S3S Walnut & 5/4 Birdseye Maple

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In our most popular species: Ash, Birch, Cherry and Maple, we maintain an inventory of S4S, S3S and rough lumber.

Rough lumber is wood that has come straight from the sawmill after drying. These boards have been no more processed than simply being cut into planks from the tree originally felled by the logger. Depending on the age, condition and the needs of the marketplace, these boards will be produced in a variety of thicknesses, widths and lengths. Rough lumber thickness is typically measured in increments of 1/4 of an inch. The smallest width available in rough lumber is typically 4/4 or 1 inch thick, and can range to 16/4 and beyond. Standard widths range from 3 to 12 inches. However, Northend Hardwoods often stocks extra wide boards ranging from 12 to 40 inches wide in different species including Pine, Fir and Redwood. Typical rough lumber lengths range from 6′ to 10′ and are often marked on the butt end of the log. Depending on availability, Northend Hardwoods stocks a selection of extra long planks, 12′ and greater.

S3S and S4S are abbreviations for the terms “Surfaced Three Sides” and “Surfaced Four Sides.” When a board is “Surfaced” that means it has been milled through a joiner or planer. For the sake of this term, these two machines perform the same action: making the face of the board smooth. When rough lumber arrives to Northend Hardwoods, the outer layer of the boards are weathered, marked and still display the saw marks from their first milling. Once surfaced, the boards look and feel smooth and the grain and figure of each piece becomes apparent. In the case of S3S, both faces of the width of the board have been planed down as well as one side of the thickness. On an S4S board, all four sides have been planed and are square to each other.

We’ve produced a little graphic to help you understand the products and included a couple photos here so you can see how the lumber is typically measured and labeled in the storage stacks.

Plain Sawing:
The most simple method for milling a log into planks, plain sawing, involves making a series of parallel cuts through the log. This method is quick and leaves the least amount of waste. Because of the directional tension across the grain as the wood dries, ages and wears, flat sawn boards can be subject to cupping, twisting and bowing. Often, dry boards will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and will become distorted. Plain sawn lumber has a large variety of appearances based on the angle of the growth rings relative to the surface of the board. Often, these rings can be nearly parallel to the board, creating large, open patterns. When the angle of the growth rings nears perpendicular to the surface of the board, there are tighter stripes across the face of the plank.

Quarter Sawing:
To create quarter sawn lumber, the log is first cut radially into four quarters. Once quartered, there are two different ways in which boards are extracted from the log as shown in the photo below. The upper method is more complex and labor intensive, but leaves far less waste from the log. The method on the right hand side can be executed quickly, simply plain sawing the quartered log. However, this technique leaves large amounts of waste wood. In a quarter sawn board, the growth rings of the tree are closer to perpendicular to the surface of the board than in most plain sawn boards. In certain species of wood, most notably Oak,  this creates a beautiful visual effect. We stumbled upon this great blog post on quarter sawn oak. These boards are more stable than plain sawn, being less susceptible to distortion that comes with expansion and contraction from absorbing and releasing atmostpheric moisture. Stable quarter sawn lumber is often recommended for flooring in high moisture, high traffic areas like restaurants, bars and home kitchens.

Rift Sawing:
The most stable boards, and also the most wasteful to produce, are rift sawn planks. Each of these boards is cut radially perpendicular to the growth rings of the tree. There are large triangles of waste left from between each board. As a result, rift sawn lumber is costly to produce and therefore, the most expensive type of planks available from a log.

Installation and finishing were completed by the team at our sister company, Pin Oak.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or ideas you may have about your custom molding or flooring project.

The method used to originally harvest vast tracts of Redwood forest at the end of the 19th century left large stumps and burls sitting on the ground. Loggers stood on spring boards and felled the Redwoods and Western Red Cedar from a height of up to 12 feet from the base of the roots. At that time the demand in the marketplace called for long, straight grained Redwood. The process of stumping and milling the base of the tree was not economical. These Redwood burls and stumps were abandoned where they had grown.

Now, a century later, this highly figured Redwood is being selectively unearthed and milled. Northend Hardwoods is privileged to bring back some of the finest and impressive Redwood slabs and burls to the East Coast and supply a variety of sculptors, woodworkers, architects and contractors with this unique and storied lumber.

