I live in a big city and can’t exactly snap a branch of a random tree or real pick up random sticks from people’s backyards without getting some looks.

I’ve ordered off Amazon and Etsy in the past for basswood and walnut that was not bad.

Im just curious where other people get resources?

  • Oni_eyesEnglish
    6·
    2 years ago

    Check large trash day. Lots of people will put fallen limbs and smaller stuff out at the curb so I’ll go up if I can identify something I want and ask the owners if they’re cool with me taking it, and then make sure I don’t mess their drop off pile up.
    I started when I needed aquarium wood and wanted to age my own, though that gets a lot trickier with determining whether they used pesticides or anything and people can get kinda standoffish about their plant care regimen being investigated 😂

    Be mindful that they’re not obligated to let you take it or may consider it a hassle just to deal with you so you may get more no than yes. Especially helpful if you can find their number to call as people are getting jumpy around others coming up to their doors for some stupid reason. (At least in the US)

    • ZaphodquixoteEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      Yup, busted furniture too.

      No bull, people toss broken chairs and such all the time. Wood is wood for the most part, so a little effort and you’ve got materials. Depends on your city, of course, whether or not you can just roll up and grab things, but most folks that are just tossing things don’t care, so if there’s no ordinances in place against it, it’s a fairly sustainable way.

      We do it out here in the country too, though there’s usually plenty of fallen branches and whatnot.

      • Oni_eyesEnglish
        4·
        2 years ago

        I wasn’t even thinking about furniture, I assumed most of it had moved over to the laminated plywood type stuff which I wasn’t sure is any good for carving.

        • SendPicsofSandwichesEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          I’ve also heard of people cruising antique / thrift stores for hardwood furniture to repurpose in projects. I would also say they the dumpsters in those same places could be a goldmine

          • Oni_eyesEnglish
            3·
            2 years ago

            Absolutely, though the thought of taking antique furniture and carving it down hurts me physically.

            • SendPicsofSandwichesEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              I feel you. If it’s still a usable piece it might also be a good project for relief carving to add decoration.

      • WhoDunnit?OPMEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        I’ve actually tried whittling a wooden stool leg from a stool someone was throwing out and this must have been treated or something because it was hard as fuck and took forever.

        Large trash day is not a bad idea. It’s warm by me. People Gotta be doing some sort of yard work on weekends that I can grab scraps from.

        I’m pretty crappy at identifying wood species but I’m also not picky at all

  • Stijn@vlemmy.netEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    For the moment, I’m taking fallen wood in parks. I live in a big city as well, but we have a lot of parks and green borders in the neighborhood. Just yesterday, I noticed a branch and took it home just before the ‘cleaning service’ got it. I inspected the nearby tree and I even think it’s basswood/linden.

    For the rest, it’s a guess which wood I have found. Most of it was pretty hard, so a bit tougher for fine whittling.

    BTW, it always feels a bit ‘illegal’ to take with me, but nobody really cares. I even bought a small saw to assist the collections.