Pure White if Dried QuicklyHolly lumber is a shockingly pure white in color with almost no visible grain. But it stains quickly if not felled, sawn and dried in the same day. Moreover kiln drying it can be tricky to keep it white. It also has a lot of significance and lore surrounding it that […]

Wood in Flexy Straw FormThis week I have Chris Mroz, the president of PureTimber LLC as my guest to talk about compressed hardwoods and how they can be used for cold bending hardwoods into crazy shapes.  Literally tying wood into knots is something that Chris does for hours on end at trade shows to demonstrate […]

White Oak vs Red OakI almost skipped over featuring White Oak because it is such a common species and I thought no one would be interested.  But when a species is so ubiquitous as to be found in every industry and every corner of the planet, it seems imperative that I spend some time  featuring […]

Curly Figure in WoodsThis week I dive into curly figure in wood. Curl encompasses a lot of different types like quilt, pommele, beeswing, fiddleback, etc. I look at what causes it and how to grade it. Spoiler alert, the causes of figure are still not understood totally.  Some work to identify the genes that cause figure […]

Wood FolkloreMagical woods. Woods that have mystery and mystique about them. Trees steeped in folklore and the magical wood products made from them.  In this special Halloween episode I will talk about magical woods. Woods with folklore and mystery that surround them. A listener who has a Harry Potter obsessed daughter asked me about the […]

Wood Fiber Insulation repurposes a wood waste streamToday I have guest Dan Edelman from TimberHP a wood fiber insulation company out of Maine. This company has create 3 insulation products: fill, batten, and board using the wood waste from the nearly defunct paper mill industry in Maine. They repurpose a large percentage of the millions […]

Narra WoodToday I discuss the featured species, Narra. It is a beautiful SE Asian wood mostly known in its burl form where it is called Amboyna Burl. Narra is undoubtedly a tropical wood in the Padauk genus but unlike many tropical woods it is easier to work with due to a lower hardness and a […]

Click to play Burls are Chaos GrainWhy a burl forms is not totally understood.  But from what we can tell it is a tree’s response to an infection.  Perhaps it started as a scar or maybe something literally in the water.  The tree compartmentalizes it and it continues to grow while not threatening the overall […]

Tamo Ash is Harvested Specifically for its Peanut FigureThis week I feature the Tamo Ash, Fraxinus mandshurica. It is a species of Ash primarily sought for the unique “peanut” figure. Like a lot of figured woods it is not totally understood how the figure is formed but proper use of the whole tree must be […]

with Nick Smith of Healthy forests healthy communitiesIn this episode I am joined by Nick Smith, the Executive Director of Healthy Forests Healthy Communities, a non profit dedicated to better management of our forests to prevent wildfires, increase carbon sequestration and enjoyment of our forest natural resources. We talk at length about what a healthy […]

Sweet Chestnut is a great Coppice TreeThe featured species of the month is Sweet Chestnut or European Chestnut. Similar of course to the blighted American Chestnut, but the Sweet variety flourishes in the UK and Europe and is often lauded for exterior cladding and for all manner of bushcraft work. The Chestnut is also a […]

Do not taunt wood, do not touch wood, do not cut woodWood dust is a major health risk.  Mostly as a cumulative effect (AKA sensitizer) that can sneak up on us and ruin your health after decades of working with wood.  It is imperative we protect our lungs from even the most benign wood dust. […]

Eastern Cottonwood Lumber May Not be UselessThis episode is really focused on our featured species: Eastern Cottonwood.  In the past I have done a “regular” episode and tried to shoehorn in the featured species.  This time I actually have some field reporting on the tree and on the lumber itself.   Featured Species: Eastern CottonwoodPopulus […]

Click to play Hemlock Lumber is Fancy, Utility WoodToday I discuss Hemlock, our featured species. This is a wood with an identity crisis. Its long been a mainstay in construction lumber yet has more refined purposes as a high end clear, CVG siding and cladding product. Now it has an even brighter future as a […]

Monocots as Lumber?Today I look at Monocots as lumber. The Bamboo and Palms that you may have seen showing up in flooring or plywood or even turning blanks.  Can you work with these materials like you would with “regular” lumber?  How are they different in structure and how so?   I also answer questions about branch […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 124 Wood Structure from a Rocket Scientist Two Wood Nerds Walk into a podcastThis week I welcome Brandon Long, a structural engineer who plays as a woodworker at night. Brandon actually knows what he is talking about when it comes to structures and fatigue rates and all that stuff that […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 123 – Wood Cell Structure & Sapele High T/R Ratio Leads to Drying DifficultiesA 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 […]

Click to play Notre Dame Reconstruction and More…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 the Notre Dame reconstruction, the Paris Aquatic Center, Carbon Fiber and Mass Timber, Key Bridge Tragedy, and lots of great feedback from […]

Lumber Bike RackSo I was out riding on my local rail trail and kept passing bucked logs all along the path.  Oaks, Maples, Poplars, and several Pine species.  After riding about 20 miles I finally couldn’t resist and stopped to inspect a tree that had been downed by a storm and bucked where it lay […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 120 – Wood Legacy Grassroots SustainabilityIn this episode I have Shane Breitzke join me from the Mid Michigan Woodworkers Guild to talk about the ways his group can give back and contribute to lumber sustainability.  This is a conversation I have wanted to have for a while but its been […]