I follow the blog of a local woodworker because I am just so amazed at what people do with their hands. I grew up with a father who taught shop, so am not averse to creating things with wood, but I’m horrible with the details. When it comes to the little stuff, I throw my hands up in frustration. One think I did learn all those years of summer school is there are an amazing amount of exotic woods out there to play with. And the results are divine.

Over at Descending Ashtray, I was turned on to Urban Hardwood Recovery, a local shop that sells just that – urban hardwoods. The owner salvages and fells trees in the city (not rogue, but at owner’s requests) and then mills the wood down for use by woodworkers and the like. He works out of his house and has a wood kiln in the back. I was actually floored to discover it takes upwards of 6 months to dry out the wood for proper use. Wow. Not as long as wine, but still. He has some amazing wood varieties – White Oak, Oregon Cherry, Black Walnut, Maple Burl… the list goes on. Oh, and these aren’t 2x4s either. Most of the wood is in large thicknesses and lengths, upwards of 16ft. When I look at some of the wood in the pictures, it makes me want to ditch the day job and make furniture.

If you are a woodworker or just want to see some wood porn, check out both Descending Ashtray and Urban Hardwood Recovery.