sources for sitka panels ? north hudson?Anybody????

[Chris Gregg]

Del,
	A number of years ago I bought some excellent musical grade quarter sawn
Sitka Spruce from Western Aircraft supply.  This guy is very secretive
about where he gets the wood from, but I do believe he has a source in B.C.
 He supplies this wood for the homebuilt and experimental aircraft industry
all over the world.  He is very particular over the quality of his wood, I
have seen him send a whole shipment back to the source because he was not
happy with it.   About five years ago it was costing me about 300.00 CAN
for the wood for a board.  I would give him him a pattern and he would saw
the wood and match the panels ready for gluing.  Definetely the nicest tone
Sitka that I have seen.  You can tap a panel and hear it sing.  Violin
makers love this stuff. The guys name is Jean and the phone number is 403
250 1955.  I have not been in touch with him in a while, so I cannot say
what his present situation is like.  Maybe there is a similar outfit to
this in your neck of the woods.
Chris   
At 10:11 PM 1/17/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Erwinpiano" <Erwinpiano@email.msn.com>
>To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Sent: January 17, 2001 7:08 PM
>Subject: Re: sources for sitka panels ? north hudson?Anybody????
>
>
>> Hi David
>> It wouldn,t surprise me to know that all the best AMERICAN grown sitka is
>> being sold to the not necessarily highest bidder but the one who has the
>> biggest boats, cash on hand and demand.We all know that big business must
>> have big contracts to survive.That being said I think our esteemed
>> politicians should be lobbied to pass a law outlawing the wholesle export
>of
>> one particular spiecies of tree without providing citizens the oppurtunity
>> to purchase some ( namely me!)You know some kind of hold back or
>........And
>> the law should also prevent spruce abuse ,cement forms  for crying
>> outloud!So you see DELS not the only one who can RANT!DOES ANYBODY KNOW
>> WHERE I CAN BUY SOME SPRUCE!!!I,m done for now.Dale Erwin
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To the best of my knowledge there is no more commercially available Sitka
>spruce of musical instrument grade that is grown in the continental US.
>There are still a few stands of Sitka spruce, but they are young and not
>grown in a manner that will result in the type of wood we are used to
>seeing. They are grown 'plantation style' as a mono-culture as opposed to
>having been part of an old-growth forest ecosystem. Even if they are allowed
>to grow to an old age the quality of wood will not be what we want. They
>will have very loose grain as a result of being grown very rapidly. When a
>Sitka spruce receives lots of light and water and has good space to grow, it
>grows like a weed.
>
>The Sitka spruce wood we have grown to love -- and expected to last
>forever -- over the years came from trees that had to struggle some for
>their existence. They were part of a delicately balanced ecosystem that
>simultaneously nourished them and retarded their growth rate -- hence their
>tight, even grain. Because of its intermingling within the old-growth forest
>ecosystem these trees were protected from fire, high winds, insect
>infestation and the various blights and diseases that otherwise attack them.
>They were also shielded from much of the already limited sunlight by a thick
>year-round forest canopy. They were thus able to grow slowly and steadily to
>enormous heights and girths over several hundreds of years. No attempt is
>being made by anyone to provide this kind of ecosystem any longer. Indeed,
>there are still many who would willingly destroy what little old-growth rain
>forest still exists. Already emboldened by cabinet appointments being made
>by the incoming Bush administration there is talk of trying to open up some
>of the remaining stands of old-growth forest to commercial logging.
>
>The North American temperate rain forest was an eco-system unique to the
>world and today all but slightly less than 11% of the original forest has
>been destroyed. And even this is in danger. The old-growth forest is such a
>delicately balanced system, and so much of it has been destroyed, it is now
>questionable as to whether there is enough forest mass left to ensure
>sustainability even if no more old-growth logging is done -- ever.
>
>The Sitka spruce we are getting now is coming from the coastal regions of
>Canada -- where they are still cutting trees of any species, type and age as
>rapidly as possible to support BC's general budget -- and Alaska. They are
>coming out individually as they are found. Because of the extremely high
>price reasonable -- not great, just reasonable -- quality old-growth Sitka
>spruce now commands, less is being wasted and much of it is ending up at
>specialty wood processors such as Fred Tebb & Sons (206.272-4107) and NW
>Specialty Woods (360.482-6724). (To the best of my knowledge, neither uses
>E.mail or has a web site.)
>
>Tebb's supplies just raw lumber, bandsawn to thickness, roughly graded (but
>not selected for color or grain density) and either kiln dried or not. NW
>Specialty Woods is run by some of the old Posey people (ask for Frank
>Johnson and tell him I sent you) and supplies both lumber and glued up
>soundboard panels. Since we make up our own panels I've not looked at any of
>the recent NWSW product, so you're on your own. But they do have a good,
>long history. Both charge about the same amount and both are very expensive.
>
>Del
>Delwin D Fandrich
>Piano Designer & Builder
>Hoquiam, Washington  USA
>E.mail:  pianobuilders@olynet.com
>Web Site:  http://pianobuilders.olynet.com/
>
>
>
 http://www.cadvision.com/cgregg