Today I have Shaun Preston, the Director of Camp Small, Baltimore Urban wood recycling center and saw mill. Baltimore leads the nation in its treatment of their urban canopy as a resource and Camp Small's ability to be an intake yard for EVERY city tree that comes down. Then they repurpose the entire tree from fire wood to mulch, to furniture, lumber, and even zoo animal playgrounds. Shaun and his team have built an amazing set up and I was luck enough to get some of his time. This interview occured just a bit before the devastating fire that burned the entire log yard in early December of 2024 but nothing has changed with their mission and the work they will continue to do for the urban canopy of the City of Baltimore.

Find out more at:

https://www.treebaltimore.org/camp-small

or follow them on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/campsmall.baltimorecity/

I hope to get Shaun back in the coming months as they regain their footing after the fire and I wish them luck in restarting the great work they are doing.

Holly is a shockingly pure white in color with almost no visible grain. But it stains quickly if not felled, sawn and dried in the same day. Moreover kiln drying it can be tricky to keep it white. It also has a lot of significance and lore surrounding it that makes it a central part of the Christmas sacred traditions as well as waaaaay back in history as a symbol of life and protection.

This episode is the Venn diagram of me. I talk nerdy sciency stuff related to wood that can be moulded into high bike frames. What a perfect confluence! Chris Mroz of Pure Timber joins me to discuss cold bending hardwoods using compressed wood technology. This stuff will blow your mind and yearn for one of those flexy straws and a cold drink.

This time I feature White Oak but spend time talking more generally about the Oaks and the differences between the Red Oak group and the White Oak group.

This week I dive into curly figure in wood. Curl encompasses a lot of different types like blister, pommele, beeswing, fiddleback, etc. I look at what causes it and how to grade it.

In this special Halloween episode I will talk about magical woods. Woods with folklore and mystery that surround them. A listener who has a Harry Potter obsessed daughter asked me about the properties of wand woods and that is what has inspired this episode.

Today I have guest Dan Edelman from TimberHP a wood fiber insulation company out of Maine. This company has create 3 insulation products: fill, batten, and board using the wood waste from the nearly defunct paper mill industry in Maine. They repurpose a large percentage of the millions of tons of wood chip waste and create a fire rated, high R value, and acoustical value, fully non toxic insulation from what is a waste product.

Today I discuss the featured species, Narra. It is a beautiful SE Asian wood mostly known in its burl form where it is called Amboyna Burl. Narra is undoubtedly a tropical wood in the Padauk genus but unlike many tropical woods it is easier to work with due to a lower hardness and a luster that serves to lubricate tooling while working its.

I also discuss some of the elements that may make locally sourced timbers more expensive than wood brought from across the country. And finally how you might start the process of having your own trees introduced into the urban lumber market.

Today I talk about burls. What are they to the best of our knowledge and how to work them. But I also spend a fair bit of time talking about genuine Mahogany and some statements made lately that 80% of Mahogany is illegally harvested. Buried the lede a bit on that one but its important to understand how to buy a wood if you are not sure about its sustainability.

This week I feature the Tamo Ash, Fraxinus mandshurica. It is a species of Ash primarily sought for the unique "peanut" figure. Like a lot of figured woods it is not totally understood how the figure is formed but proper use of the whole tree must be considered for the health of the species. Also talk about ray fleck in White Oak and drying wood. Is there an ideal environment for drying and preventing bugs in your woods?