Beech

I think there is veneer quality about everything .

Then in some species you get into that real high dollar stuff like musical instrument grade maple etc . I don't have a clue how they even know what is what .My best shot is the simple ability to determine what should cut out as fine and select .
 
10-15 years or so ago we shipped alot of port orford cedar to japan at crazy high prices. when i lived on kodiak we shipped sitka spruce to japan. that was a crazy process when the ship came for logs!!
 
when i lived on kodiak we shipped sitka spruce to japan. that was a crazy process when the ship came for logs!!
A couple of years back The T and J Ellis company ,a local log exporter built a special container to ship some exotic to Japan .

I don't know what the log was ,instrument maple ,flame cherry, what ever .The container was a sealed water can with the log being rotated constantly while in shipment . All I can say is it must have been a highly sought after log . I heard over 40 grand for the log but that might have been just a wifes tale .
 
I've seen logs for sale here that were imported for veneer, but didn't make the grade when they started to skin them. Also, lots of guitar making operations here, using wood from the states.

Fifteen-twenty years ago, money was falling from the sky in these parts, cost was no object. A lot of wood is going to China now. I bought Walnut that was imported there from the US, then sold to Japan. Their sawmills do/did a crappy job, and they really skimped on the thickness. 8/4 was two inch spot on, without the little extra that makes life worthwhile. Chintzy sonbitches.
 
Back
Top