As a woodworker hobbyist, I’m always looking for ways to save money on lumber. Domestic hardwoods, particularly large boards like maple, walnut and cherry can run a pretty penny. Being a naturally curious person, I learned about a guy who lives here in town, we can call him George the Sawyer. A sawyer is a person who travels to various locations with a portable saw mill to cut up logs into usable lumber, which is both a great way to get access to a new source of sustainably harvested lumber, and a cool way to expand my woodworking hobby.
Last September, Cincinnati experienced the remnants of Hurricane Ike. A great deal of trees fell during this storm. I met up with George recently just outside of town on a piece of property that had no less than a dozen 50- to 150-year-old maple, ash and cherry trees that fell from the 75+ MPH sustained winds. Having very little understanding of what I was getting into, I convinced the property owner to sell me one of the hard maple logs that was about 12 feet long by 20″ in diameter.
The log was cut into 2″ slabs, each weighing approximately 100lbs. After getting 10 of these boards home, I constructed a lumber drying rack, where these boards will slowly dry covered outside for the next 2 years. (The rule of thumb is 1 year for every inch of wood to dry.) Eventually, this 125-year-old maple will get a second life as a new piece of furniture, a massive workbench, etc. Although I hate waiting, it’s nice knowing that the log isn’t just going to find a home in a fireplace, going up in smoke this winter.
Andy Brownell is a strategist here at HyperQuake. When he’s not in the office, he’s building furniture or blogging about it for Gorilla Glue.
Tags: hobbies, sustainability