• About
  • Store
  • Classes + Plans
  • Student Builds
  • Boats for Sale
    • Used Boats for Sale
    • Custom Boats
  • Kayaks
    • F1
    • F2
    • LPB
    • West Greenland
    • East Greenland
    • Why Build with Us?
    • Choosing a Kayak
    • Choosing a Color
    • Details
  • Canoes
  • Contact
  • MORE...
    • Adirondack Guide Boat
    • Delaware Ducker
    • Off-grid homestead
    • Feedback
    • Terrestrial creations
Cape Falcon Kayak
Connect with us

Where our wood comes from

3/27/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture

Picture
As both a woodworker and an environmentalist,  it can sometimes be difficult to reconcile how I make my living with the harm it causes a dwindling resource.   In the case of the oak I use to make kayak coamings and ribs,  it's estimated that 99% of the oak savannah that once blanketed the Willamette valley is now gone.   Some people accept this as inevitable, and some people,  like my friend Ben Deumling of Zena Forest Products are working to make things better.

Picture
Originally belonging to a German-born sustainable forester, in the mid 1980's Ben's family purchased the 1300 acres he sustainably manages in the Eola Hills.   Ben started Zena Forest Products in 2007 at age 25.  He wanted to find a better outlet for the logs from the Zena forest then the big industrial sawmills where prices were low and good management practices were not appreciated or rewarded.

Picture
As a wood junkie,  it's a pleasure to visit Ben's operation every year and enjoy the process of selecting and cutting the oak for my kayaks guilt free.  As sawyer, salvager, and micro-logger myself,  I'm envious of Ben's mechanical aptitude and I'm always interested in the old machinery that Ben rescues and rebuilds.   This small mill with it's labyrinth of gears and pulleys is called a Mobile Dimension and is one of the most ingenious little sawmills I've ever seen.   

Picture
The jealousy doesn't stop there though,  Bens large electric bandsaw mill slices easily through the hard white oak.   Definitely a step up from my 084 stihl chain saw!


Working together we carefully select the very best cuts to make into bending stock.  



Picture
Nothing is wasted here,  off-cuts will be resawn, dried, planed, and milled into FSC-certified white oak flooring,  which Zena produces more of than anything.   Maple, fir, oak, or walnut, when a log is truly exceptional, Ben will cut and dry specialty lumber and slabs as well.  

Truck loaded with more oak than is probably a good idea for a 1/4 ton pickup I head back home to fire up my own saw and planer, the next step in the journey from forest to kayak.

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Brian Schulz

    An avid paddler, builder, and teacher, I'm passionate about sharing the strength, lightweight, and beauty of skin-on-frame boat building.

    Categories

    All
    Adventures
    Classes
    Tips And Information
    Updates

    Archives

    February 2020
    January 2019
    August 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    March 2016
    July 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    August 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    December 2009
    October 2008
    August 2008
    August 2007
    June 2007
    May 2007
    January 2007
    December 2006
    July 2006

    RSS Feed

Picture






Custom skin-on-frame kayaks and canoes offered as plans, kits, and video courses.





SITE HOME    |    ABOUT   |    UPDATES   |    PLANS & KITS    |   STORE   |   CUSTOM BOATS    |   CONTACT