Calling all woodworkers…..

Wightman Specialty Wood open house is only 2 weeks away, Saturday, Oct. 5^th.  We invite you to display your wood work. Entry form can now be down loaded from our web page. The open house banner is up; it’s a sure sign that the Wightman's Fall Family Festival is not far off. 

We are gearing up for our coming Fall Family Festival – Oct 5th

Join us on Sat. Oct. 5^th and be amazed at how much fun a block of wood, nails and rubber bands can be.

Mary Peterson has been hard at work prepping for our kids of all ages craft project. OWL – Oneonta World of Learning will be joining us to make the wood craft project for this year. It is very fun to make and even more fun to play with.

Fall Family Festival, 145 Cty. Hwy. 35A Portlandville, NY 9 am to 3 pm 

PDF Catalog

Fast, easy and convenient. You can now down load a PDF version of Wightman Specialty Wood’s catalog from our web page. 

Open House Sat. Oct, 5th

 Please plan to join us on Sat., Oct. 5, 2013 for our 20^th annual open house. We will have lots going on for the whole family:

• Mill Tours
• Live Music – Clune’s Tunes and Steppin Out Barbershop Quartet
• Great Food – Proceeds to benefit Ronald McDonald House of Albany
• A Live Radio Theater Production
• Kids Craft – Kid (of all ages) friendly wood working project with Oneonta World of Learning
• Speed Tracker Rides -Leather Stocking Railroad will be joining us and offering an opportunity to ride the rails.
• Woodworker show

 Please contact Cyndi Miller 607-286-9201 or logpro@wightmanlumber.com for details on showing your woodwork.

Please come join us for a day of fun this fall 9 am to 3pm!

Amazing Cherry

 Marino Zullich purchased rustic grade cherry boards which he had milled by Wightman Lumber’s mill shop to his specification. The homeowner then used this wood as cherry flooring allowing him to achieve his very own personalized look at his farm house, located in Walton, New York. Stunning!

We thank you Marino for sharing the photos of your work in process. 

Our forestry team brings extensive experience and expertise to the job.

Bob Williams stopped in and talked with Dan Wightman just after Wightman’s had purchased a tractor trailer about part time work. Part time lasted 2 weeks and Bob has been busy working full time driving the log truck for 13 years. Prior to working for Wightman’s Bob had 10 years of logging experience. 

Bob enjoys being on the road, seeing the country side and getting to meet many different people. In his spare time Bob enjoys singing as a member of Steppin Out, Barbershop Quartet and the Oneonta chapter of Midstatesman Chorus. Steppin Out will be performing at our annual open house on Oct. 5, 2013. Please plan to join us. 

Ben Williams has spent his adult life around logging and milling. After spending 10 years logging independently he joined Wightman’s starting out on the green chain (stacking lumber). He then moved in to the maintenance department, then to a logging crew. Around 5 years ago he returned mill to drive log trucks and do maintenance on the large trucks.

Ben tells me he enjoys being on the road and being outdoors. He does not mind the extreme weather conditions because he enjoys what he does so much. With 20 years experience he must love what he does.

The math:

Ben brings 20 years, Bob 23 years, Tom 14 years and Chris 18 years. A total year of experience for our forestry team is an amazing 75 years. Added this to the previously introduced employees we are now up to 330 years of experience. It is no wonder that Wightman Specialty Woods produces the top quality wood products!

Chris Burke handles the general organization of the forestry group’s daily activities by dispatching trucks, organizing rotary and veneer sales, working with land owners and loggers, and balancing supply verses production demands.

Chris brings a well rounded background of education and experience to the group. He graduated from SUNY Morrisville with a concentration in Natural Resource in 1995. A love of the outdoors and nature drew Chris into this line of work. Immediately following graduation Chris joined Wightman’s in the mill then on the logging crew.  10 years ago he became a full time forester.

Tom Foster brings education and experience to the group. Tom graduated from SUNY Ranger School in Wanakena, NY and SUNY Environmental Science in Forestry, Syracuse, NY. After graduation Tom worked for the US Forest Services, NYS Forest Inventory Services and Analysis and as a forester prior to joining our team 2 years ago. Combined he brings 14 years of work experience to the group.

Tom shares that he finds fulfillment in helping land owners reach their individual goals for their forest. Tom works with land owners to achieve individual goals such as improvement of wildlife habit, creating a healthy forest and maximize the financial return of the property. 

More to follow on forestry team. 

Lumberjack – a combination of two terms ‘lumber’ and ‘jack’. Jack being the term for the average Joe or working man. Lumber is a reference to the trade.

Lumberjill – was coined around the World War II era for women carrying out this task while men were at war.

Logger – term used for workers in the 21^st century after the invention of chainsaws and other modern logging equipment. 

Photo from New York State Wooodsmen's Field Day. http://www.starwebhosting.net/woodsmen/

WOODSMEN'S FIELD DAYS Boonville, NY Aug. 16 - 18

Log Procurement

Our process starts with the purchase of logs. At Wightman Specialty Woods we are committed to the protection and preservation of our environment and other natural resources. The tree harvesting and log delivery process is overseen by our Foresters, Chris Burke and Tom Foster.

Logs are procured in two ways.

1. Standing timber woodlots are purchased through competitive bidding. Then independent contracted loggers are hired to harvest the trees.
2. Logs from professional loggers are purchased road side and at our gate.

Stay tuned, we will be introducing our Forestry Team.

