Going to Texas

[tablesawtom]

A while back I asked for places to visit, that deal with woodworking, while vacationing in the San Antonio area . What started to be a cheap fly down (If there is such a thing) and see Blue Bonnets for a couple of days Has turned into a drive down (15 hours) and be gone for two weeks. She has researched this trip and has been selecting the clothes she is going to need to take, so getting a lot of wood is kind of out of the question.

A person recommended Berdoll saw mill as a possible place to visit. I thought we could visit and I would get a piece of really nice looking wood to make a plane out of.  I bought a Kit form Lee Valley a couple of years. ago. They have some really nice looking slabs of Pecan. Their pace comes into my wife face book page now.  I am in the process of Building Moravian wood working bench and just out of the blue I asked her about driving the truck back down and bringing a slab back for the top. The legs on the bench are walnut and 60% complete. I think a nice pecan slab would be gorgeous. 

Her response to my question is why  don't you buy one big enough to make a Moravian work bench that will double as a Kitchen table. And we can rent a U-Haul trailer and bring it back.

Is she a keeper or what? And not only that, she will find the money and help pick it out. 

My advise to anyone that can hear. Build for her and get the projects out of the shop and she will make sure you have anything your heart desires.

Tom

[Bill Holt]

Tom, you are living the dream!!!!!!

[jteneyck]

Happy wife = happy life.  Good on you, Tom.  

John

[shoottmx]

Happy wife = happy life.  Good on you, Tom.  

John

Well stated,

g

[BrokenOlMarine]

Yup, a keeper.  Sometimes you get lucky.
My wife, years ago, found me a load of wood on Craigslist.
I'm still working from it. 

[AHill]

I can't recommend any lumber sources, but seek out a slab or two of mesquite. Or, better yet, find out where they are clearing land for new construction, and ask the foreman on site if you can relieve him of some of the uprooted mesquite. Usually they will say yes, because otherwise they have to pay someone to haul it away. Keep in mind, mesquite is as hard as nails and rough on tools, but it's pretty, stable as heck, and if you screw up, it makes good wood for grilling. Don't use it in your fireplace - it burns very hot and if you have any amount of creosote buildup, you risk starting a chimney fire.

[wing nut]

A while back I asked for places to visit, that deal with woodworking, while vacationing in the San Antonio area . What started to be a cheap fly down (If there is such a thing) and see Blue Bonnets for a couple of days Has turned into a drive down (15 hours) and be gone for two weeks. She has researched this trip and has been selecting the clothes she is going to need to take, so getting a lot of wood is kind of out of the question.

A person recommended Berdoll saw mill as a possible place to visit. I thought we could visit and I would get a piece of really nice looking wood to make a plane out of.  I bought a Kit form Lee Valley a couple of years. ago. They have some really nice looking slabs of Pecan. Their pace comes into my wife face book page now.  I am in the process of Building Moravian wood working bench and just out of the blue I asked her about driving the truck back down and bringing a slab back for the top. The legs on the bench are walnut and 60% complete. I think a nice pecan slab would be gorgeous. 

Her response to my question is why  don't you buy one big enough to make a Moravian work bench that will double as a Kitchen table. And we can rent a U-Haul trailer and bring it back.

Is she a keeper or what? And not only that, she will find the money and help pick it out. 

My advise to anyone that can hear. Build for her and get the projects out of the shop and she will make sure you have anything your heart desires.

Tom

I'm currently doing a yard project and said I could use a plate compactor, she said go for it buy instead of rent, I had one previously I used for projects and she talks about it all the time, at first she was very dubious but after a project or so she was convinced.

[Hank Knight]

Why don't you go to the mill, pick pout your slab and have them ship it to you? Shipping would probably be comparable to or less expensive than renting a U Haul for a trip that long. Plus you don't have to drag a trailer around and mess with it on your vacation.

[Danny in Houston]

THE BEST Texas lumber slab location is Swift River Pecans near San Marcos, TX.  Pecan, cypress, mesquite, walnut and more.  You can also pick up some of the best pecans in the world while you are there.  That's Troy the owner in the photo.

Troy also has a giant 15kW router to flatten a large slab, check out this video when he flattened one of mine:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uDomWygpqE

[Wipedout]

Danny's Wright. Berries has some nice stuff but pricey. Swift river has great stuff and more reasonable