Leads for stock blanks?

[sunray]

Laminates are more than just layers of wood glued together. They're epoxied together under pressure. Ain't no stocks made out of MDF either. MDF is for cheap furniture, under wall board and roofing.
If you're learning think in terms of cheap woods first. Walnut starts out pricey and goes up.

 

[slowfire]

I guess I did not make my self to clear. After I make a pattern out of MDF I ship it off to the guy with the stock duplicator with a piece of walnut , and he sends me back a nice unfinished , but carved ,mostly inletted walnut stock.

 

[mr.e moose]

The South-side Windsor plywood has a quantity of nice 2x8 Walnut in stock right now. Price is about $20.00 per BF. If you are going to make quality stocks be prepared to dry your wood for at least a few years.A moisture meter is a handy tool to have to see what moisture content your wood has before you buy it.I have found that you can find a 10% difference in walnut out of the same pile.