Urban-Salvaged Hardwood Lumber, West ChicagoUrban-salvaged hardwood lumber, vacuum kiln drying, custom milling, CNC work,
custom furniture, and the epoxy supplies to finish the job. West Chicago,
since 2019.
Most of the lumber here came from Chicago-area trees that had to come down —
storms, construction, end of life, the usual reasons. The logs get opened up,
milled, stacked, and dried to 6–8% moisture content in the vacuum kiln. That's
furniture grade. Stable through a Chicago July and a Chicago January both.
What you buy is project-ready. Touch it, measure it, sight down the edge
before you commit to it. No plastic wrap, no guessing, no hoping it's going
to behave once you get it home.What We Salvage (and What Shows Up With It)Most logs come from the Chicago suburbs — walnut, white oak, cherry, hard
and soft maple, red and American elm, ash, hackberry, osage orange, a rotation
of whatever the local arborists, tree services, and storm cleanup crews bring
in that week. Species depends on the season. The stock list changes. Call
before you drive out if you're looking for something specific.
A word on urban logs: they're not pristine. Every log gets a new blade when
it hits the mill for a reason. Golf balls, hammers, giant bolts, old fence
wire, the occasional railroad spike — it's all in there. The good surprise
is the curl, the quilt, the burl, the crotch figure you can't see until the
log is open. The bad surprise is the metal. Both come with the territory,
and both are part of why urban wood looks the way it does.
Every board sold here gets dried, surfaced, and squared after that. What
leaves the shop is consistent thickness end to end. What you picked up at
the last marketplace sale, maybe less so.
Our Services
Six things happen here. Lumber sales, custom milling, vacuum kiln drying,
CNC work, custom furniture, and supplies — Odie's Oil and Ecopoxy, mostly.
The reason for six, honestly: doing one would be boring. A five-dollar scrap
board buyer and a four-thousand-dollar slab buyer walk through the same door.
Whatever you're working on, the idea is to be useful.
Lumber Sales
Custom Milling
Kiln Drying
CNC Services
Custom Furniture
Supplies & Retail
Some kind words, from people who have walked the shop:The City of West Chicago via LinkedIn
“The work of Garrett Magnusson is on display at Raw Heartwood, a woodworking shop in West Chicago and an example of why #WeGoWorks. Garrett prides himself on sourcing local through partnering with businesses in the region and has branched out (pun intended) into exotic hardwoods. Check it out at www.rawheartwood.com to learn more about custom millwork, live-edge kiln-dried slabs (perfect for DIYers), custom furniture, and unique pieces using wood and epoxy (cutting & charcuterie boards, wall decor, bottle openers, etc). What will be your next statement piece?”
