. von Hoegh]

Bar tops from saloons closed due to Prohibition.

I keep hearing this. Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 IIRC. What did Deardorff do after 1933, when the huge majority of their cameras were made and sold? I think this is another urban legend, which is not to say they never recycled a bartop.

[imagedowser]

Again the advantage to places like Condons Lumber and others like it is they have what you "think" you want.... 90% of what they sell is kiln dried and both weaker and color degraded by he process. Seasoned air dried wood preferably "winter cut" in late or mid January when preshrunk due to natural drying of winter winds, is the very best color, most stable and lightest due to lack of sap and other minerals etc found in woods cut "off" season. This is why fine instrument makers "loft" (store) their materials in the highest point of there atelier (shop) for long periods of time .I use nothing less than 10 years old and have in my "stash", woods that I can certify as old as 125 years. None of this compulsive idiocy is necessary for camera construction, but if you wonder why Ebony cameras are so expensive, all their woods are 20+ years old. If you have questions PM me any time or send me t your phone number to talk. Be Well, bill

[Drew Wiley]

Never underestimate the importance of proper curing. This is one of several things which
separates the men from the boys in terms of camera quality. And I was under the impression that pattern-grade mahogany is virtually nonexistent except in old stockpiles.
Get the wrong thing and you end up with warpage and splits. Kiln dried cherry might be a
little more forgiving if it's fairly homogenous without figure. But if you want something
quickie an engineered composite would fare much better. I guess it depends on whether
you consider a camera a piece of fine furniture to look at or just an instrument to be used.
But nobody needs an uneven film plane or light leak due to a twist in the back.

[Steve Smith]

All of the pieces of wood I have used for cameras so far has been the sides and backs of drawers made of oak. They have been held flat and straight for many years in their original form and I don't think they are going to warp or split now if they haven't already.

I think old furniture is a very good source of cheap, good quality wood.


But if you want something quickie an engineered composite would fare much better. I guess it depends on whether
you consider a camera a piece of fine furniture to look at or just an instrument to be used.

I agree. If I was making a purely functional camera, I would probably make all of the parts from Delrin, PVC or Nylon - but I want it to look nice as well!


Steve.

[Henry Ambrose]

I have a small stock of mahogany, apple and walnut that would be very suitable for camera making. I cut the apple and walnut in 1983. The mahogany is left overs from solid body guitar building that are just a bit too short, but plenty of length to make a camera. I've had it since around the same time period.
All are dry and stored indoors continuously since the early 80s. I also have some other species not quite that old but nice and dry and ready to use - cherry, sycamore, white oak and silver maple. If anyone wants to build a camera let me know and I can put together a package of wood.

[Peter De Smidt]

Oh come on. Everyone knows it's from dashboards from alien spacecraft that crashed in area 51.

Seriously, while Woodcraft and Rocklers have very nice high quality wood, they are usually hideously expensive compared to wood suppliers. Kettle Moraine Hardwood is also a good source just south of Milwaukee.

John

Yes, and there's one north of Milwaukee by Slinger. The selection and prices are much better than at Rockler's, Woodcraft's, or home improvement stores. They'll also rip an edge or flatten a side for you for very little extra. That's why I recommended the poster try to find a local mill.

[gleaf]

If your near Burbank Swaner Hardwood. http://www.swanerhardwood.com/

[Jac@stafford.net]

I'm not joking but I heard that Deardorf used to buy old pianoes at auctions and use the mahogany for cameras. It would certainly have been well seasoned.
Pete.

During prohibition, Deardorff bought bar tops for some of his wood.