Ahhhh The Good Old Days

Imagine the logging industry in the United States in its earliest days.  Loggers were felling trees that were potentially over a thousand years old. It is no wonder that we find so many old homes, especially in the North West made out of beautiful lumber, so beautiful in fact that it is now common to salvage it to make furniture.  Picture ripping a 2x4 out of your wall and saying "wow this would make a beautiful coffee table!"  I recently received some photos from a friend of mine in an email which are below.  I have no idea where these photos came from but they make my heart skip a beat when I see them.



It is often said of true hunters that they are some of the best conservationists, as they understand that when a species is obliterated it is no longer available for the hunt.  Many hunters will fight tooth and nail to save valuable habitat and wildlife in order to maintain the delicate balance which provides them with their bounty.  If only this practice was as well understood in the days in which these photos were taken; imagine the harvest of American lumber we would have at our disposal today.  If reforestation was a commonly practiced concept a hundred or more years ago we could have our cake and eat it too, with some to spare.  I see much of this practice being taught today, and while there is a lot of hippie-dippie talk associated with ideas like reforestation and conservation I think having these natural assets available for future generations of woodworkers is well worth the fight.

Where can I buy this saw?

Soooo, yeah, my job is to drive this log around.

Imagine having to rip this to length

Logging, brought to you by sustainable "biscuit and gravy" power

Maybe it's just a tiny train?

A hollowed out log is where I spend most of my days...