"News from the Horizon"
Summer 2013 - Vol 5, Issue 3
|
|
|
Item of the Month
August 2013
| |
Walnut and Cherry
Crotch Sets
Nice Widths, Good Thickness, Fascinating Figure,
Great Book Matching
 Close up of classic feathering above, a beautiful book match below.
This is a large collection of top quality crotch material. Perfect for a paneled walls or a large set of period furniture. There are some spectacular pieces with nice widths that could be used for show panels, and the rest could be drawer fronts. Tons of options. Take a look.
|
|
|
First cuts from the Sawyer's Booth ....
how HORIZON's sawyer views the personalities of species
| |
Dealing with wood can be as interesting as dealing with people. Each species has its own unique personality. Birds Eye Maple is a bugger to plane; Cherry is dreamlike to cut and shape; Oak is hard, dense and solid enough to make your hammer take an extra bounce; Elm is prone to fuzzing like a bad hair day; Hard Maple requires a sharp tool.
We are sure you have your own thoughts and ideas gleaned from your workshops and band saws. Here is an inside look at how a few different species present their personalities to HORIZON's
head sawyer, Jody Brian. Jody masterfully controls our 41 ft circumference band saw with it's 6 foot wheels and 9 tons of tension; a little bit more steel than in a shop delta resaw, or even an old Tannewitz. But, the experiences of passing a 36" log by a 12" wide blade does have its similarities to passing a 12" wide board by a 2" wide blade. How does Jody's take on working the different species compare with yours?
White Oak: Very abrasive. This is tough stuff and it is hard on the saw blades. We typically change our blades twice a day, but when White Oak is on deck we have to make the switch twice as often. Due to the growth style of the tree, White Oak logs are the most tapered of all we handle and as a result it produces a lot of short boards. All this ends up in lots of extra handling required in the mill.
Walnut: Dark and beautiful but often loaded with metal. Walnut trees typically grow in pastures and fields, and are perfect supports for fences, gates and tree house staircases. We have found endless staples, insulators, eye bolts, nails and barbed wire grown into the tree itself. We are wary of walnut because the metal can really play havoc with our saw blades. The wood is run through a metal detector prior to sawing, but even so we can get surprised. Extra sharpening of blades, extra coddling of logs. In addition, the sapwood of walnut can vary form 1/8" to 3" in width. The sharp contrast between sap and heart is very noticeable but can be mellowed or made invisible with steaming. If the sap is not utilized, lots of wood is wasted.... Not something we like to have happen.
Read on for more impressions, coming up: Cherry, Red Oak, Ash, Sassafras and Red Elm........ give it a click
.
|
|
|
|
An Educated Workforce keeps HORIZON on Top of the Game
our employees and our products are enhanced with NHLA lumber inspection training
|
At HORIZON we are proud of our wood. We are also proud of our workforce. We realize part of the reason we are able to produce such special material is that our crew appreciates wood and understands it. Yes, it's true, the better the workers, the better the wood.
We are happy to enhance our workforce's wood-related knowledge by sponsoring their lumber inspection education through the National Hardwood Lumber Association. NHLA is the group that sets the standards  for measuring and grading hardwoods. Since 1948 their Memphis school has been the go-to place to get a lumber inspector's certification. Additionally, short courses are offered throughout the country for a basic, thorough understanding of the rules guiding the grading process.
One of our edger/trimmer operators, Ray Sorg, recently completed an NHLA grading Short Course. His increased understanding of how hardwoods are evaluated and measured provides a win/win/win for his career development, for HORIZON's production and for our customers' opportunity to get their hands on some really special stuff.
Next in line; Cody Woelfel. Cody started here as one of our 
high school "clean-up kids". Now a recent HS grad, he has chosen to take his education a step further by enrolling in the inspector training school at the NHLA Memphis program. He is excited to be venturing away from his home base in Elk County to spend 3 months in Memphis beginning in September. He looks at this as a good opportunity to expand upon his interest in wood while he broadens his career opportunities. As he waits for his departure to Memphis, he has been soaking up as much preliminary knowledge as possible. One of HORIZON's in-house graders has been mentoring Cody so he is already familiar with shake, wane and pith... all good examples of just a few of the things our HORIZON staff is on the constant alert for as our material passes through their hands and before their eyes.
|
|
Caring and Sharing
.... it's what we do at HORIZON
|
Life in rural PA is permeated with a strong sense of community. We like it that way. Lending a helping hand comes naturally. So, it wasn't hard for us to figure out what to do  with the growing collection of odd bundles that were starting to clog up our warehouse and create logistical headaches for inventory tracking.
Just a quick five miles down the road is Elkwood Arts, a day program that provides a safe and nurturing environment for Intellectually Disabled adults. Elkwood's "sheltered workshop" provides their participants an opportunity to earn both a sense of self-worth and also a paycheck. Clients sand, glue, clamp, drill, apply finishes and package shipments as they help create beautiful hand crafted wooden items. Check 'em out, Nice stuff.
Tightening budget disbursements have really pinched all non-profits, Elkwood included. HORIZON was pleased to help them ease the budgetary pain by donating over 9000 bf of American Hardwoods to replenish their stockroom shelves . That's a whole lot of material.
A hat tip goes to Randy Bellotti of Bellotti Trucking, Inc
(shown here with Dan Terbovich). Randy contributed to
the bounty bestowed upon Elkwood. All we had to  do was ask, and Randy had a truck ready and waiting to move the tractor trailer load of wood from HORIZON to Elkwood. And to make the deal even sweeter, Charlie Jaques from Advantage Sales provided a forklift and driver to help his next door neighbor, Elkwood, unload the goods. We were happy to be able to orchestrate this gift to a very worthy part of what makes Elk County PA a good place to live. Best wishes to Elkwood Arts! And thanks to Bellotti Trucking and Advantage Sales for helping to make it all work. Good neighbors, good friends.
 
|
|
We are still tweeting
 
|
Newsbrief Archives
| | Interested in seeing what we have published in the past????
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
