Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

This time I look at FSC and other certification and verification schemas in the lumber world. Are they what we think they are and does buying FSC really mean you have green lumber? Unfortunately, no it doesn't.

In this episode I answer questions from the mail bag covering everything from how trees are raised like crops, when to sticker your lumber, methods for finding alternate species, lumber core plywood, and finally smoking the meats.

This week I catch up on some emails from listeners. We talk about purpose warped wood, the Green Wall, community based logging, shop made plywood, composite lumber, and (gasp) environmentalists and loggers working together...MASS HYSTERIA

In this part of my Buying Lumber series I talk about building a plan for your lumber yard trip. This involves reverse engineering your parts list back to the boards. A lot of variable are in play here that only you as the maker of your particular project can answer. Its about efficient lumber buying and having an actual plan A and plan B so that your trip to the yard goes smoothly.

Part 2 of our Buying Lumber series focuses on buying online. When to do it and what questions to consider when you do buy lumber online.

Part 1 of my Lumber Buying Guide: where to find a place to buy lumber in the first place. Maybe you are blessed with lots of quality lumber yards nearby or maybe you only have the big box stores. Regardless there will be some tips for how to find lumber and the best way to engage with those businesses.

When you buy a board off the rack at a lumber yard, exactly what has happened to that board to get there? This episode focuses on the entire journey from tree to board. Today we can buy many species of wood that come from across the globe and its important to understand just how much work occurs to get that single board into your hands.

A wee bit political and maybe controversial this week as I discuss reduction in business for sawmills after sweeping lumber tariffs cause a 40% reduction in export business. At the same time, with new commercial stick frame construction in multi-story buildings causes an uptick in CLT and LVL beam usage. Could be a nasty combination for the long term.

This episode is a buying guide to Marine Grade plywood. What to consider as it related to how you will be using the plywood, the grades, the species, and anything else to think about.

In this episode I touch on the differences between air dried and kiln dried lumber. Plus many more questions and updates from the wacky world of lumber.

This episode I scratch the surface of what the Lacey Act is and how it applied to the lumber trade.

Let's talk a bit about plywood and how tariffs and new environmental regulations are impacting it.

While I was in Michigan's Upper Peninsula I stopped by Bell Forest Products to have a little lumber industry insiders conversation with Boone and Eric of Bell Forest Products.

In this episode I talk about genetically modified Chestnut, Red Oak sizes, Whitewood, the difference between hardwood and softwood, and old studs vs new studs.

Let's learn about CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. How does this apply to lumber and what does it mean to the consumer of wood products.

How do you lose 300 containers of Bubinga once they have been seized at the port? Moreover how did you allow that many trees to be felled in the first place?

Every lumber species has technical specifications associated with it that detail how hard it is and all the associated design values. Much of it is highly technical and used only by engineers so the numbers themselves aren't important. It is the differences in the numbers from specie to specie that can tell us how a wood actually works.

On this show I share some feedback on the Notre Dame episode and then talk about Ebony regulation and availability and whether or not there are cycles to tree blights.

Let's talk about the grading systems for hardwood lumber. Primarily we are talking about the NHLA system but I will mention some European systems.

The terrible fire at Notre Dame in Paris has a lot of people in the lumber industry asking questions about how to possibly replace the French Oak timbers used in the cathedral. This episode examines the French Oak and the trade of it as well as possible engineered solutions for the rebuilding of Notre Dame.

Let's talk about the more common terms that you may find around a lumber yard or sawmill.

The mission statement of the this podcast and a little thank you to those who pushed me to start this show. Let me know your questions for future shows by visiting www.lumberupdate.com/contact or by sending voice memos to lumberupdate@gmail.com