Sad lumber day

[atgcpaul]

We're living in temporary quarters in DC for several months before we leave for our next place. My whole shop got packed up including several pieces of walnut lumber I milled myself.

About a year ago the storage company notified me that since this was raw lumber and oversized (didn't fit in their crates), my wife's employer would no longer pay to store them. So I've been paying $25/month to store this lumber until we got back to move them to my parents' house. Unfortunately my Dad couldn't move them full sized on his trailer so 4 8/4 pieces of walnut 16" wide and 14' long had to be cut down to 9'.

I used my new Ryobi cordless circular saw which really impressed me today. The warehouse manager shed some tears (dry ones) as I sawed through each plank that his crew had stacked up on the forks of their lift.

I cut them down to 9' which is the length of that shorter one in the picture. I did get to see my big tools which was nice and sad at the same time.

[Slik Geek]

That had to be painful. Thank you for sharing the photo.

[leehljp]

It is all in how you list it! But they need to be planned/sanded 4 sides.

I had to do basically the same thing (cut them down to just under 8 ft from 10 ft) when I carried 10" & 12 inch wide boards - walnut, red oak, white oak, cherry, cypress and one other - when I took them to Japan. I got mine through customs, but a friend who tried to do the same thing was denied before it even shipped. Both his and mine were planed 4 sides. He bought his from HD or Lowes.

I shipped 2 different times to Japan - as we got a crate 4ft x 8+ ft x 8 ft high every 4 years. My friend asked me how I was able to ship boards like that and he wasn't. I replied: I don't know but I guess it is how you list it. I listed mine as "Unfinished Shelving Boards." Raw lumber is a no-no.

By the way, I had four 10" wide walnut, four 8" wide cypress, two 8 inch red oak and several Japanese wood boards that I brought back FROM Japan when I returned home. Again, I listed them as unfinished shelving boards 8 ft long. (again - all S 4 S planed sides.

Forget to mention - LOML had some delicate items - tall floor lamp among other things that I took some 12" pine boards and made a box 12" on sides and top and bottom and 7 ft long to hold the lamp and other things. Nailed together sparsely and nylon straps around it in three places. When it arrived, I had some 12 inch pine planed 4 sides.



This book case was built from Book Shelve Boards that were in a student union building at a university in Kobe, Japan that was about to be torn down. I got at least a dozen 10 inch wide boards about 10 ft long. They had a bunch of shelves and I had to split them with a fellow helping, or I would have had twice as much. I brought a couple of those boards back (but 8 ft long). Those Shelf boards were equivalent to 5/4 in thickness.

BTW, the above book case, there were two of them, were made with pocket hole screws and came apart for shipping back to the USA.

SOOOO - technically, some were shelving and some used for shelves!

[Black walnut]

Sad day indeed.

[atgcpaul]

Hank, I'll keep that in mind when we (get to and) leave Central America in a few years. These boards weren't coming with me to the Middle East and there was no time to make them S4S. They were acceptable when we first packed out but my wife's employer changed the rules. I guess I can't complain too much since we aren't paying for it.

I was thinking about bringing back some olive wood back but man that stuff is expensive. The olive trees were actually individually numbered,a like lobster cages, only certain people could harvest the olives. You need permission from the government to cut them down.
Paul

[capncarl]

Could you build your shipping crate out of your “special wood” rather than put it in the crate? A coat of cheap paint and it would look like it’s been on a tramp freighter for decades.