FDMC - December

TOP STORIES OF 2018

The best of the best: 2018’s top stories
Logs, tariffs, and super wood were just a few of the topics that dominated traffic this
year at Woodworking Network. Take a look at this year’s seven most popular stories:
How much is your log
worth?

The biggest blockbuster story of the year was written by contributing author and owner of Missouri-based Wunder Woods Scott Wunder.

Wunder begins by saying
that logs are probably worth
less than what you would
hope. A better way of think-
ing about it is that it’s worth
as much as someone is willing
to pay. Wunder says your log
probably isn’t as good as you
think it is, most high-dollar logs
are veneer-quality logs, yard
trees often have metal in them,
and you don’t know what you
don’t know.

Wunder’s input may sound random described this quickly, but his in-depth article was the most popular story on the Woodworking Network site over the entire year.

bit.ly/2rd2Kxs

Is drying a disk from a tree possible
without cracking it?

Wood Doctor Gene Wengert’s answer to this question is next
up. Wengert says:
I suspect that just about everyone in woodworking has
been approached by someone with the question that goes
something like, "A tree Grandpa planted 100 years ago just
fell, and we want to make a few tabletops from this wood as a
family remembrance. We would like to cut a disk (circular or
oval), dry it without any large cracks, and then finish it with
polyurethane. Can you do this for me?"

Certainly, we would all like to help, but anyone who under-
stands drying knows
that a disk will
develop at least one
major crack extend-
ing from the outer
perimeter to the
center during dry-
ing. bit.ly/2Pqx6M0

Man builds entire log cabin with hand
tools, films it in timelapse

Canadian outdoorsman and woodworker Shawn James built an entire log cabin using hand tools. And he filmed it in timelapse - condensing the entire building process into a five minute You-Tube video. James even shou sugi bans the wood in the roof.

If you want to build a rustic log cabin or tiny off-grid home alone in the wilderness and you haven't seen the rest of my videos, this is a good primer.