If I told you that I was going to visit you in one million seconds, you’d have to get ready in about 11.6 days — less than two weeks. By contrast, if I informed you that I would be visiting you in one billion seconds, you would not see me for about 32 years. It’s a big number.

Why this number might matter to you is that over the next decade, the U.S. Forestry Service is planning to plant over a billion trees. (“US to plant 1 billion trees as climate change kills forests”: July 25, 2022, Matthew Brown)

This effort, supported by bipartisan legislation, is in part to address forest loss to western wildfires. In the past five years, more than 5 million acres of land have been subjected to intense fires.

Obviously, growing more trees is good news for woodworkers. But forests also help filter water, support wildlife, provide recreational space, beautify the landscape and take carbon out of the air.

Planting on Many Levels

While these efforts are at the federal level, there are many other tree-planting efforts going on across the board. For example, in my home state of Minnesota, our Department of Natural Resources planted over 2 million trees in 2021. And there are non-governmental efforts as well. The Journal’s parent company, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, supports the Hardwood Forestry Fund that has planted millions of trees all across the country.

Our forests are important and under stress, but with continued efforts, they can remain healthy and provide lumber and other benefits for generations to come.

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Next year’s theme is “Get Out There,” exploring the great outdoors. Entry information for the 2023 show will be posted soon under the “Design in Wood” tab at sdfwa.org, or at sdfair.com. Or contact coordinator Ed Gladney at edgladney@san.rr.com or 619-251-4410.

Featured Works:

“Ladies’ Work Table” by Robert Stevenson
16″ x 20″ x 30″

“Whiskey, Whine & Frankenstein” by Pamela Goldman
14-1/2″ x 6-3/4″ x 31-1/2″

“Safari Sunset” by Tim Clepper
43″ x 17″ x 6″

“Looking for Trouble” by Steven Roberts
6″ x 24″ x 22″

“Blossom” by Hal Gorss
10″ x 5″

“Longboat, 18th Century, 1750” by Jon Sanford
11″ x 2″ x 9″

“Tribute To My Pop’s Military Service” by Loren Vincent
31-1/2″ x 8″ x 28-1/2″

The post “Design in Wood” is Back! appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Urban Boatbuilders began in 1995 with a goal of introducing youths to working with their hands as a path to employment. The early group had a contingent of woodworkers in their midst, so they decided to teach kids how to build boats from scratch. The journey had begun.

UBB in the 21st Century

Over the decades since, the goal of the program has grown while keeping true to its roots.

Recognizing that youths in general and especially low-income youths lack both the academic opportunities and workforce training to succeed, UBB developed a program to address those roadblocks. They now offer an apprenticeship program where they hire people 16 to 21 years old to work in the woodshop. They prioritize youths (roughly 50 per year) with barriers to employment. In addition to an hourly wage, the program offers merit-based advancement opportunities from junior apprentice to senior apprentice with some advancing to youth instructors.

The people in the program include some with various challenges: disabilities, chemical dependency, they may already be parents or have juvenile offenses, and the list goes on. So the staff focuses on building a positive community for the youths where they have opportunities to learn, grow and thrive.

The program has a highly individualized focus. What does that look like in the day-to-day of their apprenticeships? In addition to learning technical woodworking skills while building a boat, they also need to develop communication skills, learn how to manage their time and exercise personal and collaborative problem-solving. These are transferable skills for future employment.

There is also instruction about topics like workplace etiquette and financial literacy. And all this and more is done in a supportive and positive social environment. It is a powerful way to help build individuals with confidence and teach agency while working within a community.

The mission of Urban Boatbuilders has been consistent: “To empower youths to succeed in work and life through woodworking and experimental learning.”

Making it Work

When I visited the UBB space, I was hosted by Michael Wurth, their community engagement director. He wanted me to understand how strongly the staff work to individualize their program. If a youth needs a driver’s license, they help them with the process. If they want to improve their public speaking, the staff works with them. Things like filling out a job application and practicing interviewing skills are other target areas. If the youth sees an obstacle to their success, UBB is a resource for them. And it was clear to me that the staff are truly invested in each youth’s progress.

