Bulk buying bowl blanks

[TBay-Paul]

Hi all.
just wondering if any of you fellow turners have come across any wood suppliers that offer competitive prices if you purchase bowl blanks in bulk. Looking for native uk sourced woods.

 

[Democritus]

What would constitute ‘bulk’? There are blank suppliers (eg Home of Wood) who sell packs with maybe a dozen blanks.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

If you want to buy in bulk the best way is to buy larger pieces of wood and cut it up yourself.

 

[Stigmorgan]

Have you approached any suppliers and asked if they would do a discount for large purchases? You've nothing to lose by asking.

 

[mwinfrance]

Ask a tree surgeon, and then cut down ( or ask them to cut smaller for you* ) what you get from them. Works for most native woods you might need, if you don't cut down trees ( only the ones that need it, dangerous ones etc ) yourself.

*Chainsaws cut faster than most tools, except sawmill circular saws and bandsaws, and big forestry gear.

 

[okeydokey]

I know this is not the answer to the post but anyway Imo bowl blanks are ready to use no waiting for timber to dry or turn it green and wet. So 1 vote for ready to use blanks

 

[bertterbo]

You're paying a fair bit for postage in most cases, so if you're buying in bulk, you really want to collect in person.

In my experience, a lot of 10/20KG sacks I have bought online turn up with lots of small bowl blanks that aren't that useful.

 

[Orraloon]

I soon learned that if you are going to turn then you have to learn to sniff out free wood or at least cheap wood. I have at times bought blanks but that gets costly real fast. Tree surgeons would be my first place to look. Gardens are a great source of sometimes really nice wood and if someone local is having a tree down I think worth the bother I simply ask for a couple of chunks and give them a bowl or something in exchange. I used to keep a saw in the back of the car for roadside finds. Firewood providers are another place to look. Not free but way better than paying for what is marketed as turning blanks. After a while when people knew I turned wood I would sometimes get offers when someone was having a tree removed.
Get out there looking around. It does actually grow on trees.
Regards
John

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Not quite so many trees here as there are in the Blue Mountains.

 

[Richard_C]

Bulk buying can mean 2 things. The typical way is a mixed bag 'sack' which many offer and might say 10% extra free. You pay £50, you get £55 worth, at least notionally. It's not a big saving but it can save a bit on postage. I did that when I was starting out and it was an excellent way to try different sizes and woods plus it wasn't a big loss if (when) I ruined one or two. With time I have built up a stock of local wood slowly seasoning.

The other bulk buy might be a need for (say) 20 blanks all the same size and type for a particular job. I've never seen anyone advertising that, if I had a need I would phone someone like Yandles who have their own mill, or buy planks and cut my own. For hobbyists ' bulk' has a different meaning, bulk lasting 6 months for me is a days-worth for a production turner.

 

[niall Y]

I will look on Ebay from time to time to see if I can spot a few bargains. I have bought a bulk turning pack in the past, though this ended up more suitable for practise, than turning out useful bowls. As far as I am concerned 2 inch stock does not pass muster as a bowl blank 3 inch and up, is lot more useful size

For the most part I will try and get hold of felled trees ( a neighbour is offering me some yew at the moment ) I turn them wet and set them aside to dry. You then build up a backlog of part turned bowl that you can access. It is a lot cheaper this way as well.

The only exception would be if I wanted to turn something exotic - then its back to trawling the internet for bowl-blanks thicker than 2 inches

 

[stenik]

I got some logs from the village pub. In there for Sunday lunch and noticed loads out the back. Asked the landlord where he sourced them from and he said any farmer who'd had a tree come down let him know and off he went with his chain saw.
Asked if I could take a few and he kindly obliged. Cut them in half and leaving them to dry.
If you know of and pubs with an open fire go ask the landlord, and if not you can still have a pint

 

[Stigmorgan]

Befriend your local tree surgeon, mine has given me the codes to access his yard any time I please

 

[Orraloon]

Not quite so many trees here as there are in the Blue Mountains.

You may have a point, we are blessed with trees in my location. Not so much fun when they catch fire however. Anyhow my point was to get looking around as just about any bit of tree branch can be turned. It's a real shame what gets put through the shredder. I did notice on my last few visits to the UK parts of it looked more wooded than when I left 40 years ago.
Regards
John

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, you are indeed blessed with trees - I've been there.

 

[Owd Jockey]

Some great suggestions above. I am always on the look out for free wood and have never bought a bowl blank in my life and never intend to. I usually scavenge locally or have pieces donated to me. A good time to look is after a winter storm, when the local council is out cutting up trees that have come down.
Another option is to create bowl blanks by 'gluing up' smaller pieces of wood. Ikea stores used to have a pile of wooden pieces from previous displays and offered free. However, you would need to carefully go through the stuff and eliminate the chipboard/MDF pieces but there will be pieces , usually some kind of Spruce/Pine to be had. This small vase is one that I made from pieces of free wood from Ikea, I called it, unsurprisingly, the IKEA Vase.