Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

Latest Episodes:

119 Iroko Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

Iroko or African Teak is the featured species this month. Found all across tropical Africa, the Iroko tree is enormous producing wide and long boards. It is growing in popularity as an alternative to Teak due to its similar color. But Iroko is a great species all on its own for exterior and interior projects.

118 - Wood Strength?? Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

Wood strength is a loaded statement. There are so many factors in HOW we use a board that determine which properties we look to for strength. This quickly gets complex so today I will boil it down to a density number and dispel the myth that rate of growth (width of rings) has anything to do with the density.

117 - Yellow Birch Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

The featured species this month is Yellow Birch, Betula alleghensis. Its the most common Birch species and used for a wide variety of applications from plywood, to furniture and pulp products.

116 Pine is Fine Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

Let's take a deep dive into the Pinus genus and for that matter the Pinus sub-genera and try to understand how Pines can appear and work so differently. I discuss the evolution of the genus and how the industry has grown around these hugely varied properties and geographic distributions. Big thanks to all the great questions I got for this show from all of you.

115 Wenge Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

African Wenge is an odd species and I use it to illustrate the exceptions to the rules about technical properties. Its a popular species due to its dark color and its use as an alternative to Ebony. Also covered in this episode: faux figure, burnishing, and property changes due to growing conditions.

114 - Yakisugi, Log Buying, Bugs & Pine Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

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).

113 The Elm Episode Nov 22, 2023

Show notes

The 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.

112 Completely Arbortrary Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

I welcome Alex and Casey from the Completely Arbortrary podcast on this episode and talk trees and Jack Pines and have fun with a little Treevia! Check out arbortarypod.com and subscribe to their show to learn more than you ever wanted to know about trees.

111 - Cypress Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

The featured species this month is Cypress and I wax philosophical about why I like it so much and cover the technical details. Also in this episode: the White Oak shortage, Processing logs by hand, Amaranth?, and table top splitting due to movement.

110 RIP Board Foot Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Today I talk about why the board foot unit of measure needs to be put to rest and how ordering by grade and board foot will only lead to disappointment. In short, how to buy lumber to get what you actually want.

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