Shannon's Lumber Industry Update

Dec 03 2024 137 ep. 49 mins 2k

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update Podcast artwork

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??

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138 Compressed Wood

Dec 03 2024 72 mins

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.

137 White Oak

Nov 19 2024 42 mins

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.

136 - Curly Figure

Nov 05 2024 49 mins

This week I dive into curly figure in wood. Curl encompasses a lot of different types like blister, pommele, beeswing, fiddleback, etc. I look at what causes it and how to grade it.

135 - Magical Woods

Oct 22 2024 30 mins

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.

134 - TimberHP Wood Fiber Insulation

Oct 09 2024 50 mins

Today I have guest Dan Edelman from TimberHP a wood fiber insulation company out of Maine. This company has create 3 insulation products: fill, batten, and board using the wood waste from the nearly defunct paper mill industry in Maine. They repurpose a large percentage of the millions of tons of wood chip waste and create a fire rated, high R value, and acoustical value, fully non

133 Narra Wood

Sep 30 2024 53 mins

Today I discuss the featured species, Narra. It is a beautiful SE Asian wood mostly known in its burl form where it is called Amboyna Burl. Narra is undoubtedly a tropical wood in the Padauk genus but unlike many tropical woods it is easier to work with due to a lower hardness and a luster that serves to lubricate tooling while working its. I also discuss some of the elements tha

132 - What are Burls?

Sep 11 2024 60 mins

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.

131 - Tamo Ash

Aug 21 2024 59 mins

This week I feature the Tamo Ash, Fraxinus mandshurica. It is a species of Ash primarily sought for the unique "peanut" figure. Like a lot of figured woods it is not totally understood how the figure is formed but proper use of the whole tree must be considered for the health of the species. Also talk about ray fleck in White Oak and drying wood. Is there an ideal environment for d

130 - Healthy Forests

Aug 07 2024 60 mins

What is a healthy forest? Today I have a guest, Nick Smith from Healthy Forests to talk about it. Nick is the executive director and he is the man behind building awareness and policy that can help us manage our forests and reduce the growing threat of wildfires that are decimating our forests today.

129 - Sweet Chestnut

Jul 24 2024 52 mins

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.