Good luck with that one, Jim. I was gonna ask you the same question
Since about a year ago, I've been on a mission to acquire some good quality curly sugar maple... without paying $400 for a single blank. I live in a good area for it. There are big woods, big sugar maples, and sawmills all over the place here, more than I knew, and I've visited and contacted DOZENS of them... from big industries, to Amish mills, to hardwood outlets, and bandsaw mills in folks' backyards... without bringing home a single stick of it.
On my last road trip about a month ago I stopped at a dozen or so mills, I was told repeatedly that there are log buyers that visit or call, tag the curly logs, each mill may have one or a couple after many months of sawing, and then the buyer sends a truck when there are enough on a 'round trip' to make it worthwhile. They load them all up and take them out of state to be cut into veneers. A single busy mill may only find a couple a year... when I said I preferred hard sugar maple with good consistent curl, they'd often flat out laugh at me, they're so rare.
I left my info with owners, salesmen, sawyers, and others who seemed open to the idea of calling me if they come across one. I told them I'd even buy a whole log and cut it and dry it myself, but I'm not holding my breath and haven't heard anything yet.
I was optimistic when i saw mountains of maple logs and thought I could find enough for myself and possibly supply others but that doesn't seem like it's feasible at this point. I have a big sugar maple in my front yard and think my odds are better to cut that sucker down and see what's inside.
