The 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 prime species for Coppice Forestry and I have a discussion about that silvicultural practice too.

129 - Sweet Chestnut

Today I talk about burls.  What are they to the best of our knowledge and how to work them.  But I also spend a fair bit of time talking about genuine Mahogany and some statements made lately that 80% of Mahogany is illegally harvested.  Buried the lede a bit on that one but its important to understand how to buy a wood if you are not sure about its sustainability.

132 - What are Burls?

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 properties of wand woods and that is what has inspired this episode.

135 - Magical Woods

This time I feature White Oak but spend time talking more generally about the Oaks and the differences between the Red Oak group and the White Oak group.

137 White Oak

This episode is the Venn diagram of me.  I talk nerdy sciency stuff related to wood that can be moulded into high bike frames.  What a perfect confluence!  Chris Mroz of Pure Timber joins me to discuss cold bending hardwoods using compressed wood technology.  This stuff will blow your mind and yearn for one of those flexy straws and a cold drink.

138 Compressed Wood

Holly 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 makes it a central part of the Christmas sacred traditions as well as waaaaay back in history as a symbol of life and protection.  

139 Holly

Today I have Shaun Preston, the Director of Camp Small, Baltimore Urban wood recycling center and saw mill.  Baltimore leads the nation in its treatment of their urban canopy as a resource and Camp Small's ability to be an intake yard for EVERY city tree that comes down.  Then they repurpose the entire tree from fire wood to mulch, to furniture, lumber, and even zoo animal playgrounds.  Shaun and his team have built an amazing set up and I was luck enough to get some of his time.  This interview occured just a bit  before the devastating fire that burned the entire log yard in early December of 2024 but nothing has changed with their mission and the work they will continue to do for the urban canopy of the City of Baltimore.  

Find out more at:
https://www.treebaltimore.org/camp-small
or follow them on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/campsmall.baltimorecity/

I hope to get Shaun back in the coming months as they regain their footing after the fire and I wish them luck in restarting the great work they are doing.

140 - Camp Small

Today I highlight Persimmon wood as a lumber source.  The North American Ebony.  Then dive into the variety of decking products on the market and their lifespans.  Might start to wander into touchy topics when I get to the composite market...maybe.  Also I talk about Lignosat and what the future of wood in space might mean.

141 - Persimmon | North American Ebony

In this episode I have the CEO of Thermalwood Canada, Bob Lennon on to talk about thermally modified wood.  Thermalwood is a member of the Thermowood Association and follows their procedures for modificiation so you can expect consistent quality throughout their kiln runs.  But beyond just the typical thermally modified hardwoods, Bob and his crew have been experimenting and creating new products to fill holes in other markets.  In particular is their Obsidian product which may just replace Ebony entirely in guitar manufacturing.  

142 - Thermalwood Canada

Red Maple is also sold as Soft Maple and it is one of the species of Maple commonly found in the Soft Maple group like Big Leaf, Silver, and Striped Maple.  Box Elder is often lumped into this group and sold as well as Soft Maple.  
Also in this show: KDAT, Lumpy plywood, and untarped lumber.

143 Red Maple

My guest today is Mark Dubac of Windwood LLC in Portland, OR.  Mark has a reputation on social media for humorous posts about the sawmilling world.  Often making fun of influencers he has become a bit of an influencer himself by pulling back the curtain and showing what actually goes into sawing logs as a business.  

144 Windwood LLC

This episode's featured species is London Plane or Plantanus hybridia.  Nearly identical to American Sycamore it is a fun blonde wood option with a striking quartersawn lace pattern.  Soft and light it is easy to work but can be difficult to dry without a lot of twisting and checking.  We also open the can of worms on the lumber tariff conversation and look at how lumber can pose a national security threat.  
Other topics include, decking product options, softer woods for cabinets and counter tops, and finally lesser grade lumber availability.

145 - London Plane

Time to revisit the old stud torn from a building that is compared to the new stud fresh from the big box store.  But more to the point, let's take a look at how wood is sawn from a log to meet market demands.  Not that trees don't grow like they use to but do we actually need them that way too.

146 - They Don't Grow 'Em Like They Use To

This time I featured Parota or Guanacaste.  The Costa Rican national tree and known for being avialable in wide slabs of red, ribbony goodness.  I also discuss how to know if the wood you are buying will be good for the project you intend to build, and fungus..mmmm fungus.

147 - Parota

What are the markets for the common species of lumber you find at your hardwood lumber dealer.  I delve into who is buying what and for what.  Plus further discussion about logging in national forest land, wood movement and heat, buying veneer, and harvesting Boxwood.

