Westwind Hardwood: Xmas Issue...

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Forest Facts:
	A piece of Newton’s apple tree was taken into space on NASA mission STS 132 (Shuttle Atlantis). The section of wood, taken from the original tree that inspired Newton to formulate his theory of gravitation, was released from the Royal Society’s archives and entrusted to NASA Astronaut Piers Sellers as part of the Society’s 350th anniversary year celebrations. Did you know that wood has other uses in space? White oak tiles performed as a heat shield on a Chinese recoverable satellite. Tiles develop an insulating layer of char which impedes the heat flow while entering Earth’s atmosphere. Balsa wood was used as a crushable impact attenuator to protect delicate components such as transmitters when spacecraft were deliberately crash-landed on the moon.

Quote of the Month:
	To us, our house…had a heart and soul. It was of us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benediction.

	Mark Twain

Happy Holidays from all of us at West Wind Hardwood!


Welcome Louise to the team & Happy Birthday John!
	Louise hails from the sunny shores of Brisbane, Australia. She’s taken up the reins at West Wind, tackling the website and marketing materials. Louise has spent the summer renovating a 1963 32” Grenfell with her partner in crime, James, and is looking forward to another summer on the now restored boat next year, traveling the Gulf Islands and beyond... and seeing the sun again!

	Happy Birthday 70th John from all the team here at West Wind! Now for a couple of words... Jan: He works very hard, he has no idle moment for that matter & he always has something positive to say. Happy Birthday John! & Lars: He's a very happy go lucky eager to please people person...and now he's 70! We're very lucky to have John on our team here at West Wind & we wish him all the best! Hope you & Phylis are enjoying the cruise!

Special on Maple Shorts!!!!

maple shorts on sale!

2" Maple 6' shorts
$3.50 bdft (were $4.50)
Email Lars at lars@westwindhardwood.com

ALSO White Oak Special – Green Lumber 3 ½” x 4 ½” x Random Lengths at $2.00 per bdft

And New to Us – Clear Yellow Cedar at $6.00 per bdft

Here are a couple of artists you should keep an eye out for or check out their websites!

Galen Mongeau is an artisan who makes his home in Errington, BC – on beautiful Vancouver Island. With an appreciation for the beauty of fine woods and simple hand tools, Galen strives to perfect his craft and to provide his clients with hand crafted pieces of furniture that exceed their expectations.

Check his website at http://www.galenmongeau.com/

Mahogany Cabinet by Galen Mongeau

turkey
Violin Doors & Yellow Cedar Chest

Design credit is given to Jeremy Humperville and Carving credit to Jarrett Humperville.

Paul Miller offers inspired joinery work. He has created a beautiful cabinet from spalted local maple and wenge. Notice the wonderful grain matching and mitres. It is for sale and you can contact Paul directly at paulm549@gmail.com

cabinets

Oops! Cabinet by Paul Miller

And the last of this newsletter's Island Artists is...

Keith McElwain’s version of a Renn Tolman 20’ standard Alaska skiff. Hull is per Tolman’s specs or a little over built in a couple places. The cabin is hopefully a cross between a Nexus Coho and a Calkins bartender.

best of the boats!

Keith McElwain's - Renn Tolman 20' Standard Alaska Skiff

Xmas Issue...

OK. I confess. I’m cheating and taking this month off. It’s a Merry Christmas to me. I must admit that I am astounded with the number of newsletters I have crafted since October 2005, and I am incredibly humbled by the number of followers... a number that continues to grow daily.

Thank you people!

In my last newsletter, I tendered a request for stories: Have a Species that Excites………tell us why?!
In response, I received this email from Fred.

I like Black Locust. It's an Acacia, I don't know the Latin name.

When Bob Wyche and I started the first class at Silva Bay Shipyard School on Gabriola Island (boatschool.com), Bob had some Black Locust in his shed. We used it for frames in the two Whitehall boats we built that year. I should say they used it. I was the office and paper guy. Bob and the students built the boats.

Black Locust is not native to BC. It was planted for shade and as a decorative tree by early settlers. It grows well and quickly here. It is as durable as Teak, and steam bends a well as Yew. It's dense and hold fastenings very well. Acacia is also a very decorative wood, both in colour and in grain pattern. Smaller branches and crooks make decorative/structural knees to brace corners and shelves.

When I discussed the possibility to plant and grow Black Locust with Merv Wilkinson at Wildwood years ago, Merv said the root structure spreads and interferes with other nearby trees, so it's best planted as single trees or rows in open spaces.

I would like to see this useful species planted and used here to supplement the supply of exotic hardwoods that West Wind brings us.

Fred Apstein
Victoria, BC

pining5

Happy Holidays from all of us at West Wind Hardwood!

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