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Thread: Quilted maple in Washington

  1. #1
    Mandolin tragic Graham McDonald's Avatar
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    Default Quilted maple in Washington

    While I an in the US next month for the GAL convention in Tacoma WA, I would like to pick up a couple of mandolin sized sets of quilted big-leaf maple. Any suggested timber suppliers within a couple of hours drive of Seattle/Tacoma? I have emailed Bruce Harvie, but he has not replied as yet.

    Thanks

    Graham

  2. #2
    Registered User jd.panko's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    These folks might be able to help.

    https://pacificrimtonewoods.com/
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    Bruce Harvie has retired. Of late, I've been working with Bruce Creps ("Notable Woods")..

  4. #4
    Registered User Schneidly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Cohen View Post
    Bruce Harvie has retired. Of late, I've been working with Bruce Creps ("Notable Woods")..
    While it's true that Bruce Harvie has retired (he closed his UPS shipping account), my understanding from him is that he still has a building full of wood and he's still selling it to people who come visit him on Orcas Island or who buy by the pallet.
    Google says Orcas Island is about 3.5 hours from Tacoma, but that will depend on your timing and the ferry schedule. That said, the ferry ride in the San Juans and Orcas Island would be a beautiful addition to your trip.
    I have a phone number for Bruce that I'm happy to share if you PM me.

  5. #5
    Mandolin tragic Graham McDonald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    We have been in contact through Facebook and he may well come to the convention. Alternatively, a trip to Orcas Is is entirely possible. 8-)

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    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    Quote Originally Posted by Graham McDonald View Post
    ...a trip to Orcas Is is entirely possible. 8-)
    ...and highly recommended!

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  9. #7
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    Sailing in to visit Bruce Harvey and then spending the night at Doe Bay Hotsprings is one of my favorites!

    The ferry rides all over the San Juans are easy and accessible. Bruce's place is about 10+ miles from the ferry docks, but Orcas is incredibly friendly and easy to hitch a ride.


    Lewis Judy at Northwest Timbers in Oregon usually has an incredible supply of maple, but be ready to pay full retail for it.
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  10. #8
    Mandolin & Mandola maker
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    Agree with James about Lewis Judy. Lots of very high quality figured Maple, but it ain't cheap, but then quality comes at a cost. I still have some from when I visited Lewis and purchased when in the USA in 1999.
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  11. #9
    Registered User Eric Hanson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    FWIW
    Here is a pic of one of the latest builds by Tyler White. He was able to pick up a pretty amazing piece of wood from @laroseguitars. Click image for larger version. 

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    He often has some amazing wood for sale.
    Eric Hanson
    Click #016/ Born on 2/29/08 - Sold to the next Conservator of this great mandolin!
    The search has ceased! (At least for now)
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    White #29R : Oh my!! This one is so AWESOME!!

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  13. #10
    Registered User tree's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    No disrespect, but the short answer is no, not even close.
    Clark Beavans

  14. #11
    Mandolin & Mandola maker
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    All maple is not the same species of tree, and although it is thought there is some environmental influence, figuring is most likely to be genetic. If you cut a tree with figured wood, usually the wood is figured right through the entire tree, right out to the smaller branches. This occurs not just in Maple, but in a wide variety of other tree species. I have cut small Eucalyptus trees with some very intense fiddleback figure right through to the small branches, yet another tree the same species right next door is plain wood right throughout the whole tree. Note that there is also compression wood that is figured around branches and that is not genetic.
    Peter Coombe - mandolins, mandolas and guitars
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    tree 

  16. #12
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quilted maple in Washington

    There are about half a dozen maple species commonly used for mandolins and some types of figure can exist in nearly all of them (curly grain for example), but true quilted figure only shows up in bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), and the natural range of that species is northwestern North America. That is the reason for perusing quilted maple supplies in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

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