Hello, and thank you for stopping by Eric Johnson’s Furniture’s web log.
When people stop by my showroom and take a look around they are always impressed with the wood I use for my furniture. The first thing they say is “where do you get your wood”. I think most of the time people are not familiar with tiger maple and just assume that it must come from a foreign market. Other people are surprised that I can get so much of It, they want to know where I get it and are also surprised that it is a local wood.
So here is my answer. Tiger maple is just a maple tree that grows with a “defect”. Thankfully this “defect” makes for beautiful furniture. You can find tiger maple anywhere maple grows. I cut down a little maple tree in my back yard and found it to be loaded with stripes. Unfortunately it had some really bad defects in the wood so much so, I couldn’t use it.
I get 95% of my wood from a local lumber dealer in Ashland New Hampshire. Steve Sharps owns the business and works it with his son Jamie. Two nicer guys you won’t find anywhere. Steve keeps an abundant supply of highly figured tiger maple in stock. He also deals heavily in wide pine boards. It is not uncommon to find clear pine 16 feel long and 18 – 24 inches wide and virtually clear of any defects. My father recently laid a wide pine floor in his house he is building using Steve’s wood and it came out beautifully. Steve also keeps in stock Cherry, Flame Cherry, Poplar, Rock Maple, Birdseye Maple and Butternut.
Now this is where the rubber meets the road. I have found his prices are very reasonable. This is proved out in the fact that he has customers that come all the way from Rhode Island to look through his supply.
I highly recommend Steve if you need wood for your next project. You can contact him through his web site. www.sharpslumber.com
Thank you again for stopping by. Until next time.
Eric
