Walnut Prices Going Up?

This week the woodworking world received some devastating news. Pennsylvania, one of the regions largest hardwood sources, restricted the movement of walnut into and throughout the state.

Why? Thousand Cankers Disease.

Thousand Cankers Disease is carried by Walnut Twig Beetles. They burrow under the bark of walnut trees and leave behind a fungus. As more and more beetles infect the tree, it impedes the tree's ability to process nutrients and it starves. Once infected with this fungus, a walnut tree can die within ten years.As of now, there is no known cure.

So what does this mean for consumers? As with everything else, when supply goes down, prices go up. Woodworkers will need to be aware of what walnut is available and alternatives they can offer their clients due to the increased pricing.

From the looks of things, it will be a long road ahead. All we can do is hope they find a cure soon and we do not loose all Pennsylvania walnut.

http://woodworkingnetwork.com/Thousand-Cankers-Disease-in-Pennsylvania-Trees/2011-08-12/Article.aspx?oid=1334693

http://woodworkingnetwork.com/Walnut-lumber-transport-banned-by-Pennsylvania/2011-08-14/NewsArticle.aspx?oid=1334710&fid=WWN-INDUSTRY-NEWS&aid=2155

Factory of the Future?

It seems that everywhere you look today everyone is talking about lean manufacturing. The concept is not new, really. I mean people in every industry have been trying to find better, more efficient, ways of doing things since time began. It's just the way of things.

Competition is also not a recent development. There has always been someone out there who will make whatever it is you do for less or faster or better than you. It's just the nature of the beast.

What I find mind boggling is the way in which the woodworking industry is responding to said competition.

I was reading an article this morning over at CabinetMaker/FDM.com titled What's the furniture factory of the future look like? Surprise, surprise, it was talking about the need for furniture manufacturers to be efficient in order to compete in the global market. "To compete globally, U.S. producers must strip their existing plants to the floor and install newer means of building furniture that will satisfy their customers."

Now, I have no problems with efficient building. My husband is a 'yankee', which means he uses every scrap of wood he can before he's forced to call it waste. Most of the wood that ends up in our scrap pile is less than an inch wide and the thickness of shims. There's not a whole lot you can do with that other than use it as kindling. Even our sawdust gets reused by either local farmers as bedding for their animals or as mulch in our garden.

The question, however, becomes... How lean is too lean?

The article goes on to say, "This operation can build semi-custom, upper-medium priced wood furniture for consumers who demand a wide selection of style, configuration, species, and finish." My question is, where are the craftsman? Where are the people who, for years, to learn their craft, to perfect it?

Unfortunately, this is something as a woodworker's wife I see all too often. Skill and quality are pushed aside for price and speed. The end product is only as good as the person behind it. Where is the pride?

That is one thing I never have to worry about with anything my husband builds. Every piece is important to him. If something goes wrong, he takes it personally. He inspects every board of wood that comes into his shop and finds the best use for it. Machines alone can't do this. We need quality people behind them.

Maybe if we focused on quality verses quantity, the industry as a whole would be better.  

Certification, Does it matter?

This week in my inbox, I received a notification from Modern Woodworking that Cabinet Makers Group is lunching a 'certification program' for woodworkers. For years it has been obvious that there is--as they put it--a 'gaping hole' in the industry, and it's true.

Years ago, if you wanted to become a cabinetmaker/woodworker, you found a master in the craft and you requested an apprenticeship. This was not easy work. You were basically there to me a gopher and to do the grunt work, whatever the master cabinetmaker wanted you to do. This position was usually unpaid with only room and board being provided.

As the time and often years would go on, the apprentice would take on more responsibility and be allowed more tasks that required greater and greater skill. Once the master felt the apprentice had learned all the basic skills needed for the craft, he would release him from his apprenticeship and send him out into the world.

The newly released apprentice has now earned the right and position of a journeyman and is free and qualified to seek paying work as a cabinetmaker. Journeymen would travel around, usually hiring on under another master cabinetmaker where he would continue to hone his skills. They didn't tend to stay in one place for extended periods of time, which only farther explains their title. The goal was to work under several masters and learn from them, to blend skill and knowledge.

Once a journeyman felt he could learn all he could by working under another master, he would find a location to set up his own shop. An apprentice was typically taken on and the journeyman now becomes the master starting the cycle over again.

This process no longer happens today.

Today, most woodworkers are self taught. They either have an interest in it, so they buy some tools and do a little research to get started, or, they get hired on at a shop and learn as they go. Now, you may not be thinking this second option sounds much different than how things used to be, right?

Wrong. It is very different. Remember what I said about most of the woodworkers today were self taught? This means that there are very few masters to do the teaching. What ends up happening is fellow workers, usually not much more skilled than the new addition, try and teach. All they know are the basics, so that is what gets past on. When a situation arises that doesn't fit the specific skills they've learned, they are lost.

So back to the certification Cabinet Maker group is offering. This is a section from their e-mail describing their program.  

"he CMA’s program requires testing in major areas of business operations, and classroom instruction will be offered. All participants in the program will begin with a business ethics session, then enrollees will move into basic certification curriculum, according to CMA.
The basic level graduate will exhibit advanced knowledge in business management, machinery, wood physics, design, finishing, safety education and the basics of measuring, CMA executives said.
Master level graduates will show expert knowledge in at least seven of the following areas:

• Tools
•  Portable Power Tools
• Machinery (Master Level)
• Shop Drawings/Design Drawings
• Software
• CNC Machinery
• Marketing
• Lean Manufacturing
• Finance & Computer Assisted Bookkeeping
• Shop/Job Site Safety
• Green Manufacturing

Once an enrollee has passed required testing, they will also be interviewed face to face by the CMA Certification Board before being conferred their certification. Certified individuals will be authorized to add their professional designation to their name, which include a three-letter acronym (CCM=Certified Cabinet Maker, CCW=Certified Custom Woodworker, MCM=Master Cabinet Maker, MCW=Master Custom Woodworker)."
http://www.modernwoodworking.com/blog-details/cabinet-makers-group/3545


Now, I have no problem with this really. I think it is definitely a step in the right direction. But there is only so much one can learn on-line in a craft that is very hands on. As an industry, we need to find a way to fix this problem and not loose the knowledge and skills that have been passed down through the centuries.