Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

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 […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 119 Iroko Iroko Lumber is its own thingYes Iroko is known as African Teak across many markets.  Yes it has a similar color (sometimes) but I think Iroko is its own thing and doesn’t need that market bump by calling it “Teak”.  Personally I’ve been using the species for many […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 118 – Wood Strength?? Wood Strength and rate of growth don’t relateMyth busting time.  How fast a tree grows doesn’t have anything to do with the strength of the wood.  Well, kinda.  It depends…sorta.  And it is that wishy washy language that makes this a loaded topic.  Fast grown softwoods […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 117 – Yellow Birch Yellow Birch Lumber is EverywhereThe Birch shows up in a lot of commercial products as its even texture makes it useful for everything from pulp to plywood and furniture.  In this episode I share all the details about the species and some things I did not […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 116 Pine is Fine An Ancient Genus with 100+ SpeciesPinus is one of the oldest genera on the planet and it’s species are found on every corner of the globe.  The variety of technical properties however is staggering and the dramatic differences can be traced back to an evolutionary branching […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 115 Wenge Wenge is Strong and Lightweight…ishI’m excited to feature Wenge this time because it is one of those species that is an exception to the rules and often defies the first impression of how a wood should work.  I compare Wenge to a pro cyclist, specifically a strong classics […]

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update · 114 – Yakisugi, Log Buying, Bugs & Pine Plywood moves when Old Bugs Burn it?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).Listener EmailsDaniel is worried  bugs eating his wood before […]

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 […]