Hempwood: The New Oak?
Back in Episode 28 I first talked about the product Hempwood. Today I bring the CEO of the company on to talk more about it. I want to thank Greg Wilson for taking some time out after a long work day to join me on the show and talk about Hempwood. Greg is the CEO of Hempwood, or Fibonacci LLC and has become a bit of a hero in the hemp community. This plant is pretty amazing with its millennium long history and the things that Hempwood is doing today with it is really inspiring.
Greg and I talk about the origin story (no radioactive spiders, sorry) of the product, the current product environment and struggles, and the future. What is really enlightening is the bootstrapped nature of his operation and how they are evolving as an operation daily. Hempwood has characterized their lumber as the "new Oak" and has shown some numbers to compare it to Oak as a building material. The truth is the hardness and bending strength numbers make Hempwood more in line with a tropical wood like Jatoba than Oak.
Certainly no product is without drawbacks and for now Hempwood is limited mostly by production. It is the very strength of the fibers themselves that make is difficult to cut and machine that will continue to slow its product and drive up the cost to produce. Considering however the relatively short period that the product has been around, I think it is safe to assume they bugs will be worked out and greater efficiency will result in greater product capacity and a wider range of products and applications.
Have You Used Hempwood?
If you have used Hempwood, or perhaps just bought a board or two to play with, I want to hear your feedback. How did it work for you and what did you make with it. How does it finish? How does it glue, etc, etc. Drop me a line or send me a voicemail and I'll make sure to include that feedback on a future show.
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