A word of warning on this episode. New levels of nerdery on display here. If I had a white lab coat I would have worn it while recording. To sum up, woods with a higher T/R ratio will be harder to dry. But if you are like me and want to kno

122 The News Show

28 days ago 39m 36s

Lots of breaking news in the Lumber world and it was time I dust off my teleprompter and read everything that is on it. News from Notre Dame, the Paris Aquatic Center, Carbon Fiber and Mass Timber, Key Bridge Tragedy, and lots of great feedbac

121 - American Hornbeam

Mar 20th, 2024 39m 27s

Today we talk about American Hornbeam, why some trees are brittle, fast growing trees for lumber, IBAMA strike and the CITES impact, and a possible source for urban lumber.

120 - Wood Legacy

Mar 6th, 2024 56m 42s

Let's talk about grassroots sustainability and how giving back as users of wood can start with education and grow into all kinds of programs for and individual or your local woodworking guild or even sawmill business.

119 Iroko

Feb 21st, 2024 44m 4s

Iroko or African Teak is the featured species this month. Found all across tropical Africa, the Iroko tree is enormous producing wide and long boards. It is growing in popularity as an alternative to Teak due to its similar color. But Iroko

118 - Wood Strength??

Feb 7th, 2024 55m 55s

Wood strength is a loaded statement. There are so many factors in HOW we use a board that determine which properties we look to for strength. This quickly gets complex so today I will boil it down to a density number and dispel the myth that

117 - Yellow Birch

Jan 24th, 2024 47m 29s

The featured species this month is Yellow Birch, Betula alleghensis. Its the most common Birch species and used for a wide variety of applications from plywood, to furniture and pulp products.

116 Pine is Fine

Jan 3rd, 2024 1h 18m

Let's take a deep dive into the Pinus genus and for that matter the Pinus sub-genera and try to understand how Pines can appear and work so differently. I discuss the evolution of the genus and how the industry has grown around these hugely va

115 Wenge

Dec 20th, 2023 1h 5m

African Wenge is an odd species and I use it to illustrate the exceptions to the rules about technical properties. Its a popular species due to its dark color and its use as an alternative to Ebony. Also covered in this episode: faux figure,

114 - Yakisugi, Log Buying, Bugs & Pine

Dec 6th, 2023 47m 16s

Trying to catch up on my email inbox in this episode and talking about Pine, log buying, bugs eating old wood, plywood movement, and Yakisugi (shou sugi bahn).

113 The Elm Episode

Nov 22nd, 2023 48m 17s

The featured species this month is American Elm (Ulmus americana) but I discuss the different types of Elm as lumber and where they can be found. Plus some questions about cultivars, Spruce, and ripping for quartersawn stock.

112 Completely Arbortrary

Nov 8th, 2023 1h 20m

I welcome Alex and Casey from the Completely Arbortrary podcast on this episode and talk trees and Jack Pines and have fun with a little Treevia! Check out arbortarypod.com and subscribe to their show to learn more than you ever wanted to know

111 - Cypress

Oct 25th, 2023 52m 27s

The featured species this month is Cypress and I wax philosophical about why I like it so much and cover the technical details. Also in this episode: the White Oak shortage, Processing logs by hand, Amaranth?, and table top splitting due to mo

110 RIP Board Foot

Oct 11th, 2023 44m 30s

Today I talk about why the board foot unit of measure needs to be put to rest and how ordering by grade and board foot will only lead to disappointment. In short, how to buy lumber to get what you actually want.

109 - Applied Wood Technical Properties

Sep 27th, 2023 1h 20m

This is kind of a review of episode 5 but ideally a bit more applied look at what all those number mean when it comes to actually working with wood. In this episode I look at what I find are the most important numbers to consider and the tests

108 - Koa, Honey Locust, Cherry Veneer

Sep 13th, 2023 42m 48s

In this episode I feature Koa and talk a bit about Honey Locust, Cherry veneer colors, and then the historical price of Cherry vs Pine.

107 - Burl & Grain

Aug 30th, 2023 1h 25m

In this episode I welcome Matt Farrell from Burl and Grain in Hillsboro, OR. They are a sawmill and lumber yard like many of my previous guests. But Matt has extensive experience in drying lumber and has been a consultant to many firms to imp

106 - Featured Species Black Walnut

Aug 16th, 2023 49m 37s

Questions covered in this show: why is Walnut so thirsty? Sticker Stain? Air dried vs Kiln dried for violin bow making. I cover the featured species: American Black Walnut, my favorite species to work. Finally I spend some time talking abou

105 - The Wood Yard

Aug 2nd, 2023 44m 19s

My guest this week is a retail lumber yard in Concord, GA called The Wood Yard. These guys are woodworkers themselves and totally get top notch customer service. I had a great conversation about their business and how they are embracing urban

104 - Euro Beech and Kiln Drying 101

Jul 19th, 2023 1h 6m

The featured species of the month is European Beech. I discuss all the things and tell stories about this lumber. I talk spalting your own lumber and borax bug treatments. Then a dive into kiln drying lumber and explain the irony that to dry

103 - Emerald Ash Borer

Jul 6th, 2023 54m 32s

The Emerald Ash Borer or EAB is devastating the Ash forests all across North America. I have Dr. Jeremy Slone of Bartlett Tree Experts as a guest to talk about this pest and what is happening to the Ash trees.

102 - Board Foot Estimation, Lumber Margins

Jun 21st, 2023 1h 8m

This episode of the podcast discusses board foot rulers, lumber margins, and plantation management. Ultimately who gets to buy what lumber is based heavily on the demand and where you buy the material in the supply chain.

101 - Harvest Lumber Co

Jun 7th, 2023 1h 28m

Today I talk to Kris Burns from Harvest Lumber Co in Austin, TX. Harvest Lumber is getting logs from the city of Austin. They maintain a retail showroom and have a log pickup and sawing service. https://www.harvestlumberco.com/ or @harvest

100 The Journey of a Board

May 24th, 2023 1h 6m

For my 100th episode it seemed fitting to discuss the long and muddy road of a board. From a tree in a forest somewhere in the world to a rough logging road to sawmill to truck to maybe even a ship at sea. The number of hands that touch the b

99 - Wood in Aviation

May 10th, 2023 1h 20m

This time I discuss the featured species of the month: Black Cherry and then dive into the deep topic of wood in the aviation industry. My guest Alex LaFavre is a pilot and works in the aviation industry and he shares all the fun bits about ho