Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 113 The Elm Episode On Every Street in Every cityThe 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. I also share a news […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 112 Completely Arbortrary Jack Pines and “Treevia”I’m honored to have the hosts of the Completely Arbortrary podcast on the show today.  Alex and Casey are hilarious and know a lot about trees.  Their show is one of my favorites and I’m so excited to share it with you guys.  Make […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 111 – Cypress Cypress isn’t a “real” CypressThat’s right, its really more a Cedar posing like a Cypress.  But its also not in the Cedar family so perhaps Cypress is just having an identify crisis and will figure it out when it grows up.  In this episode I discuss of […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 110 RIP Board Foot Buy Lumber Based on What you Actually Need”You have to buy lumber by the board foot to get the best quality material” “You have to buy by the board foot to be a real woodworker.” Yeah these are mantra that I was told when I got my start […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 109 – Applied Wood Technical Properties Applied Lumber Technical PropertiesThis 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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 108 – Koa, Honey Locust, Cherry Veneer In this episode I feature Koa and talk a bit about Honey Locust.  I answer a question about Cherry veneer colors over time as compared to solid Cherry.  And speaking of Cherry I talk about the historical price of Cherry vs Pine. Lumber […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 107 – Burl & Grain Air Drying before Kiln DryingMatt Farrell knows how to dry wood.  He’s been doing it for some time and has been a consultant in the lumber biz to help sawmills refine their operation and optimize their drying.  I talk to him on this show not […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 106 – Featured Species Black Walnut On this show I cover  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 about a few stories […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 105 – The Wood Yard A LUmber yard run by woodworkersWe all have stories about bad lumber yard experiences.  The industry is plagued with poor customer service and terminology that leaves the customer feeling like they got ripped off.  Woodworking magazines write articles about how to act at a lumber […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 104 – Euro Beech and Kiln Drying 101 You have to have Moisture to dry woodThis episode I take a closer look at kiln drying wood and discuss fun things like dry bulb, wet bulb, and dew point.  Ironically you have to have moisture in order to dry wood and […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 103 – Emerald Ash Borer This is Not a Happy EpisodeFair warning this episode is depressing.  The Emerald Ash Borer is devastating the Ash forests all across North America.  My guest, Dr. Jeremy Slone from Bartlett Tree Experts, joins me to discuss the Emerald Ash Borer.  We discuss its impact […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 102 – Board Foot Estimation, Lumber Margins Estimating Board Feet In this episode I answer questions you guys sent in about the journey of a board from forest to the lumber shelf. I talk about estimating board feet, who gets to buy what quality of lumber, margins in the lumber […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 101 – Harvest Lumber Co Giving New Life to Austin’s Fallen TreesKris Burns joins me this episode to talk about the local tree scene in Austin, TX.  We discuss how they have partnered with the city for a log pickup to obtain much of their lumber as they got started. […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 100 The Journey of a Board From Tree to Board on a Lumber RackFor 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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 99 – Wood in Aviation Wood in Airplanes through the YearsThis 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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · LU98 GoodWoodsLumber Local Sawmill HighlightIn 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 vs real stability gained from a […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 97 – Oregon Myrtle Today I’m talking about drying vertically, making a fender, and highlighting Oregon Myrtle as my species of the episode.Listener FeedbackStephen corrected me about The Spruce Goose.  It was actually made from Birch plywood using the “Duramold Process”Jay shared a story of a tree saboteur getting his […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 96 – Spruce is the Wright Species Spruce Wood in AViationLet 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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 95 – Really Really Old Wood Cypress for Windows, and Deep Fried WoodToday 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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 94 – EAB Good News, Log Scaling, and Exotic Dust Russian Plywood isn’t so easily TracedY’all know me and I can’t help but editorialize a bit on some of the industry stories that land in my inbox.  Russian plywood is still being imported into the US and I wonder if […]