Show Notes
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.
More from Shannon's Lumber Industry Update
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Sticker stain is more about the drying technique than the material used for the stickers themselves. Certainly the stickers play a role but the key is getting the lumber below the saturation point quickly to stop oxidization and enzymatic reactions. The stain can ruin beautiful lumber and go so deep it can't be planed away. Additionally I dive into the Red Oak and White Oak market trends.
Limba is sold both as Black Limba and White Limba. It is the same species. Limba is actually more like White Limba and the Black streaks that make Black Limba are more of a form of spalting and staining. Its a species that you have probably seen already but didn't know it. From famous guitars by Gibson to modern interiors and furniture and now thermally modified siding in the form of Frake. The species is widely used and largely unknown.
So you want to use reclaimed wood. But where did it actually come from and what kind of nasty might it have been exposed to along the way? In this episode I talk about where reclaimed wood comes from and what potential hazards might show up and how to test for them. Basically a green light, yellow light, and red light ranking system to think about when considering reclaimed woods.