Source of thin wide boards - Walnut

[Jason Wheeler]

I am going to be making a couple of cabinets and as they are going to be fiddly and use a lot of wood.

I wondered if anybody has a good UK source for thin (10mm or under) cut walnut (doesn’t have to be walnut, could be something else).

I can resaw larger pieces and have a thicknesser and drum sander but I would prefer to spend time on the making rather than the wood prep - trouble is the few places I have found online are way more expensive than I want to spend!

 

[peter-harrison]

Hi Jason, could you buy the thickest construction veneer and glue it back together in a vacuum press? Not sure how it would work out pricewise.
Pete

 

[Jason Wheeler]

Hi Jason, could you buy the thickest construction veneer and glue it back together in a vacuum press? Not sure how it would work out pricewise.
Pete

 

[J-G]

I am going to be making a couple of cabinets and as they are going to be fiddly and use a lot golf wood, I wondered if anybody has a good UK source for thin (10mm or under) cut walnut (doesn’t have to be walnut, could be something else) - I can resaw larger pieces and have a thicknesser and drum sander but I would prefer to spend time on the making rather than the wood prep - trouble is the few places I have found online are way more expensive than I want to spend!

I assume that you want ABW - in which case, it is (relatively) expensive. I buy from Whitmore's in Claybrook Magna, Leicestershire. but you don't indicate (in your profile) where you are located so I have no idea whether that is a viable place for you to visit. You could no doubt 'buy blind' - ie. let them select a board (or two) for you. They do have vast stocks.

The last I bought was a 3m length of 1¼" x ~4" which cost me £38 collected, which may give you an idea.

 

[J-G]

Hi Jason, could you buy the thickest construction veneer and glue it back together in a vacuum press? Not sure how it would work out pricewise.
Pete

That would double/tripple the price I would have thought.

 

[Jason Wheeler]

That’s a really interesting thought, thank you - I have vacuum pressed veneer before although admittedly only small pieces and never thought about making a veneer ply - not sure how it would look on exposed joints though..

 

[Jason Wheeler]

That would double/tripple the price I would have thought.

Just had a quick squint on t’internet and it’s definitely a much cheaper option - I had no idea that 2.5mm veneer existed!!

 

[Jason Wheeler]

I assume that you want ABW - in which case, it is (relatively) expensive. I buy from Whitmore's in Claybrook Magna, Leicestershire. but you don't indicate (in your profile) where you are located so I have no idea whether that is a viable place for you to visit. You could no doubt 'buy blind' - ie. let them select a board (or two) for you. They do have vast stocks.

The last I bought was a 3m length of 1¼" x ~4" which cost me £38 collected, which may give you an idea.

Am in Northants so not too far - that’s a better board price than I have been seeing, thank you, although the it’s a lot of resawing if I go that route

 

[Jason Wheeler]

Just had a quick squint on t’internet and it’s definitely a much cheaper option - I had no idea that 2.5mm veneer existed!!

Scrub that - just did the maths again and although it’s cheaper it’s only about 10% less!

 

[Sachakins]

Try these https://www.pbhardwoods.co.uk/
The are Liverpool based but do deliver last I heard. But don't know if there's a min cost though.
They have a lot of various hardwood and will machine cut/plane to your requirements.
Email on [email protected] to ask.

 

[J-G]

Am in Northants so not too far - that’s a better board price than I have been seeing, thank you, although the it’s a lot of resawing if I go that route

They are well worth a visit but you have to phone and book a [slot] which is 2 hours.

When I bought that 3m length I was there an hour and a ¼ and they moved about 8 very large stacks of timber to dig out the board I eventually selected. You do have to take whole boards though, ie. you can't say "I want 1.5m off that one" but they do have varying lengths, thicknesses.and widths.

It's a huge site and of course they have a large variety of species as well.

 

[Ollie78]

Veneered plywood with solid edges maybe ?

 

[Jason Wheeler]

Veneered plywood with solid edges maybe ?

It’s for a gun/drinks type cabinet to go in the bed of my truck and I can’t guarantee no water gets to it (I’ll raise it so it’s not in standing water and the tonneau cover is watertight but still likely to get damp - I fear the veneer may eventually peel away

 

[Blackswanwood]

I would be surprised if you find a low cost supply of 10mm thick boards as you are paying for the extra work in machining them.

It may be worth taking a look at MAC Timbers who are not too far from you.

https://mactimbers.com/products.html

A similar set up (locally felled and air dried) is Forest2Furniture. They are a bit further but the owner (Patrick) is exceptionally helpful if you give him a call to make sure you don’t have a wasted trip.

https://forest2furniture.com/

 

[Jason Wheeler]

I would be surprised if you find a low cost supply of 10mm thick boards as you are paying for the extra work in machining them.

It may be worth taking a look at MAC Timbers who are not too far from you.

https://mactimbers.com/products.html

A similar set up (locally felled and air dried) is Forest2Furniture. They are a bit further but the owner (Patrick) is exceptionally helpful if you give him a call to make sure you don’t have a wasted trip.

https://forest2furniture.com/

thank you (and everybody else) - some really good new sources of timber - am going to resaw some thicker planks as that’s the most cost effective - fingers crossed there will be a pic of new cabinet at some stage!!

 

[HOJ]

That will be an interesting project to see, are you making it to house guns and cartridges as well, some nice ones around along with nice prices as well.

I see Ciarán Ó Braonáin, off the telly (CHESHIRE WOODWORKING) does a nice line of them.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Every now and then at various timber merchants I've come across thin boards of various wood species usually 10 - 15 mm thick and typically described and sold as drawer box material. Usually it was good quality hardwood such as oak, ash, walnut, etc. Further enquiries generally revealed that the material was a 'waste' product of the veneer cutting industry. The waste product was the remains of the log too thin for the veneer knife to get at because of the metal dogs and so on that locked the veneer log in place during slicing.

I haven't come across this 'drawer box' material for a good number of years, and it was always a rare event even when I did come across it. It's possible such supplies might still be around and perhaps it would be worthwhile asking about them if anyone's at a timber merchant needing thin stuff. I say that on the basis that if you don't ask, you tend to not get. Slainte.

 

[Jason Wheeler]

That will be an interesting project to see, are you making it to house guns and cartridges as well, some nice ones around along with nice prices as well.

I see Ciarán Ó Braonáin, off the telly (CHESHIRE WOODWORKING) does a nice line of them.

Yep, prices are eye watering - it would be for guns and cartridges etc in one drawer then glasses and alcohol (obviously for medicinal purposes!) in the other - this is way outside of my woodworking comfort zone!