Expanded Program

UBB also has a partnership program that brings woodworking and building to schools in the area. The classes have been well received and offer the experience of hands-on learning.

UBB is a non-profit organization funded through donations from individuals and corporations (Rockler Woodworking and Hardware among them). It is supported by volunteers in addition to their highly professional staff.

To see woodworking put to truly good work is inspiring. I was impressed and uplifted by the important work UBB is doing in our community.

If you’re inspired by this work, visit urbanboatbuilders.org to learn more and to offer support for these programs.

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My mother was a successful embroiderer in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). It just so happened that John Lezon, the father of our sponsor family, was a sewing machine repairman that serviced several local dry cleaners. Those connections enabled my mother to establish a small business as a tailor for many of these dry cleaners using an old Singer sewing machine that the Lezons gave her.

Since my mother was single and working to support my sisters and me, the Lezon family cared for us for the majority of my adolescence. I would often watch John repair old cast-iron industrial sewing machines and give them a new life. Through the years, my mother always labored away at her craft, making clothing repairs at her sewing bench. These two things greatly influenced my career choices and ultimately my passion for woodworking.

Engineer by Day, Woodworker by Night

I went off to college to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. I then attended graduate school in Huntsville, Alabama, and received my master’s degree in aerospace engineering. I found a job locally doing infrared analysis on rocket engines. But while I greatly enjoy my job as an engineer, it lacks the “hands-on” experience that I was used to seeing throughout my childhood. So I started collecting old sewing machines and learning how to repair them as a hobby. I sold some machines, kept some of them and then started to learn how to make patterns and sew some of my own garments.

In 2013, I married my wife. We bought a foreclosed fixer-upper home. With a “can-do” attitude, my new hobby quickly became creating a modern functional home for my wife and I. In doing so, I acquired some basic used carpentry tools such as a circular saw, jigsaw, handheld router, table saw, drill and impact driver. I also started watching The New Yankee Workshop and became fascinated and obsessed with building furniture.

Instagram Chronicler

At this time, Instagram (IG) was becoming a popular social media platform for woodworkers to share their work. I jumped on the platform as a way to share my experience in building a fully-functional garage woodshop. Rather than just showing the finished “beauty shot” of the project I was working on, I attempted to chronicle my builds and explain my processes and methodology to my followers.

I figured only the most detail-oriented people would enjoy what I was producing. However, I was stunned by how captivated my audience was by the content I was producing. My audience also included potential clients that wanted me to produce commissioned furniture pieces.

Most of my builds these days are furniture, such as the Modern Farmhouse Dining Table. I’m currently fascinated with building chairs. The majority of my work continues to be for my family and friends with the occasional commissioned build. I try to keep the content I produce for my IG channel entertaining for my audience, but ultimately my goal is to continue to entertain my own passion for woodworking.

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This wide variety of applications cannot only require different wood species but also even wood at various stages of seasoning. “Seasoning” simply means the movement of water out of a piece of harvested lumber. Freshly harvested wood that has a high moisture content is called “green.” This term has nothing to do with the wood’s color. Fully seasoned wood is said to be at a state of equilibrium, but even dried wood with a finish applied to it remains hygroscopic, which means it can absorb moisture from the air.

Over time, woodworkers have developed techniques to both minimize the effect of wood movement and take advantage of seasoning or a lack of it. Frame-and-panel construction, for example, was specifically created to accommodate wood’s seasonal cross-grain expansion and contraction.

Green Can Be Good

Once wood is fully seasoned or cured, it looses flexibility and tends to hold its shape stubbornly. We depend on this in woodworking. The last thing we want is a desktop or table that sways or easily bends under a load. Unseasoned green wood will almost always lead to disaster when it’s used for building fine furniture. As it dries, the wood shrinks, which can cause joints to open. The stock can also distort in a number of ways … none of them good.

