We read of all of the restrictions of logging in the USA but there is a lot of logging and wood being processed over here. We recently had a road trip north up the California coast to Oregon and had an overnight stop in Coos Bay. Every few minutes on the road we saw trucks taking newly felled trunks to the nearby sawmills. From the hotel window overlooking the river we could see this mountain of sawdust and wood chippings. Most of it came from plants that were milling new growth timber for the construction industry. The sawdust plant was receiving full trucks size containers of sawdust from the local mills and lifting them 20 feet in the air to tip them into a giant sawdust hopper from where it was picked up and sprayed over this gigantic sawdust mountain to make it even bigger. This sawdust is then pumped into ships, taken to China and returned to the USA as various forms of chip board. So one week's felling provide the basic timber for the framing of new construction and the sawdust/chippings from timber milled a few months earlier provide the chipboard paneling. Except for old growth hardwoods which take hundreds of years to grow, wood is a very sustainable material.

The last 2 meetings have been field trips to a wood supplier and very high end woodworking company's workshop. Our August meeting is back to our regular home in Foster City. As you will have read in our newsletter the next meeting will feature a session on one of the most basic skills needed for our passion but one, we never seem to know enough about, tool sharpening. We will also have our Agony Aunt session where you can ask questions on you problem of the moment and receive the, sometimes very professional advice, of our membership.

This is a good time for any of you who are not yet members to come to one of our meeting and enjoy the experience of being in a group who seem to do nothing but spend a few hours talking about wood, tools and what you can do with them. If you are a member who has not been to a meeting for a few months you should come along or if you have a friend who may have some interest in woodworking then invite them to come to the meeting. Everyone is welcome.

So I hope to see you and some new members there.