Modern Marvels – The Lumberyard (5 of 5)

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Release: 30 November 2005 (Season 11, Episode 55)

Explore the options lumberyards provide for builders and renovators–from natural to engineered woods. We’ll show how plywood and pressed woods are made, trace exotic woods to jungle and desert, visit a special lumberyard that deals in recycled and antique woods, and go on an underwater expedition as divers locate ancient logs buried in the Great Lakes and New Zealand. We’ll see how 50,000-year-old ancient Kauri wood is “mined” from a bog and is now all the rage among those who live in mansions and travel on yachts. From the lowly 2-by-4 used to build a tract home, to a reclaimed set of historic planks used to make a million-dollar bar in a 5-star hotel, this eye-opening program hits the nail right on the head.

Here is a review by Loyd E. Eskildson

“The Lumberyard” begins with a short tour of a modern lumberyard processing the rough output from a sawmill. Thirty-foot blades, power planers and molders transform the wood into attractive, ready-to-install material.

Then episode moves onto to lumberyards that specialize in recycled/reclaimed wood from barns, old homes, and pilings – attractive because of their unique appearances.

Colonial lumberyard tools are illustrated (incredibly labor-intensive), and their role in supplying shipyards and the growing railroad industry outlined. I was surprised to learn that until lately, the San Francisco Bay area was a major lumberyard location.

A recent innovation is that of engineered woods, though plywood actually dates back to the Egyptians who used pegs to hold the sheets together. Plywood’s strength derives from alternate layers placed at right angles to each other. Oriented-strand wood, comprised of shredded wood, arranged approximately parallel and again in layers at right-angles to each other, is replacing much plywood and making use of pieces that used to become scrap.

Most interesting of all is “glu-lam” – long, large pieces such as beams and trusses comprised of wood layers glued to each other and then joined via finger joints. The output is quite impressive and ready to install at the job site.

Next, “The Lumberyard” shows us so-called exotic woods – mahogany, teak, rosewood, etc. Finally, its on to woods coming from rather exotic sources – eg. logs sunk up to 100 years in the Great Lakes (preserved by the cold water, and also uniquely colored) and located through sonar. The record, however, is held by New Zealand bogs (also providing a preservative shield) holding huge kauri logs that are no longer commercially available. It offers rich gold and cognac colors and a finish that is luminous and glistens as if lit from within; pieces are up to 12′ wide.

Enjoy friends

Duration : 0:8:49

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