Walnut coffee table

Recycled? I am trying to imagine what from------pretty wood, though. Nice job.

Recycled in the sense that the tree would have otherwise gone to the landfill or up in smoke. I suppose reclaimed might be a more accurate term though.

Products made directly from logs (regardless of whether the source is a forest or the urban jungle), be they paper, flooring, furniture, toothpicks, cabinets, baseball bats etc. are not generally referred to as "recycled". If such products are subsequently remanufactured into a different product the resulting products typically qualify as "recycled".

Your work stands on it's own merit, no need to apply ambiguous "environmentally correct" descriptors.

"Your work stands on it's own merit, no need to apply ambiguous "environmentally correct" descriptors." As an urban logger, I disagree. There is a different mind set involved in "treecycling". It is environementally a good practice (using a yard tree that would have been burned, and letting a forest tree stand) and should be mentioned....and people will pay more for it too if they like the message. Hang in there, and keep up the good work.

I just like the table...Thanks for posting it.

Daren,

None of us are for burning wood that can be used for the production of a wood product that would have a longer life.

What is your problem with harvesting trees from forests? Do you mistakenly think that cutting down a "forest tree" results in deforestation? If you do then here is news... If not converted to a deforestation-use (malls, superstores, houses, condos etc....) the harvested forest will either be replanted or naturally regenerated (from seedlings) into a new forest.

Do you think that wood from salvaged trees from urban deforestation projects or urban tree maintenance is environmentally superior to harvests of trees conducted by American forest landowners that are managing their forests for sustainable yields of forest products? If yes, think again.

Whoa Grant, nobody is trying to suggest that wood reclaimed from urban "waste" trees is in any way superior. What we do try to convey to our customers is the fact that urban wood is environmentally friendly in that we're finding uses for wood that would in some cases end up as landfill waste. In my case, I rely heavilly upon this perception as my costs associated with production are far greater than my conventional competition. As such, my products are more expensive as compared to comercial hardwood. What I've found is that a certain segment of people are more than willing to pay more for a product that is reclaimed, recycled or otherwise environmentally friendly.
I've done a bit of market research on this and come to the conclusion that the customer considers the product enviro friendly if the tree wasn't cut down specifically to be sawn up into lumber.
Thanks to all for your responses
-Scott

Scott,

You are absolutely correct about the fact that the buying public is willing to pay more for a product that they can "feel good" about.

I too salvage otherwise unmerchantable logs that I use for woodworking projects, but as a practicing forester who helps landowners manage their forests for the production of future wood products (whether they be fine furniture or paper) I cannot promote the idea that salvaged wood is more environmentally friendly than wood cut from a tree that was harvested for the primary purpose of producing lumber...... because it is not.

The only thing that we can rationally say about "salvaged" wood is that in turning it into a nice piece of woodworking, instead of allowing it to be landfilled or cut up into firewood is that we have seen that it has been put to an "appropriate/higher/best" use.

From the environmental standpoint the nice thing about wood is that regardless of what happens to it, it is environmentally friendly. Even if landfilled the carbon in the wood is sequestered (gets into the atmosphere very slowly and in the future will be used as methane fuel as it slowly decomposes) for a long time, similar to when wood is sequestered as structural lumber or a family heirloom (both of which hopefully aren't converted to CO2 for a period of at least several decades).

With regard to wood, the biggest threat that we face on a global basis is deforestation. Whenever we convert forestland to a different land use we lose potential for maintaining global wood carbon balance and instead of being a partial solution to the global carbon balance challenge, in an environment of deforestation, use of wood becomes part of the problem.

On a local level however, the bottom line is still the fact that if any of us further the myth that cutting down (utilizing) forest-grown trees is BAD (compared to "salvaged" wood), we are hurting forest landowner's ability to justify managing their forests. Consequently landowners will be more likely to sell it to a subdivision or mall developer instead of transferring it to their children (or other forest steward) as a working forest.

Unlike our forefathers, geographic and social distances from forests and farmland have resulted in a majority of todays consumers being functionally clueless about ecological understandings of where their food and fiber comes from.

It is my responsibility as a forester to help landowners and consumers understand how forests and the forest products industry function.

As a woodworker I believe that it is additionally my (and all woodworkers who sell wood products to the public) responsibility to be educated environmental "middlemen", who are knowledgable and forthright in educating the public about the consequences of using forests and wood.

Very nice work. It reminds me allot of my friends' recycled old growth redwood table made from lumber off of an old water tank.

Pretty cool table...good job!
I have several Festool power tools and wouldn't live without them. But if you did your joinery with their circular saw and guide system, I am really impressed! I've seen the pics and read the info but didn't think I could realy use one all that much. You have me thinking about it again...