tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post8294102842793401065..comments2023-11-05T06:16:56.961-05:00Comments on the Carpentry Way: Wood Hunt'rAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-18726711737076867952012-09-18T23:14:18.501-04:002012-09-18T23:14:18.501-04:00At least in my part of the world, I have observed ...At least in my part of the world, I have observed much more fine usable wood with the potential for other more cherished purposes, ground up and turned into sludge for the paper industry, compared to the number of desirable trees that have found use by woodworkers. Often to the people working at the pulp yards, it's all merely cellulose, and that includes the wide logs, the rarer species, and the trees that have magnificent grain. As long as the length requirements are met so that it fits between the sides of the roller conveyor, up it goes to horrific destruction. Fortunately for some of us, the pulp yards have fallen on hard times, and many have had to shut down.djyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08985330530360767281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-74733432923287694432012-09-18T20:51:29.392-04:002012-09-18T20:51:29.392-04:00Have you read "A Splintered History of Wood&q...Have you read "A Splintered History of Wood" by Spike Carlsen? The forests of Serbia/Croatia have not recovered yet from the logging done by the Venetians centuries ago to supply the poles that support their city.<br /><br />I am interested in this topic because I have a tract of land I've reforested and spent many hours,days, weeks, months working. It has taught me to pay attention to the general forestry practices around me. For the most part you can say that our collective approach to woodland management is to take the best and leave the worst. <br /><br />There are massive amounts of wide, select boards to be found and purchased out there in all species. They will decrease over time as populations chew into remaining woodlands and guys like John sell the last of their stock. The 150 year old clear oak logs that windsor chairmakers bust up into small sections because they work easily will be fewer and fewer. The furnituremakers who have to have that perfect tight grained wood for their aesthetically marvelous pieces will be more and more frustrated and complaining.<br /><br />I look at it as a challenge. Find some way to work wood that doesn't involve using the last of the best. Turn things around and do your best work with less than "perfect" material. Like it or not, that's what it will come down to.Tico Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743565097341810389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-38460901142816721472012-09-18T18:46:46.615-04:002012-09-18T18:46:46.615-04:00Dennis,
good to hear from you. What you say is tr...Dennis,<br /><br />good to hear from you. What you say is true, particularly before the industrial revolution radically changed the nature of transport and allowed manufacturing to take place away from rivers. However it is also true that wood has been a subject of international trade for thousands of years. Britain has been importing wood for hundreds of years, from far-flung places like the Americas, Siberia, New Zealand....<br /><br />I well remember going into B.C. lumber yards, surrounded by Douglas Fir trees and yet being unable to buy Doug. Fir lumber on the racks. It all got exported, to the US, Australia, and Japan. Here in western MA building yards I can find superb quality Western Red Cedar vertical grain material on the shelf - not something you can readily buy in any B.C. lumber yard though that is predominantly where it originates. The globalization of the economy has intensified such bizarre situations.<br /><br />The Chinese in the 1500s were running out of Zitan and having to source it from as far away as India. I'd love to see what that wood is like to work however I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity. It can be obtained if you have $10,000 or more to spend...<br /><br />~CAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-22510555075343194562012-09-18T18:11:49.730-04:002012-09-18T18:11:49.730-04:00Chris,
Stories like your one of the unrewarded tr...Chris,<br /><br />Stories like your one of the unrewarded trip, help reveal why woodworking trades often evolved where there was a readily available local source of timber to fulfill the needs of the craftsman living in close proximity. Sometimes the wood served to stock a whole town full of craftsmen, plus the jobs that were created to turn the logs into lumber. <br /><br />A very good example of that is the town of High Wycombe, in Great Britain, around which where the Beech grew like "weeds". http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/leisure-and-culture/local-history/furniture-making-in-high-wycombe.aspxdjyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08985330530360767281noreply@blogger.com