[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"85341","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]] Software has taken on a growing role in the wood products business as a sales tool. How so? Since applications have the ability to run CNC machines, it was only a matter of time before that same information was translated into graphics that guide the operator in project parts production. Finished jobs are also visualized by rendering those same production files in 3D.

MacDonald Hardwoods, a provider and installer of high-quality hardwood flooring, talked to 205 interior designers across the country about what they are recommending, what their customers are asking them for, and what trends they are seeing for the upcoming year.

Birmingham native Cliff Spencer is closing his Los Angeles woodshop and moving it east. Besides beehives -which Spencer has been developing for some time -  Spencer’s new company Alasaw will manufacture custom handmade items, including furniture and cabinetry. Alasaw will be developing a line of particular pieces of furniture and small household items that describes as “rough and primitive style in nature.” In the next couple of years, Spencer will roll out AlabamaSawyer, a line of more “refined” furniture, which will be marketed to a regional and national audience.