So, I’ve asked everyone all kinds of questions on how to spend my money of the best gear. Even got some very good bargains from you. thanks very much.
Yesterday as my wife and I were driving the 60miles to the woodstore, I started thinking.
Where does all of this wood come from? I mean, it takes a tree a long time to grow, but takes us a very short time to cut it down and make something. So it would stand to reason, that we are getting faster at using wood, and wood isn’t growing any faster.
I know people plant more trees, and thats awesome. But there is still a time for it to grow.
What are your thoughts on that? I’m sure this is a debate waiting to happen.
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Number 2
How is plywood made? I mean it’s so thin..and cool..
oh.. i just googled it. that’s cool.. it’s a huge lathe. http://www.europlywood.org/plywood.htm
The lathe part is the only part that I was interested in. I can figure out the rest. Glue and some heavy things.. Ok, so ignore this second question except for the funny parts.
I’m sure there will be some people who still answer me though.. so …thanks.
Bryan
Replies
cidion ,
What was really interesting when I toured a plywood mill was that lathe that peels the logs to make the veneer cores. When the lathe picks up the log it automatically centers itself to the best position . When it is done peeling the log what is left is a 6" peeler core or a fence post. Some mills cut the edges off and make 4 moon rails and a 4x4 from the center, leaving little waste .The logs went from 18"-20" in a few seconds . The veneer shot out the back end at about 30 mph . The veneers that go under the face skins of better grades get the voids or knotholes plugged on a plugging or Raymond machine , either football shaped or other shapes.It was a very educational and interesting tour for me .
dusty
The wood supply in this country is managed by the producers, who plant to replace what they harvest. There is more timber growing in the North America now than there was at the time of the Revolution. I'll leave it to someone else to go into the merits of second-growth vs old growth lumber.
The situation is different in South America and Asia, where deforestation has become a serious problem in some areas. I try to be a little careful about what woods I buy & where they come from.
Michael R
According to the forest products industry, there is more new timber grown every year than is harvested in the U.S.
Actually, wood is grown faster today than in years past, in fact it takes about half as long to grow a tree to the point that it is harvested than it did just 60 years ago. You can see this when you demolish an older house, the growth rings in the framing lumber are much tighter than what you will get today.
Part of the "secret", if there is one, is that the industry has figured out how to use pretty much every part of the tree. Engineered wood products have resulted in a more efficient use of wood in the home building industry, by far the largest consumer of forest products in the world. Also, pulp and paper products feature large amounts of recycled material. It's really amazing to see the divesity of products that manufactured from wood fibers.
I don't know the percentages, but my impression is that almost all of the lower end wood products you buy at Wal Mart and Target stores are made from tropical woods. Lately I've noticed that most broom handles appear to be made out of some type of luan mahogany and looking at picture frames at a Target store the other day, they were all made from tropical woods.
John W.
I don't know the percentages, but my impression is that almost all of the lower end wood products you buy at Wal Mart and Target stores are made from tropical woods.
++++++++++From the little bit of research I've done, it seems that quite a bit of the furniture produced in Asia is made from rubber wood -- these are the trees that no longer produce sufficient quantities of sap to make latex.Burning them is problematic because of the latex sap -- think of burning tyres -- so the rubber plantations are selling their culls to the local furniture industry for a song and a dance, it gets rid of their waste for a small profit, disposal is somebody else's problem.Ta,Leon Jester
In most of the OECD, forestry is at least sustainable, and as international trading in carbon credits gets up to speed (an outcome of Kyoto), expect to see all of the western economies planting and growing mauch more timber than they harvest.
The situation in tropical Asia and South America is woeful (with some exceptions - rubber wood is one, plantation teak is another) and far from sustainable. It's not as bad as sometimes painted however - tropical rainforest is actually quite good at re-growing.
And so are temperate species. I recall doing some work in a magnificent southern beech forest in Southland, NZ. Fine large trees, splendid understory of tree ferns, good species diversity ... then falling over an old wooden rail-line. The forst had been clear felled in thre 1860s!
Malcolm
New Zealand | New Thinking
Edited 2/23/2005 4:25 am ET by kiwimac
John,
Not long ago, I went to the local farm supply store to get a pair of replacement handles for an old wheelbarrow. They were some kind of tropical wood, instead of the oak or hickory I was expecting to find. Even painted they didn't hold up very long. One rotted almost immediately. Ended up making a pair myself from oak.
Regards,
Ray
All,
Another interesting item for consideratin: I recently purchased some 11-ply sheets @ about $30 per sheet and discovered is was manufactured in China. Consider the cost of materials, labor, shipping and distribution and that everyone along the "food chain" is making a profit. BTH, with 11 plys you would thing it would be flat and reasonably stable- guess again.
Doug
Not too long ago a guy from the local plywood and lumber yard told me about this stuff.
According to him, it is not actually made "in" China. Factory ships parked off the coast of the US, in international waters, fabricate the stuff using core veneers brought from China. They buy US veneer logs for the faces and process them on the ships, then drive it back here for sale.
You're right, it is junk. I have seen a single sheet go anywhere from 9 to 13 plies, voids all over the place, and when rabbetted leaves a hairy cut edge. An what's with that bright red glue? Pieces as small as 18" square warp all over the place, and the face veneers delaminate at the drop of a hat.
The lumberyard no longer sells anything but that in paint grade. They can't stand the stuff, but they say no one is willing to pay more for higher quality paint grade, so that's all we get.
Jon: Amazing! It is junk and buyer beware. Thanks for the off-shore information. And I thought the fish and whaling ship-board factories were imaginative.
Doug
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