Q. We have recently switched to a water-based finish. When we use it on hard maple, the wood from one supplier seems to cause the sugars in the wood to come through the finish and appear as a white frost on the surface. What is it and why on just one supplier?

Purchasing by cabinet, component and flooring plants will pick up slightly as their inventories thin out over the next two months.

Frigid spring weather let mills push back Hard Maple cuts to take advantage of robust Red Oak markets. When the wave of Hard Maple production hits later than usual, markets will absorb it—particularly cabinet and flooring.

With hard maple demands increasing from cabinet and wood component plants,sawmills are delaying those cuts in favor of red oak due to the cold weather across the northern U.S. and Canada. And soft maple shipments tick up.

Cabinet, furniture and component manufacturers will buy more unselected soft maple for use in painted and darkly stained products, which continue to grow in popularity.

Line of Wood Types, Species Expanded at Osborne Wood Products, Inc.