FDMC Magazine

Using beetle-killed pine

Q: I have started making furniture out of beetle-killed pine. The blue streaks add character indeed. Unfortunately, the suppliers pine is about 16 percent MC and I think I need to get the lumber down to 7 percent MC. The supplier cannot or will not do this for me. What can I do?

FDMC Magazine

Small, raised spots on sycamore

Q: We are experiencing raised "pimples" after machining Sycamore. It occurs on 1 to 5 in 100 pieces. It is always on glued rails and on flat sawn grain. It is very random but appears to be associated where glue has dried. The problem also appears only on the sap not the heartwood. We also run sap gum and silver leaf soft maple into this product but have never seen these random raised pimples.

FDMC Magazine

Core color contrast

Q. We just received some lumber that has a color issue. We see that the core is normal in color, but the core of the wood is considerably whiter. This contrast in color, shell is darker than the core, is giving us fits and looks poor in the finished product.