3x3 hardwood HARD TO FIND?

[Poor Jack]

Is it me or am I just not looking in the right places? Everyone has 2x or 4x, never any 3x !! Why is that anyway? I know - I know, I could glue some up but I'm finicky I guess, I like the look of solid better. 3in. x 3in. hardwood is perfect for my project (finished size 2.5 x 2.5). Only place I found locally is a sawmill that can cut up Poplar for me, they have Oak but it's just too hard. I would really like to find a good supply of 3x3 Maple. Anyone have a source for 3x3 maple out there for me?

[poolhound]

Jack, add your location to your profile and let the members here know what city you live in, that way they may be able to offer some suggestions.

Where have you tried and are you looking at rough stock or pre-milled? I live in phoenix and have found quite a few places that have 12/4 or bigger, I have a few boards this size. You would have to mill them and rip your 3x3 from a wider 12/4 board.

Glue ups are an option and if you take care to match grain it will look fine. Another alternative to a flat glue up that will keep the face grain intact is to take 4 3" (or whatever width you want) boards, miter the long edges and join them to make a 3x3. You can choose to leave the center hollow or join them around a central core. This is a much trickier process but will get you 4 clear faces.

[LCHIEN]

the lumber yard Clarks in Houston had all kinds of 12/4 and 16/4 maple.
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...arks+hardwoods

(Usually hardwood is not sold dimensional i.e. 2x 3x 4x, but in fourths like 8/4 12/4, 16/4)
you could buy a 9" wide plank of that and cut it into 3 pieces...
problem is, the ring/growth pattern would be different on all of them when cut that way.

[Russianwolf]

http://www.exoticwoodgroup.com/order...ill_blanks.htm

depends on how long you want them

[cabinetman]

One of the problems may be is the terminology you use. When referring to 2 x 4's and the like, that terminology is used for dimensional lumber. When you use the word "hardwood" the sizing is figured differently as stated, as in 1/4's. Four quarters equal 1" thick, which some hardwoods distributors sell as "in the rough". For the thickness you need you would have to order a size that permitted machining and still be within the range of your needs.
.

[poolhound]

I see you are in Annapolis MD. Try woodfinder as a starting point.

http://www.woodfinder.com/

They dont list everybody but there are at least 4 or 5 in MD listed.

This one is in Annapolis and according to their price list they have quite a few different species in 12/4 or thicker. They say they have Hard white Maple and Soft Curly Maple both available in 12/4

http://www.exoticlumberinc.com/

Do let us know what you find.

[L. D. Jeffries]

All this talk of dimensions reminds me once when I was buying some rough sawn lumber form an Amish mill. I asked the younger guy for "some that had been cut the longest", to which he replied "Well the longest we have is 16'" Of course what I really wanted was some lumber that was drier than stuff cut yesterday!

[atgcpaul]

I shop at the Exotic Lumber in their Gaithersburg location. I haven't looked
for 12/4 maple there but the main guy there, an Australian guy, seems pretty
reasonable and he can probably get you anything in any size you wanted if
you asked.

Paul

[LCHIEN]

hey I saw a recent Woodsmith and they said for table legs you should take a flatsawn or quartersawn (same thing if its square, I guess) piece of stock about 4-1/2 inches square, rip off 45 degree corners off the thing to make it a square about 3x3 so that all four sides have nice tight grain showing uniformly (the grain now runs at 45 degrees to all sides rather than parallel and perpendicular).

That sounds like a nice idea but seems pretty wasteful of a big hunk of wood. Like we can't hardly get a hold of 2x3 let along 4-1/2" square with a particular cut direction.