Merkus pine wood, cucumber wood, etc. - looking for odd woods

[Elliot Lee]

Hi,

I'm looking into experimenting with some new types of wood for string instruments, but some types of wood that are intriguing from an acoustics standpoint don't seem to be very available in local or online stores.

Does anyone know of a source for small quantities (10-50BF) of lumber of any of the following?

* Sumatran Pine aka Merkus Pine aka Pinus Merkusii (not your average pine wood! same density as hard maple, but reportedly a lot stiffer)

* Cucumbertree aka Cucumber magnolia aka Magnolia acuminata

* There are a whole bunch of woods that are so common that they are lumped together into a HEM-FIR category. Problem is, only some of the woods in that category have the properties I'm looking for. Do you know anyone who supplies exact-species matches of lumber for Noble Fir, Pacific Silver Fir, Western Hemlock, and the like?

Thanks,

-E

[G.S. Monroe]

There is a sawmill in Cental Florida that supplies a selection of "exotic" Florida wood.
I personally like the recovered "deadhead" Cypress, Chinaberry, and Florida Black Cherry among others...

Might be worth looking at.

http://olegeneralstore.com/LumberPrices.html

[Charlie Schultz]

Hi Elliot and welcome to the forum. Have you tried Woodfinder (http://www.woodfinder.com/)? It showed a few hits for cucumber (though magnolia showed a lot more). Nothing on Merkus though.

[Elliot Lee]

Hi Charlie,

I had seen woodfinder a long time ago - thanks for refreshing my memory. I looked and there was only one place in PA (sawmillonline.com) that had Cucumber Magnolia in its 2011 price list. Will have to call them...

G.S. - I looked on that site but nothing about the woods I mentioned.

Elliot

[John Cross]

I bought a set of cucumber magnolia from timeless instruments a couple years ago. It's set for one of my next builds. David might still have some if you called him.

[Art Davila]

You could do a search for exotic lumber then send emails or call asking about the wood your looking for the merchant may see a opertunit to import the wood if there is currently no other competitors for that niche.