Trade woes

The international wood trade is getting weird. Turns out we in the US get a lot of material from Canada. And, it looks like wood demand is down. In short, materials are getting a little inconsistent. More and more material is being made with MDF cores. And that simply isn’t rugged and adventurous.

Why ply?

I’ve always used a laminated material. I could use solid cedar. It doesn’t really cost much different. But, soft cedar isn’t really known for its durability. It snaps. Even a couple of laminated side really stabilized the whole product. Less warping. No snapping. Generally, the more cross-laminated section, the stronger the material is.

Now, was the time to act.

I don’t know if you’ve looked into MDF, but it’s not great. You ever touch that type of plywood that turns all soft and spongy when it gets a little wet? It just sawdust and glue. No grain to speak of. At some point, that’s the only material I could find with the nice pretty cedar face. And, to be frank with y’all, I wasn’t going to buy the cheap stuff because that’s what was in stock.

Talking with some suppliers, I tracked down a crew that was especially happy to lay up a some custom material for me. With orders down from the construction side of business, I was able to put in an order of some 7-ply. For me, that was the absolute dream material. There’s a ton of stabilization going in different directions, and it’s not just filler material glued together.

It wasn’t cheap, but I wasn’t going to let supply inconsistency force me into selling a bad product. I ordered in what should be the next year’s supply of wood so we don’t have to worry about tariffs, supply or demand.

Best of all: I don’t even need to raise my prices to you. The margins might be a bit tighter for me, but I truly believe I’ve got the best product at the right price.

check them out here