Time to Recap the Recap.

The last few days have been busy. Of the building product distributors we visited a common theme is DF is definitely not the species of choice as it was during the Bohemia / Tilling days. As Dallas has already shared: Radiotta Pine / Baltic Pine have taken over along with LVL related products the once beloved Douglas Fir. One distributor estimated that his species inventory breakdown is as follows (Lumber only not including EWP) :
Pine(s) - 65%
Incense Cedar - 20%
Douglas Fir - 15%

Many of the distributors stated the growing importance of Certified Forest products. They dont necessarily agree with the trend but will be forced to comply. One of the distributors was proud to be in importer of DNA LUMBER. A first glance when I read the logo I thought it was related to Certification of Timber. Nope. It is a practical business approach to combat illegal logging.
You can read more about it here: http://www.simmondslumber.com.au/sims_wp/Pages/simmonds/DNALumber.aspx
An interesting read over all. But what a process!

Probably the most interesting visit was to a distributor which was more of a Mom & Pop business. There was alot of, "over the shoulder" business and included a recycle portion of the operation that involved tearing down old houses and refinishing, restoring, and reusing the lumber and materials.

In a nutshell more emphasis seems to be geared towards the finish work area of the industry. There were interesting applications of treated studs (treated against insects) used in some of the building sites we visited , 3x4's used as the top plate of some wall sections brought in, and LVL lumber.

With the exception of maybe some high grade studs from Kevin, I feel the best area to target in this market demographic is Lam Beams. But shipping will be / would be a challenge. But it needs to be discussed. The trip isnt over so I am still holding out for that nugget possibility.

I have several photos to added to this post.
Take note of the captioning:


Mom and Pop style Lumber Yard.




Insect Treated Lumber.




More treated lumber.




DNA Lumber.




At a restaurant in San Francisco..
Was Verle at work last Tuesday?


Meeting with the Tillings on Monday.

SPI Lincoln, California

We took advantage of the "open day" and made a trip to Sierra Pacific Industries in Lincoln, California. We met with my brother Will (who is the Plant's Lead Electrician) and he took us on a tour of the new Planer project. They have recently installed Lucidyne High Speed inline Gradescan. http://www.lucidyne.com/GradeScanHome.aspx The scanner installed was on display at this years Sawmill and Machinery show Andy Funke and I attended this last spring in Portland. The photo posted above is of their new 32 bin sorter. (yes Verle 32 bins) 32 bins sounds like enough but it actually has double unit capacity in all widths sans 12". I doubt if Mark and Jon Howard could come up with enough lam sorts that would lead to rerun bin with the potential of 60 + sorts. No I take that back they probably could. We also toured Mill A (small log mill) and I was able to visit with some former co-workers I have not seen in over 20 years. We ran short on time and did not want to risk any traffic jams and declined to tour Mill B (large log mill - The old Hayfork Sawmill that was dismantled and moved to Lincoln)

The common Planer was running Ponderosa Pine 1x6. Feed speeds were about 950 FPM. The timber planer was running IC pencil stock. If you look closely in the photo in the foreground you can see the pull chain that the timber planer feeds.

A great visit. I wish we would have had more time to also tour the Kilns - 16 double tracks fed by the second boiler. The first boiler is devoted to the Co-Gen plant. My brother detailed some sub-station - transformer work that he is planning to accomidate the local power company. He reminds me alot of Jon W. Although I did not see him leaving work at 4:15 PM to make a gate named after him.

Sports Highlight of the Day led to the Daily Dennerism.

PGA Pro Rocco Mediate was at the airport this morning. He is in town for the US Open at Pebble Beach. Mark approached him to shake his hand. They carried on a short conversation and in closing Mark told Mr. Mediate:

Dennerism: "I hope you do a little bit better this year than you did two years ago at the US Open." http://www.majorschampionships.com/usopen/2008/

Boarding flight to Sydney in about 10 minutes.

Flightless in San Francisco

Our flight was delayed two hours from Eugene to San Francisco. We will miss our connecting flight to Sydney. The next flight out of SFO is 10:52 PM on Tuesday. United provided vouchers for a motel room and a meal. Mark cancelled our scheduled visit with Mike Swan for Tuesday afternoon. 1:00 AM made it to the motel, but none of the checked luggage will be available available until 4:00 AM. Food voucher in hand and all the restaurants are closed. Otherwise it was a smooth first day.

Dennerisms from the first day:

"United has no problems with on time arrivals - its the departures they have the troubles with"

"Wheels up at what time...does anyone in this waiting area have a calendar?"