buying wood

[nanalee]

I would like to try intarsia, Where is a good place to purchase different types of wood? There is not anything near where I am to purchase different types of wood..Thank you

[shadylady0447]

Hi Nanalee,

If you just want to try intarsia to see if you're going to like it you could contact wdkits (Mike) who is a member here. He makes beautiful intarsia and sells kits to make an entire project.

[Travis]

If you're just starting out, a kit works awesome. Buying all of those woods sperately gets pretty expensive, especially if you don't know if you'll like the process. I bought a kit from Mike that I started in this thread. I have a couple of pix of what you get. You can find his website here.

 

Ebay is another great place to find hardwoods for intarsia. You can try them out. There's also plenty of mailorder companies that sell hardwoods too, but I haven't tried them. You can use WoodFinder too. Just type in your zip code and you'll be able to find hardwood dealers that may be closer than you think. I know in my neck of the woods, it's practically impossible to find these people in the yellow pages.

 

I hope this helps!

[Barry5180]

Those kits are a great idea Travis. I just checked out Mike's site and I've got to say I was impressed. Like you, I would be silly enough to try the Nash two door as well. Can't stay away from a challenge. I was really impressed at the amount of money that can be charged for a completed intarsia piece if done well. I was always nervous about trying intarsia because of the expense and difficulty finding the different woods needed. I don't have a planer or band saw at this time so preparing all the different thicknesses of wood was something I could not do. Having a kit with all of the woods, already proper thickness takes quite a bit of the anxiety out of trying intarsia. Thanks for providing the link to Mike's site.

 

Barry

[intarsia92]

If you're just starting out making Intarsias I would suggest a place like Home Depot or Lowes. You can find some inexpensive Cedar "Dog Eared" fence boards that work good. I keep a supply on hand all the time; they are easy to cut, sand and come in a wide variety of colors, from light to dark. Just make sure to wear a mask when you're sanding. They also carry "Poplar" which can be found in green and purple shades of color.

 

Al, Intarsia 92

[Travis]

If you're just starting out making Intarsias I would suggest a place like Home Depot or Lowes. You can find some inexpensive Cedar "Dog Eared" fence boards that work good. I keep a supply on hand all the time; they are easy to cut, sand and come in a wide variety of colors, from light to dark. Just make sure to wear a mask when you're sanding. They also carry "Poplar" which can be found in green and purple shades of color.

 

Al, Intarsia 92

 

 

In your experience, what kind of subject matter will work with these kind of woods? I was thinking about the bigbox stores and what they carry, but I couldn't think about what I could create with their selection.

[intarsia92]

The wide variety of shades of cedar makes it easy to use in almost all Intarsias: Landscapes, Animals, People, Buildings and etc. If you check out Judy Gale Roberts Patterns, "Intarsia.com" almost all of her Intarsias are made using Western Red Cedar.

 

Intarsia 92

[wdkits1]

I published an article in issue 34 of Scrollsaw woodworking and crafts magazine that has a chart of various woods that I use in my intarsia projects.When I started creating intarsia back in 1992 I tried using red cedar and pine but was not happy with the contrasts and the fact that red cedar does not hold its color over time.I started collecting different woods to use in my projects (ongoing) and that led to the concept of my Intarsia Project Kits. . These kits are a great way to learn about the different woods without the initial costs of buying large quantities.

[amazingkevin]

Thats great to here about the cedar i have plenty now and some intarsias would fill the bill nicely!