But green wood has its advantages in some cases. Wood with a high moisture content is much easier to cut and shape than very dry wood. This is a big benefit when you are working with hand tools, as the softer tissue structure requires less muscle power to manipulate. So old-fashioned tasks like making wooden shoes or utensils were always done with green wood.

Uses for Green Wood

Green wood turns very easily, speeding the turning process up considerably. Woodturners take advantage of that fact when turning bowls and even spindles, if the blanks were riven from a log segment.

While the turner is working with green wood, they must decide whether they will be okay with the changes in a bowl’s appearance as it dries and becomes more oval-shaped. If not, turners will “rough out” the bowl, set it aside to allow it to come to equilibrium and then complete the turning process.

Stool and chair builders will sometimes take advantage of green wood by mounting legs that are fully seasoned into sockets on chair or stool seat blanks made of green wood. As the wood of the seat shrinks, the leg sockets become tighter and more secure. (This technique, of course, can go considerably wrong if the green seat board happens to split as it dries.)

Ancient ship builders (and even some modern ones) used green lumber to make their boats, because it could be bent to form hulls and was more easily shaped by muscle power. Wood carvers and craftspeople who make treenware (wooden vessels or products used for food preparation or serving) also rely on green wood. So did bodgers (traditional forestbased woodturners) who turned table and chair legs from unseasoned wood.

Timber framers often choose green lumber, too. Since no kiln drying is involved, large planks and timbers are less expensive. Rustic furniture is another area where green lumber often makes good sense. The thick stock often used in this type of furniture does not distort easily as it seasons, and the joinery is usually not exacting. And just as green lumber is great for hand carving, it’s also a fine choice for power carving — a specialty that’s becoming more popular these days.

Throwing a Curve

Steam bending wood has been around a long time, thanks to the flexibility of green wood. It’s an ideal technique for making skis, sled runners, rockers, coat hooks and much more. To bend wood with steam or heat, your stock should never be kiln dried. Unseasoned wood will bend most reliably if its moisture content is 20 percent or even more!

These days, most woodworking is done with kiln-dried lumber, and with good reason. It is the product that best suits our “flat-andstraight” woodworking tasks. But there are times when green lumber is actually still the better choice.

The post Green Lumber: What Can I Do With It? appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Bowl Blanks

Turning green lumber is perhaps the number one use for unseasoned, wet wood. Depending on where you live, there are trees all around you. When a neighbor drops a tree, often they will be more than willing to let you grab a chunk or two, especially if you bring your own chainsaw. You’ll need to further refine the wood with a froe, band saw or chainsaw to get a workable blank out of the piece, but that’s another story.

Many bowl blanks you purchase from woodworking suppliers like Rockler are green lumber, but not all of them. If the blanks are coated with wax, the chances are high that they are green wood.

Local Mills or Online

I did a quick Internet search of “sawmills near me” and found three of them within 50 miles. One is a favorite of mine, and I know of two others that did not even come up in the search. My point here is that you can probably find a local sawmill reasonably close to you. They will be happy to sell you green lumber, and they probably have dried lumber for sale as well.

The selection will probably be limited, compared to a traditional lumberyard. But that can lead to some serendipitous choices. My first (and at this time only) use of Tennessee coffee tree lumber occurred because it was basically my only option. It turned out to be a great wood to use — beautiful, strong and finished well.

When buying from a small local mill, the operator may be happy to help you, or you may be a bit annoying to him. You may need to be diplomatic and open-minded. After all, this ain’t a big box store.

Another way to get green lumber is through online marketplaces like Craigslist. That poses a bit more risk than a sawmill, as you will really not be able to truly know what you’re getting. A moisture meter would be a great tool to have when you buy lumber with a sketchy origin. So will a handheld metal detector or nail finder.

Milling Methods

I own a 16″ band saw and a chainsaw. When I get access to newly downed trees in my yard or around the neighborhood, I will often make my own blanks or boards. I secure a section of trunk in a jig that keeps it from rotating as I slice a couple of boards from it. I can then take it off of the jig and, with the flat face of the wood on the saw table, use the fence to make more cuts. It is slow and dusty work, but I find it enjoyable, and I can make my own choices regarding grain and figure orientation.

