Lift it.

Took a trip recently to The Hardwood Store in Gibsonville, NC. Right in between Greensboro and Chapel Thrill. Normally I patronize Steve Wall Lumber but the last time I was there I made a note to check on their 5/4 quarter-sawn white oak (lots of quarters in this post) supply since the upcoming Stanley Table would require quite a bit. They only had about 100 board feet at the time. When I called to check their supplies again... it was still the same. Called The Hardwood store, they had about 2000. Their supply of exotic stock is not what Steve Wall's is, but I stick to domestic hardwoods grown sustainably anyway. They had some beautiful white oak that had been roughly surfaced in order to see the grain clearly. I spent about 2 hours going through every board and picked their best. I was looking for very straight grain with some ray flecking typical in quarter-sawn oak, but not so much that it is overwhelming. I guess I really wanted rift sawn. But when the flecks come up, they will stand out and give some serious character to the table.

I have been to The Hardwood Store a few times and the people there have always been super friendly and helpful. Prices were similar to Wall Lumber and in the case of Q-sawn white oak... cheaper. I will make my visits more frequent.

Oh yeah... white oak is heavy... ridiculously. I was tired. But the shop has smelled sooooooo good since its arrival. May be the best smell on earth. Seriously. Like Christmas and Thanksgiving wrapped in new baby smell. Love it. I want to make an air freshener. Call it Quarter-sawn White Oak. Yes.

Just enough flecks to give some character but not over power. Beautiful.

nice straight grain.

going nowhere.

Here's the "time out" chair at the lumber yard. In his defense... we were there for 2 hours... but sometimes you just gotta drop the hammer.