Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Christmas notes from Wisconsin

Hello Folks! It is 2 days after Christmas. I had one of my grandsons help me unload the kiln and haul it home. It sure makes things easier. He is also learning to drive and I let him drive home with many loads of lumber. That was scary. There are some good stories about his driving but will save that for another blog. Needless to say, it is a good thing I have a bald head or I would lose all of my hair.

This unloading has some wonderful material with great history and stories. First up was one log set of yellow birch that has laid at the bottom of a river for over 150 years. This tree was over 300 years old when it was cut which would put it back in the 1500's, when it started to grow. These boards range from 8" wide to 16" wide and 11' long. The boards have the tightest grain I have ever seen in a hardwood log. Most of this is cut into 5/4 thicknesses. The wood has a much darker tone because the river has a high iron content. I would like to sell this whole log set as one. I can cut it into shorter lengths or leave it long for shipping. There is probably 200 board feet, roughly. Very unique, very historical material. I would be asking $2,500.00 for this whole set.

Next up is some of the nicest, most colorful spalted hard maple. There is varying grades. I have this in both 4/4 and 8/4. It is sound but very light in weight. Lots of checking on the ends. Some has some incredibly heavy birdseye figure. Some has heavy curly figure. Some is just plain spalted maple.
The figured material will run higher than the plain maple. The low grade material will be sold for $2.00 per board foot. By low grade, I mean center cuts of the log. This will include pith and checking in the middle of some boards. The plain spalted maple will be $4.00 board foot. I have not priced the birdseye and curl yet, as I am separating boards from the piles. The story behind all the spalted maple is this. These logs sat in a veneer yard in upper MI for over 7 years. They got covered in dirt and leaves. Why the yard owner did nothing with them I am not sure. A mill I deal with had these logs dropped off several years ago. They were sawed and stickered and then left for several years at the back of the mill yard. A year ago I was asked if I was interested in some old , crappy wood in the back. As I walked back towards the pile I could see the figure in some boards, some 200 ft. away.
Luckily they had thrown some tin over the stack so it wasn't completely out in the weather. There were some super weathered pieces on the very outside of the pile but for the most part it is very heavily spalted.

The rest of the wood from this load is some beautiful white birdseye and curly hard maple. If you are looking for anything in particular let me know. I am working with a new trucking company for pallet loads. I also have used Fed Ex for pallet loads. Very economical shipping to the west coast. Email me for shipping pallet loads of wood.

 yellow birch from the river. More photos are available.
 spalted maple
 another shot in the rough

This is what I saw from over 200 feet away. Heavy birdseye
 8/4 live edge spalted
4/4 spalted birdseye

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