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255620 Christopher Dunn <christopherdunn123@g...> 2015‑08‑01 Found a supplier for 16/4 beech in the US
Galoots

About a year ago I spoke to Matt Bickford (a commercial plane maker
who makes very nice moulding planes, http://msbickford.com/">http://msbickford.com/) and told
him I was looking for some beech to make hand planes with. He told me
where he gets his beech from, and I wrote it down, and promptly lost
it in my shop.

About a week ago I sent an email out looking for beech to make planes
with. I got a lot of good responses and leads, but none of them panned
out. So I made a concerted effort to clean my shop and find my notes.
Under some printouts for a Stanley 358 mitre box, I found my notes.

Horizon Wood Products sells beech for planes!

http://www.horizonwood.com

I called and talked to a gentleman named Pete. Pete said they got into
the beech business when Clark and Williams (now Old Street Tools)
contacted them about beech for planes. He said they do two to three
cuttings a year of 1000 to 2000 board feet of beech. They kiln dry it,
then air dry it for a while. He said a lot of it checks, and typically
they get about 600 board feet usable for planes. The beech is quarter
sawn in 16/4 and 8/4 thicknesses, 4 to 6" wide and is available upto
3' long.

So I'm on the list for beech. Pete said it will be about three to four
months before it's ready.

I'll let you know how it turns out,
Chris

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