Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Edensaw Woods


The year was 1984, gas was a meager dollar ten a gallon and Louisiana was hosting a Worlds Fair, (yeah I didn't remember that either).

Steve Jobs was busy releasing the first Apple Macintosh, a clunky looking cream colored box that was destined to change the way our world operates.
The Ghostbusters made their big screed debut, and President Reagan couldn't help but salute.

While all of this was going on Jim "Kiwi" Ferris and Charlie Moore were starting Edensaw Woods in Jim's Driveway with a bunch of blue tarps and a used truck.
(Charlie left and Kiwi right.)

From these beginnings Kiwi and Charlie never stopped growing. Soon the Tarps were replaced by a warehouse and the used J.C. Penny truck was replaced with a big rig and staff driver. Soon enough Edensaw Woods added a warehouse in Tacoma to hold among other things a huge selection of veneers.


So what does it all matter? Why am I talking about them on my blog? It's a simple matter of: if it's wood you need, it's wood they have. For example lets say you want a 14"x 20" Purpleheart timber, and want it legally harvested under the Forest Management Guidelines supplied by the Guyana Forestry Commission?? Yeah they have that.

I hooked up with Kiwi a few days ago to take a look around and get a better sense of where I've been getting all the wood for my projects.

We started in the warehouse. It's huge, really huge. Piles and piles of domestic and exotic wood neatly sawed and stickered awaiting  a second life in boats, buildings, furniture, instruments, and cabinets.



It is impressive. In fact it's really hard to take in. There is wood in here from all over the world. They even stock flitches with rough edges.








As we wandered through the rows and rows of wood we came to their selection of panel products. Once again this place isn't your usual local lumber yard. Shelves are stacked high with choices well beyond the usual. Not only do they have marine grade in a variety of thicknesses, they have several different types of marine grade panels. 




From there we headed to the mill room to have a look at some of their equipment. They can mill up just about anything custom in house, flooring to handrails.




They have a Extrema double sided planer, very chic. 

Also in the arsenal is a laser guided rip saw for putting a clean strait edge on their products, their original planer and re-saw band saw as well as a bad ass thickness sander.




Next stop on the tour the big on-site mill. This guy is used to re-saw much of the local timber they process for sale.

Finally, we ended up in the showroom. Here you can find a decent representation of what's in the warehouse just cleaned up. Also in the showroom are smaller cuts of wood for craft projects and wood turning.



Not only do they stock this ridiculous amount of wood they have the North West's largest selection of wood veneers, and they ship all over the world.

As if all this wasn't enough here is why I really love this place. They support some amazing projects around the community like...

The Schooner Adventuress,

The Community Boat Project,


and the Edensaw Community Cancer Foundation. The foundation was established in 2006 founded by the employers and employees of Edensaw Woods, LTD. Their goal is to raise funds locally to help individuals and their families in East Jefferson County who are affected by the diagnosis of cancer. Nearly all of Edensaw's employees donate to the ECCF. Edensaw Woods picks up all overhead costs, which allows 100% of their fundraising to go towards their cause.

As i said before if its wood your looking for you can find it at Edensaw Woods. Check them out on the Web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or if your in the area,
211 Seton Rd 
Port Townsend Wa, 98368.
(360) 385-7878

Cheers
Stuber

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