There are more ways to find green lumber, but I hope these tactics can at least help get your search started.

The post Going “Green” and Where to Find It appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Rockler has donated more than $100,000 to HFF over the last 13 years to fund tens of thousands of tree plantings nationwide. These donations have helped subsidize reforestation projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and elsewhere.

“We’re proud to be able to help grow beautiful, sustainable forests,” says Ann Rockler Jackson, executive chairman of Rockler Companies. “The North Shore and surrounding forests are a treasure. We know this reforestation project will improve the forest stands and give us a healthy, renewable forest for the future.”

Since 1990, HFF has planted and managed more than four million trees in 30 states and four foreign countries. Native tree species are selected for each unique site, but the more common species planted include black cherry, black walnut, red oak, hard maple, hickory and ash. Every sponsored project is required to have a management plan and a harvest and regeneration schedule.

One of those initiatives, shown in the photos here, is being undertaken by Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the Finland State Forest near Schroeder, Minnesota.

“This stand of maple has been experiencing some dieback in the crowns over the last 10 to 15 years,” says Anna Heurth, a silviculturalist with the Minnesota DNR’s Division of Forestry. “So we’re planting a total of 78,000 seedlings on this site to create a greater diversity of species.”

The area is being replanted with predominantly northern red oak as well as white pine and white spruce.

What the DNR hopes to see in the next decade as a result of these efforts is a mixed hardwood forest of oak, birch and aspen, as well as a conifer component. Heurth says the site is a perfect example of a hardwood forest that needs to be restored. “The Hardwood Forestry Fund is timber-industry directed, and that is really interesting to me,” Heurth says. “The DNR applied for a grant from HFF because (HFF) funds restoration projects like this, and they’re a really good fit for what we do.”

Rockler’s commitment to reforestation is obviously important to the future of woodworking, but the company also recognizes the value of forests as a tremendous natural resource for wildlife, recreation and learning as well as to help counteract the effects of climate change. “I think it’s important that a Minnesota-based company like Rockler is supporting our forests in Minnesota and also the Hardwood Forestry Fund,” Heurth adds.

To learn more about HFF or to make a donation, visit hardwoodforestryfund.org.

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These days, woodworkers and builders are posting memes offering to trade 2x4s for late-model Corvettes or, as Clint Miller, a sales representative for Automated Building Components in Chetek, Wisconsin, said, “I could take my wife out for a steak dinner with four 2x4s, 8 feet long … that’s 50 bucks. A year ago, they would have been $10 or $15.”

So, what’s up? Well, you may recall a worldwide pandemic that began in 2020. Lockdowns that spring meant people stayed home, and businesses — including those in the building and lumber industry — shut down for a while. Then, while many people sheltered at home, they decided to remodel. That’s the demand.

What about supply? The short answer is: there hasn’t been enough of it. Lumber mill shutdowns due to COVID-19 were a factor, according to the NAHB. Plus, there isn’t enough domestic supply. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s (NLBMDA) 2021 National Policy Agenda states that “as much as one-third of the framing lumber used in the U.S. comes from Canada each year.” And the U.S. charges tariffs on Canadian lumber.

Organizations such as NAHB and NLBMDA have been lobbying for reductions in tariffs. They’d also like to expand the domestic lumber supply through such methods as increasing logging from U.S. federal forests — through responsible management and in an environmentally sustainable manner, they’re careful to note in their advocacy documents.

Some other factors:

• Domestic producers are selling their lumber abroad.

• The 2008 economic downturn closed many sawmills.

• Remaining mills have limited kiln capacity and face labor shortages.

When Will This End?

What’s the solution? It seems we’ll have to wait it out. Until when? That answer is tougher to predict.

Clint Miller, whose company works with roof and floor trusses as well as other engineered wood products, thinks that we’re facing a “rubber band economy,” which will contract, then spring back with elasticity before leveling out at a certain point. For now, though, “Everything is such a mess that it’s going to take a while to get there,” Miller said.

