Boise Wood Products is permanently closing its sawmill and planer mill in White City, Ore. The company cited expensive ponderosa pine log supply due to difficult access and transportation costs. The closure will leave Boise with three plants in White City: a laminated veneer lumber and structural I-joists mill, plywood plant and a veneer mill, as well as its Medford plywood plant.

“Bill Carden is a leader, he stands above many others in the industry in his quest for excellence in every aspect of his business and his life. He is a true gentleman and exhibits great respect for others, yet has the ability to extract the best from himself and each member of his team and those of us who have worked with him.” Those are the words used by Jeff Franklin, President of Yield Strategies Inc., to describe Bill Carden, 67, recently retired President and CEO of Potomac Supply Corp.

Jim Quinn, a former Timber Processing magazine Man of the Year while with Collins Companies, will deliver a keynote talk during the Wood Technology Clinic & Show to be held March 12-14 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Quinn is currently a Member Manager (co-owner) of Hawaii Island Hardwoods LLC, a startup company that is focusing on manufacturing and marketing high value hardwood lumber products from locally grown species.

While Canada may have taught Finland a thing or two about getting to the puck first, there is no doubt that Canada can learn more than a few things from this Nordic nation of just over 5 million when it comes to another mutual passion—sawmilling. Our sawmill tour last year was hosted by the Veisto Group, HewSaw Machine’s parent company. The well-oiled event saw Canadian and U.S. sawmillers touring eight modern sawmills and a couple of reman plants in southern Finland.

As an engineer, I did an unusual thing. I actually took a year of Philosophy in college. Hope I don’t lose too many friends, but I liked it, although I certainly didn’t get A’s. In philosophy, a discussion of ways to solve a problem is referred to as an argument. My wife feels most of our problem solving discussions are arguments, but I think she has a different connotation. As a consultant I run into the same “connotation” with clients on some of the studies I’ve done.

Coe Newnes McGehee’s Linear High Grader (LHG) will be grading bug kill lumber on more West Fraser Mills’ planer mill lines in 2008. The LHG automated grading system detects and classifies characteristics such as size, wane, skip, planed bark, knots, stain, splits and shake, pith location, moisture content, strength and more. The LHG’s performance grading bug kill lumber was initially proven in operation at West Fraser’s Fraser Lake, BC division.

Available from Cut Technologies Machinery, the REC-14 is an Automatic Double-Headed Guide Dresser for dressing saw guides. Manufactured by RecScie-Tech, the dressing is accomplished by diamond or carbide inserts mounted on an adjustable chuck. There are 6, 8, 10 or 12 cutters available for varying finish. This machine out-performs all others in speed and accuracy. The REC-14 is the next generation of saw guide dressing and essential for any filing room.