yep, Im city folk, freekin bears marching around my front door?
Yeah, my wife isnt going back to the country anytime soon.
Maybe never.
So off we went further into the wilderness. Up near Coxsackie new york, in the middle of nowhere(for me, all that farmland and open space makes me nervous). Where homes arent numbered. And we drove up onto a farm. Me, a city boy, finds it strange that chickens and goats are just a part of everyday life. My wife wouldnt get out of the car with all the chickens running wild around us. I just shoed them back into their area and petted the goats. Man, its stinks on a farm. (it wasnt a really big farm, but there were some pens, they all stunk the same, the dog kept me occupied, jumping on me with her dirty paws, but she was a lover, you couldnt help playing with her.Even got my wife out of the truck to play with her until she coated my wife with mud.(it was funny when my wife went back into the truck to use her cell, the dog jumped in after her, wish I had my camera ready then, that was a kodak moment)
Then I met the nicest woodsman in the world. A great guy with a world of knowledge about wood, and he took me on the full tour of the barn, showing me every type of wood he has, all labelled, elm, ash, oak, maples, cherry, so many species I dont even remember, he was getting in alot of old chestnut from beams, he had incredible 6/4 ash, beautiful stuff, too high end for me, butternut, uh....hackberry, walnut, and I think black and white locust?
He said he built a small walkway he showed me out of black locust, says it will last a long, long time outdoors.
All in all I had a great time the hour and half I spent with him, getting my thick ash, (he really didnt have much other than some 30 year ash sitting in his moms barn he went over and got), and I picked up some gorgeous, silver maple, great spalting, incredible figuring, and he had a bunch of 15 -16 inch boards of QS and regular sawn sycamore that had alot of splits and cracks so he asked me if I wanted it for 1-2 bucks a bf. Ofcourse I said yes. Took 100 bf of splated maple, but he couldnt sell me the 6/4, it was already spoken for, would have loved a handful of that.And I came home, not feeling all that well, but had a nice bed full of sycamore and silver maple,(and a bit of ash)
I loved this guys layout. He had one or two pieces of everything labeled standing up in the barn so I got to really look closely at each species.
Everything he has is labeled, as how long it was air dried, kiln dried, dated....nice.....if anyone is near exit 21 on the NYS thruway, he told me its ok to give his name or number if someone wants to purchase some lumber from him. Id say he runs about 20% cheaper than the average lumber supplier, and his count is liberal, and he tossed in a bit extra for splits. Never know what he has, he has white oak and common stuff, but he doesnt really try to get so much common stock, or so he explained. I wanted some cherry, he had some with interesting figure on it, but it was so buried under other piles and he was moving so much for me with the frontloader, I knew he had to be somewhere, so I left it for another time. Great guy. Pm me if anyone wants to get in touch with him.He also has alot of large slabs.last pic is sycamore, never saw a piece before, reminds me of birch. Will make a nice tabletop eventually.