Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

In this episode I welcome Josh Wertz from Good Woods Lumber LLC on the show to talk about his sawmill operation. We spend a good amount of time talking about his vacuum kilns and get into details on the perceived stability gained from a low heat drying process.

Today I'm talking about drying vertically, making a fender, and highlighting Oregon Myrtle as my species of the episode.

Let me apologize in advance for the title pun. In this episode I discuss my trip to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Bros memorial. Of course I find a way to make it about the lumber chosen to build an airplane. Then there is a lot more kiln drying talk and more talk of bugs like the EAB.

Today we talk about Cypress for window construction and other alternatives like modified wood or stave core construction. Then we talk about really old wood and how it holds up after 1000 years like the oldest door in the UK at Westminster Abbey. Then how about deep frying your wood to preserve it?

Today I share some feedback from listeners and discuss some Russian plywood, EAB, Exotic wood dust, drying for bugs, and the role of the log scaler.

In this episode we talk about a famous Oak tree setting a legal precedent, possibly the largest tree ever, killing bugs in the wood, jointers at the lumber yard, and finally, roasted Poplar. What is it and what is the deal with thermally modified wood.

I dive into my inbox and answer some questions on this episode. Including several questions about drying lumber, Wenge, and rift & quarter sawing.

Today Jacob Sedmak joins me to talk about the business of mobile sawing. Both from the homeowner and sawyer's perspectives. There are some great tips for working with a sawyer and how to be prepared for the sawing day in this episode. Check him out at https://www.sccwoodworks.com/

Have you ever considered the volume of lumber that Santa's Workshop must go through in a given year? What kinds of woods do they source and why. Moreover how would they source all that wood sustainably and yet still maintain secrecy? This is something only a lumber nerd thinks about really...and luck you, I have thought about it. A lot.

A general look at how CITES operates and the lumber results of the CoP19 with a focus on proposals 44, 48-51 relating to Pernambuco, Ipe, Cumaru, Padauk and Khaya.

Today I have two guest who are experts in the reclaimed woods market. Alan Solomon of SawKill Lumber in Brooklyn, NY and Klaas Armster of Armster Reclaimed Lumber Co. This was a treat to not only talk about the types of woods but how this market is completely different from the one I work in daily. Learn to build a lumber shopping list, visit www.lumberupdate.com/buying-lumber

Next week the CITES convention opens and I discuss the wood species that have been nominated for Appendix II and I status. I talk about why 2x lumber isn't actual 2x, and then dip into sourcing reclaimed lumber ahead of my dedicated show on the topic.

What tools do you keep in the car for those opportunistic roadside stops to grab a fallen tree or some choice turning blanks? How about choosing a wood species for making wooden hand planes? Both of these topics and several other detours discussed in this episode.

Today in our story time circle we talk with Garrett and his adventures with the great big Oak tree that fell outside a local historical home. How he tamed the beast and will be working with Oak lumber for many many years to come. Big thanks to Garrett Roberson of HMR Woodcraft for joining me on the show to show how urban lumber can be harnessed for even a guy without a saw mill.

In this episode I talk about sourcing historic woods, rubberwood, Ukrainian woods, and why Walnut and other species have so much sapwood. Plus we learn that younger trees may not sequester as much carbon as we thought.

This time I answer listener questions like: -What to look for when buying lumber from places like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. -Wood movement based on density -Expanding your sawmill to buying lumber -CITES passports on the stuff you make

UVA Sawmilling is the product of 2 architecture graduates who wanted to put the trees to use that had been felled on campus. Today they are a cross disciplinary "department" that is sawing logs and making the wood available for student projects and for the University to use in its own construction projects. Essentially turning the UVA campus into a forest concession and supplier of raw materials f...

Soil chemistry plays a major role in the appearance and working characteristics of the lumber we use. In this episode I look at several examples where geology and weather and even mankind have altered a tree species. It is a fascinating subject and I tap into my long unused geology schooling...and probably mess most of it up.

I have guest David Barmon with me to discuss the urban logging movement. David successfully funded his book "Trees from the City" on Kickstarter and is in the throes of getting it finished up and on shelves. We discuss how urban lumber isn't all just slabs and the direction the urban logging industry is heading.

Are you considering starting your own lumber business? Or maybe you just wondered about how they work as a business model. This is a big topic but on this episode I take a shallow dive into some of the things to consider when you start selling your lumber to others.

I'm cleaning out some of my inbox this time and answering a question about the difference between green and air dried timbers. Talking about the checking inherent in larger timbers, and planting your own grove of trees. Plus I delve into the possible replacements for Western Red Cedar.

Let's talk about Poplar...or Tulip Poplar...or Eastern Cottonwood...or White Poplar or Yellow Poplar or Quaking Aspen or (gasp) Tulipwood. No they are not all the same tree. Or are they? Today I talk about the Populus genus and that upstart wannabe from the Magnolia family Liriodendron tulipfera.

Let's talk about wood identification and the process I go through. In this episode I give you a few resources to use but mostly a hierarchy of things to follow to get you very close to a positive ID of that unknown wood in your hand. Its all in the end grain. BTW the featured image for this episode exhibits diffusely arranged, large pores that are both solitary but in radial pairs. Vasicentric or...

This week I have Tommaso Valeriano join me to talk about the ways in which he has acquired nearly 30,000 board feet of lumber without ever visiting a lumber yard. Mostly his success has come through auctions and he shares some of his tips for finding the auctions and getting boards without breaking the bank.

I talk with Caleb Darnell of CD's Trees. They are a tree removal service out of Hot Springs, AR that has gotten into sawing and drying lumber and even custom woodworking projects using the trees they fell for customers.