For an expanded version of this article including helpful links to learn more about the lumber shortage, click here to download the PDF.

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“Across the country there has been a significant increase in our customer demand for quality lumber to support home improvement, woodworking and other DIY project needs,” says Joe Kester, Rockler’s vice president of retail.

In many stores, these expansions of lumber inventory are significant. For example, in Maplewood, Minnesota, the store’s lumber area has increased from 800 square feet to 2,600 square feet. The Sandy Springs, Georgia, store has also expanded its lumber display from 800 to 2,600 square feet. In Seattle, Washington, the store now offers 1,800 square feet of floor space for lumber — up from the previous 400.

So what’s on the racks? Shoppers will find hardwood such as walnut, hard maple, cherry, red oak and poplar, plus exotic species like mahogany, padauk, purpleheart, zebrawood and black limba. An expanded selection of high quality Baltic birch plywood in several sizes is also available for cabinet construction and small projects.

Rockler now carries more live edge slabs for one-of-a-kind tables, an impressive variety of turning blanks for pens, handles and bowls, and a diverse assortment of veneer, including many flitch cut book-matched varieties.

More Lumber Services

These new areas are staffed by lumber experts who can help customers plan their material lists and select the right species and boards. Stores will also cut boards to length for free, so customers pay for only what they need. If additional milling is desired, the staff can rip or plane the lumber to the desired size for a fee.

Rockler is also expanding its online lumber offerings at rockler.com. If you haven’t visited a Rockler store, a locator on the website can help you find a location near you.

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In mid-November 2020, a local television station publicized that the Minnesota Tool Library was organizing a “Space to Learn” project. The purpose of “Space to Learn” was to build desks for students in the St. Paul public school system who are studying from home but don’t have a “space” of their own to do homework. I thought getting involved would be a great way to practice my skills.

I learned that the Minnesota Tool Library is a member-based, volunteer-driven nonprofit that empowers people to “Fix Their Stuff and Fix the World.” They have over 5,000 tools to borrow, a community woodshop/maker space and they provide DIY classes and workshops. Its mission is to cultivate a more resilient and equitable community, reduce waste and empower residents with access to tools, training and workspaces.

The demand for desks was high, I was told. After the news story aired, the Minnesota Tool Library said they received between 1,500 and 2,000 requests for desks. Organizers had to limit the distribution to one desk per household, due to time and resources, except for families with many distance learners.

The organization created a template for the “Space to Learn” desk and originally thought they could build the majority of the desks in socially distanced volunteer groups at their facility. But because of the tightened restrictions in the state, they had to readjust to at-home builds and smaller in-person efforts instead.

Stab in the Dark

I decided to build the desks in my garage shop, along with about 80 other volunteers/households. They sent the template and plan to me, and off to the store I went for materials. I committed to building four desks in about three weeks, which was a total stab in the dark as I had never built a desk before and had no idea how long it would take.

Needless to say, it took me a lot longer than three weeks, but I finished them! I delivered the desks to Minnesota Tool Library so they could do their quality check and distribute them to the community. What happened next came as a complete surprise: I pulled into the facility, and a feeling washed over me that I wasn’t expecting. To see the hundreds of desks other woodworkers and community members had made for these kids was overwhelming. It gave me goosebumps!

This was WAY bigger than me learning some new skills. Our community had come together and provided a “space” for these children to call their own. A space they could be proud of and continue to learn in these very difficult times. But I learned there was still a lot of work to do. It was mid-December, and while 300 desks had been built, the goal was to have 500 made by the beginning of January.

I immediately signed up to help assemble more desks for a four-hour shift on a Saturday. I also took building materials home to help fulfill the need. All in all, I made about 20 desks. During the process, I improved my ability to make angle cuts. I also learned that patience during big projects really pays off.

When people come together it matters, and we woodworkers can make a difference. More than 600 families were able to give their children a space to learn, thanks to woodworkers getting involved! I am proud of the woodworking community in St. Paul, and I can’t wait to see what we can build together in the future.

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