Our stock of Redwood tops, blocks and burls are constantly changing. Please contact us for more information about any particular piece or to discuss sourcing Redwood slabs or burls for your specific needs.

How and when did you begin crafting wooden boats?

I only started in 2004.  My wife and I were almost done building our house and wanted to buy some kayaks.  We didn’t like the prices and quality we saw for the composite boats that were available. Her grandmother’s husband had built a few cedar-strip canoes so I wondered if a kayak could be made using a similar method. Sure enough: Nick Schade from Guillemot Kayak had a book out detailing how to build a wooden-cored fiberglass kayak.  I built one from his book (my Guillemot). It was so much lighter, stronger and just plain prettier than a comparable fiberglass boat.  It was cheaper too!

I went to the University of New Hampshire for civil engineering. As part of the program we had to take a class from a cross-field. I chose naval architecture. That education gave me the confidence to modifying the design for Christine’s QOMH boat.

People saw our boats and asked us if we made them commercially. In 2005 I launched the website, made the Kasco as a spec-boat and put it up for sale. It was displayed at various local retailers including LL Cote’s in Errol, Great Glen Trails at the Mt Washington Auto Road, and Saco Bound in Conway. It ended up being sold to a customer in New York state.

The company didn’t take off until the spring of 2007. I received an e-mail from a customer in Connecticut asking me to build him a Greenland-style boat called the “Black Pearl.” It’s by a Swedish designer. During the building of that boat I started my blog, showing the kayak at various stages of construction. I was asked to build 2 more Black Pearls and a canoe that year.

How do you select which woods you will use on each?

The beauty of modern boat construction is that you can use virtually any wood. I do try and use locally grown woods if possible. The wood only serves as the core of the structure. Most of the strength and stiffness come from the inner and outer fiberglass skins. When a light weight boat is specified, I generally like to use northern white cedar as my core material. It’s very light in weight, easy to work with and is a native species. When weight isn’t a major factor, I can play around with other woods and use their unique colors and grains to the best advantage. Hardwoods such as ash, cherry and walnut are usually used in high stress/impact areas such as the cockpit coaming (rim) and to reinforce the stems. One of my signatures is to use a maple/cherry/walnut accent. Virtually any wood can be used.

Are there specific species or plywoods that you prefer/work best for your projects?

Okoume marine plywood (Lloyds BS 1088 spec) is the number one wood for small boat building. It is used by virtually every maker of kits and commercial boats. It is fairly light in weight, has waterproof glue, no voids, and bends adequately. Other builders have used sapele and fir marine plywood. Some home builders use inexpensive luan but due to questionable void content, it should be avoided. I will not use luan for any boat.

How do you find your clients?

I’d say 85% of my clients find me through my website. It’s been quite amazing. It receives hits from across the world with most coming from the US and Europe. I do get some work from a local outfitting company called Saco Bound. They are based in Conway, New Hampshire. I started working with them early on and mostly get canoe repair work from them.

When did you start working with Northend Hardwoods?

I bought my first wood from Northend Hardwoods for the “Nereida” Njord project in November 2007. I harvest some of my lumber from our Millsfield property but naturally didn’t have any mahogany or black walnut! Before that I had bought my hardwood lumber from a supplier in the Southern part of New Hampshire. Northend Hardwoods is a smaller operation, but cheaper and MUCH closer! Custom orders are never an issue, even for a small-time builder like myself (1-3 boats a year… maybe).

What is important to you about your work and process?

I take pride in the fact that I’m a small company doing custom work. I only do this part-time. Every project is one of a kind and I work personally with every customer on very detail, no matter how minute. I don’t just build kayaks. I also build and restore canoes, other small boats, acoustic guitars, cabinetry and furniture.

We care about the environment: for every major boat or furniture projects, we will hand-plant saplings of native tree species at the Sweeney Farm in Millsfield, New Hampshire. Customers will get to pick the tree species they wish us to plant for their project. That fall we will plant them in a special area of the property. Call it being “carbon-neutral” (whatever…). It is simply our little way to give homage to the trees that provided the lumber for past projects.

