Any call or email we get for marine grade plywood results in a series of questions about why it is needed and how it will be put to use. The term "marine grade" is used a bit too liberally by manufacturers to be trusted at face value. In other words there are many shades of gray to it and and most likely a good product can be found for your project whether it be exterior home work, a marina, or a boat. The standards required by APA- The Engineered Wood Association, for a product to be called … [Read more...]
Wood Moves, Get Over It
As if it were some kind of perpetual motion machine, wood will never stop moving. No matter how old it is, what has been done to seal it, fasten it, or restrain it, the wood will move. Accept it, and move on. Understanding how and why your wood moves is necessary if you are going to work with this wonderful medium. Understanding how a particular species and cut moves is even more important when it comes to figuring out the tolerances you have to work with. Think of wood as a bundle of … [Read more...]
Dispelling the Myth That Lumber Importing is Bad for the Environment
As an importer of record in many exotic species like Genuine Mahogany, Teak, and Ipe; J. Gibson McIlvain is acutely aware of the stigma attached to rainforest wood species and the spectre of global warming that looms over our industry. The facts are that deforestation is not a result of the lumber import trade, but in many cases caused by the disruption of it. Additionally, regulation by local, federal, international, and corporate entities provides a clear provenance of the lumber from forest … [Read more...]
Best Tropical Decking Choices
Spring time is here and with it comes deck building season. This is the time of year when our millwork department spends 75% of the day grooving Ipe decking boards for hidden fasteners. At any given moment there are several trucks being loaded with Ipe to be shipped off to our customers around the country. As we have written about on this blog earlier, Ipe is really an unrivaled decking species, but the price continues to climb every year. So it is that this year we are paying very close … [Read more...]
Understanding Hardwood Lumber Grading
For more than a century, the hardwood lumber industry has held to a central grading standard established by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA). Thanks to the foresight of the early founders of the NHLA in 1898, some order has been added to the chaos that had become the lumber trade. Finally there was a standardized system of grading to determine quality of lumber. Today we take this grading system for granted and it has become a universal way to quickly convey the quality of a … [Read more...]
Does Number of Plies in a Sheet of Plywood Matter?
Plywood is confusing. There, I said it. Especially when it comes to how the sheet of plywood is constructed. You can have 2 panels of identical species and thickness, but is one sheet the same as the other? Is a 3/4 sheet with 12 plies actually better than a 3/4 sheet with 6 plies? As always, the answer is a frustrating and maddening, "maybe." In theory, more plies is better and not because the veneers are cut thinner and their movement is less. Actually, it is because more plies … [Read more...]
How to Prevent Cracks in Your Large Timbers
Easy answer: you can't... That's not entirely true. You could dry the timbers in a vacuum kiln and definitely not use them outside and keep them away from direct sunlight. Probably a good idea to speak in low, soothing tones around those timbers too. I joke, but the reality is that these cracks or checks are just the nature of wood. Checking can be controlled in "regular" sized 4/4 through 8/4 or even 10/4 lumber, because this thinner stuff is easier to dry. But when you get into … [Read more...]
Wood Color Changes Explained
One of the things than can be very difficult when working with wood is the range of colors you find within a single species. What makes it even more difficult is that all woods will change color throughout the process from sawmill to finished project and then years down the road. Wood like all materials fades in the sunlight, but some woods also undergo actual chemical changes that change the color. The one thing you can count on is not to get too attached to a specific color as it is bound to … [Read more...]
The Salk Institute Teak Restoration Project
We are fortunate to get the opportunity to consult on and provide materials for a lot of cool and even historic projects. The Salk Institute in San Diego, designed by renown architect Louis Kahn in 1965, was just such a project. Kahn's creation of concrete with Teak window walls is striking but in recent years that vision has been blemished by the fungi staining and highly weathered appearance of the Teak wood. The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) took charge of this historic restoration … [Read more...]
Walnut Grades Explained
I have written briefly about how Walnut is graded differently from other North American hardwoods, but it seems that customers are still surprised by the apparent lack of quality in Walnut lumber. Usually these inquiries are met with surprise on the part of our grading team, as our graders were quite proud of the quality of Walnut that left our yard. What it really comes down to are two different expectations of what "good quality" Walnut actually is. So let's break it down according to NHLA … [Read more...]
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