148 - Common Lumber, Common Uses

Douglas Fir is a species we find everywhere.  So much so that we may not even know we are looking at it.  It has two distinctly different markets: construction lumber and fine (very fine) lumber for cladding, decking, soffits, and even furniture.  The species has had a rebirth of late and is outcompeting Western Red Cedar in the forests.

149 Douglas Fir

It could be said that Hickory built America.  Hickory's properties made the American felling axe possible with its extremely high MOR and MOE values.  Today we discuss this great American wood and why you need to add it to your repertoire of woods.

150 - Hickory

Let's define plantations and natural forests and talk about what we can expects from the lumber coming from plantations.  Also how plantations can evolve into natural forests.  Ultimately why do we need plantations and why do we need natural forests.  Also answer some questions about air drying and dealing with bugs as well as drying large timbers.

151 - Plantation vs Natural Forests

Monkeypod is a great timber coming out of Costa Rica that is almost entirely FSC.  It is often sold as wider slabs due to the lighter weight and the way it is sawn in the jungle.  A great alternative to many of the tropical species out there like Koa and Blackwood or even some of the fancy Rosewoods.  

152 Monkeypod

How do you find unusual and typically non commercial wood species?  In this episode I give some tips to help the listener build a network of wood sources.

153  Hard to Source Woods

My featured species this episode is Buckeye.  Its a non commercial species but not terribly hard to find and has some unique color and high propensity to form burls.  But the real meat of this show is a look  at how a forest regenerates after a disturbance like a fire or logging.  The successional forest model helps us understand how forestry managers can foster a healthy forest through logging.  But then we look at how bugs and blights can disrupt the succession model even further.

154 - Buckeye

Today I fight my strong wood bias and take time to talk about composite lumber.  All the various plastic boards you will find on the market from wood flour and plastic slurry to polyethylene capped boards and fully plastic HDPE or PVC.  What you should know about the differences and how you can actually work with this stuff.

155 Composite Lumber

The featured lumber species today is Catalpa.  A very oak like tree but with a really soft workability.  High quality, clear lumber that is easy to work and comes in decent widths and lengths.  Why doesn't this wood more popular?  Also on the show, Tree of Heaven as lumber and the engineered wood products world of PSL, LSL, and LVL.

156 - Catalpa

Happy Halloween!  Let's explore some lumber and tree lore from around the world and some spooky tales that may make you think twice before you cut down that tree or plane that board for your next project.

157 - Roots of Terror

Today I feature the mighty Ponderosa Pine.  I was marveling at these trees on a recent trip out west and knew I had to feature the species.  A mainstay of the construction lumber industry often labelled as PP/LP on lumber racks.  But also a species with a different life in the form of clear boards in moulding, interior flooring, paneling, etc.  The species is fire propagating and is a perfect example of how healthy forest management needs a little fire from time to time.  The Beetle Kill Pine is the result of weak forests without natures cleaning mechanism.  Ponderosa is a yellow pine but a pale version of yellow pine both in appearance but in workability with softer and less difference between early and late growth.  It makes for a more uniform working experience with planing, sawing or cutting joinery.

Also in this episode I answer questions about:

- Kiln Drying schedules to reduce trial and error when drying lumber
- How pulp wood forests no longer destined to a paper mill could be turned into saw timber forests.
- Typical construction lumber species in the 1920s in the NE United States


LU158 Ponderosa

Today we look at the birth of the timber trade in America.  From when the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower up until the Revolutionary War.  Timber was one of those contributing factors that led to war.  We all talk about throwing tea into the harbor, but what about the Pine Tree riots and the Broad Arrow Notices that claimed colonial Pines for the Royal Navy.  Happy Thanksgiving as we explore how and what timber was used and exported from early America.

159 Colonial Lumber

In this episode I feature Peruvian Walnut and talk about how it has become a flooring species.  Specifically how its drying difficulty drove it to be a flooring product.  Additionally I talk about juvenile wood, Jindai wood, and the Hickory/Pecan confusion.

Make sure you check out TDC's video about urban lumber that features previous guests Camp Small and UVA Sawmilling.

https://youtu.be/5kx-CoT4zsg?si=0j-g9JS70K5nFYR-

160 - Peruvian Walnut

The mission statement of the this podcast and a little thank you to those who pushed me to start this show.  Let me know your questions for future shows by visiting www.lumberupdate.com/contact or by sending voice memos to lumberupdate@gmail.com

Pilot Episode

Let's talk about the more common terms that you may find around a lumber yard or sawmill.

Episode 1 Lumber Glossary

Let's talk about the grading systems for hardwood lumber.  Primarily we  are talking about the NHLA system but I will mention some European systems.

Episode 3 Hardwood Lumber Grades

An 8/4, Kiln dried podcast all about lumber and your questions about it.  Let's dispel some myths and broaden an understanding of this ancient industry and help us all become a little more wood savvy...woodier??

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

Popular tracks