We are proud of the furniture and boats that we build, and proud our Earth-friendly policies. We want to what we can so that our girls, Lena and Danielle, will be able to enjoy the environment as we have. We’re doing it for them.

This winter Clear Stream Fine Woodworking will introduce a line a carbon fiber kayak parts for home builders: everything from small recessed deck fittings, pad-eyes and toggles to complete cockpit coamings and recesses for hatches and compasses. They are also revamping their line of kayaks; adding more of their own designs, specializing in designs for kids and smaller paddlers (sub-150 pounds), and offering sub-$3000 painted custom sea kayaks and a line of cedar-cored carbon-fiber Greenland-style kayak paddles.

All photos in this post are of the Nereida Njord Project from 2007, courtesy of Clear Stream Fine Woodworking.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Longboarding is a type of skateboarding that is often compared to surfing on concrete. The length and flexibility of the plywood deck make the longboard ride smoothly and carve through turns beautifully. These boards are typically used for downhill riding, cruising and commuting.

We asked the guys to tell us about how they began to make their custom plywood longboards:  “this project came about 4 years ago when we started longboarding.  We were buying boards which were getting a bit pricey and we felt we needed a cheaper alternative.” They did some research online and found that Baltic Birch Plywood would give them the best strength and performance for the price. “Tucker took the initiative and built the first board.” He produced this first deck, a shorter version of one of his boards, in his basement woodshop. After this initial success, he began experimenting with new designs.

The first board that Jacob crafted was simply two pieces of birch laminated together with gorilla glue. He began to hear the board crack and realized that he needed to transition to a different type of glue, and began to use the Titebond III, a water resistant, professional woodworker’s grade glue that we stock in both Williston and Lyndonville.

The two have continued to innovate and now offer a dual concave laminated deck that offers greater carvability and strength.

There are more shots of the decks, videos and information on how to order at Tshaw Longboards. Northend Hardwoods is pleased to be able to provide them with the supplies they need to produce these quality decks.

Northend Hardwoods owner and sculptor David Tanych takes yearly trips to the West Coast to meet with loggers and hand-select impressive pieces of Reclaimed Redwood, Myrtle and Cedar. Our Western Red Cedar comes from salvaged stumps in Humboldt and Mendocino counties in California.

This piece of reclaimed Western Red Cedar was recently installed during a Vermont home renovation project. The 3″ thick piece was utilized to create a kitchen bar counter top. Originally cut from a single 14′ long board, the counter has been carved into the shape of Vermont. The simple oil finish beautifully highlights the rich color and character of this impressive piece of Cedar and adds warmth and stability to the room.

We have a selection of distinctive, reclaimed timber in stock at our Williston and Lyndonville, Vermont mill and retail locations which can be browsed online or in person.

Prompted by a discussion with an influential and helpful graduate professor, Joe, a hobbyist woodworker, offered to design and build a curio cabinet to display historical items related to Radiology. “The professor had collected quite a few radiology artifacts over his career; some dating back to the origins of radiology, over 100 years ago,” said Joe. “The building that he was storing the items went up for sale last year and he wanted to bring the items “home” to the radiology department here at UVM/Fletcher Allen.”

Joe laid out a spectrum of woods from White Oak to Teak, and the professor chose North American Walnut. Working nights and weekends between December 2009 and March of 2010, Joe was able to complete this beautiful piece.

“All the wood (solid walnut, walnut ply, and birch ply as a secondary on the interior of the base) came from Northend Hardwoods as did the glue. The joinery is mostly mortise/tenon, dado, and biscuit construction, so there are very few metal fasteners. The glass came from Riverside Glass (locally) and the brass-works and lights came from Rockler online. The finish is a satin poly for durability as the cabinet now sits in a public space.

The base of the cabinet has two large full extension drawers that serve as locked storage and the glass shelves up top are adjustable to accommodate varying sizes of the displayed items. Panels viewable from the front of the case are book-matched. The cabinet was built in two parts (base and glassed top) to allow for transport. Dimensions are 7 feet tall by 5 feet long and 2 feet deep.”

Joe added, “be sure to extend my thanks to Adam for all his help, advice, and patience as I was piecing this project together.”

The cabinet and artifacts are currently on display in the Radiology Department at Fletcher Allen in Burlington, VT.