Rocking Chair Therapy –

Rocking regularly in a good rocker has the ability to calm the spirit, soothe a stressed body, focus the mind and gently exercising even the weakest of muscles.   

Rocker created by Daniel Zook from Wightman Specialty Woods' Red Oak. 

Art Spranger shares his long history with Wightman Lumber....

Sixty-one years ago Art Spranger came to Crumhorn Mountain for a two week vacation, met up with Charlie and Cy Wightman, and never went back to New Jersey.

Art started working with the 1^st generation Wightman brothers in 1952. He worked in the woods, the sawmill and on the farm doing whatever needed to be done. Art recalled that in the early years he helped out when the mill ran with only 2 men. He was cutting slabs off logs and turning them into firewood for sale.  From time to time he even assumed the role of babysitter for the young Dan and Dave Wightman.

Art left the mill in 1955 to serve our country with the US Air Force. In 1977 he returned to Wightman Lumber looking for work and was hired as a delivery person for 75 cents an hour. He tells me he has done just about everything you can imagine around the plant over the years. He takes pride in having maintained the dry kilns and never having a load returned for not being dry.

Art shared that his favorite memory over the years involved a horse named Mike. A local man owed the Wightmans some money so they loaned Mike, a draft horse, to the man to pull out logs to satisfy his debt. Art went to check on the logs and found Mike not being well cared for. He slid a rope around the horse’s neck and walked him home. After about 4 miles they stopped to rest at the mill, located on route 28 at that time, before making the additional 3 mile trek up Crumhorn Mountain.  Art said the break was necessary because the horse was tired, not the handler. Today it would be challenging to find an employee willing to walk 7 miles to bring your horse home.

Although Art retired in 2001 you can still find him around helping out. He titles himself “Fleet Superintendent”.  Twelve years after retiring he is still helping to make things happen by taking care of the vehicle registrations and using his vast knowledge of the business to help source challenging parts.  

Adding 39 more years to the tally brings us up to 255 years of experience. The longevity of the employees at Wightman Lumber is impressive. Art has been around to witness the changes and growth of the business for well over half a century. 

Wightman Lumber commitment to quality extends over decades...

Photo of Cy Wightman many years ago when the sawmill was 1st located on Route 28, Portlandville, New York. 

Photo gives an idea of what the mill was like when Art Spranger started working for Wightman’s well over a half century ago.

Re-saw in feed roll case installation completed

The new roll case installation started last Friday, 7/26/13 was up and running on Monday morning.  

Re-saw in feed roll case installation
 

One of the many upgrades you will be seeing this summer includes a new re-saw in feed roll case. 

It is an exciting time to see so many improvements being done. 

The new roll case is longer than the one being replaced.  Maneuvering the machine into place took some ingenuity and determination.  The new roll case is longer than the one being replaced.  This piece of equipment is used to align the logs going into the 4 foot re-saw. 

Yards, and yards and more yards of concrete….
 

This week concrete walls were poured for the bark pit that is located in the debarker area. The walls will provide a confined space for the bark to fall making it much easier to clean up when we don’t have a truck underneath it to be filled. The walls will also provide controlled run off when the bark gets wet. 

                                 Working around the mill

On Friday we had an opportunity to get some jobs done around the mill while new equipment installation was going on. Jim Runblad, Don Elliott and Jeff Van Derwerker work to set a post in concrete for guide cables by the newly paved parking lot. Thankfully we have a little cooler weather this week.

It goes beyond lumber......

At the sawmill we strive to utilize every part of the logs that come into our yard. Additional products include sawdust, shavings, and bark. Bark chips are used to create mulch. Supreme Forest Products of Harwinton, CT has been purchasing bark from us for many years.
 After loading up the truck I had a chance to talk with Mike Kennedy. It turns out that Mike has been picking up bark from us for 8 years. He tells me that he loves making the trip to New York. After the bark leaves here it will become high quality premium mulch.   To check out the finished product visit http://www.supremeforestproducts.com/ It was a real pleasure chatting with Mike this morning. He sure loves his job and is an ambassador for his company and their products. We look forward to seeing Mike again soon. 

Our Sawmill Supervisor – Rick Whitmore
  

This December Rick Whitmore will celebrate his 30th anniversary as an employee for Wightman Lumber. Rick has been the sawmill supervisor for the past 19 years. His primary responsibility is to insure productivity levels and product quality.  He shared with me that to achieve this goal it requires a combination of training employees so that they are able to achieve high quality standards while striving to meet productivity goals and at the same time keeping a vigilant eye on how the equipment is running. Avoidance of down time is one of his a primary focuses daily.

 

As I have the opportunity to learn more about my co-workers I am finding that many of them have chosen to make this work a life long career. Rick tells me that he has enjoyed his career because he has found “The Wightman’s to be good people to work for who are more than fair and no matter what the job is the owners are right there working beside you.” He enjoys wood products and likes that fact that many of the products produced are exported. He finds satisfaction in the process of taking logs and seeing them all the way to a finished product. In his spare time he enjoys wood working and has turned hardwoods into furniture and cabinetry. In the past he took pleasure in making things for his own home and now for his daughter as she establishes her own home.

With the prior experience he had working for another mill he adds another 31 years to our group.  Adding this to the 185 years already introduced and we are now up to an astounding 216 years of knowledge and experience and there is a lot more to come. It is no wonder that Wightman Specialty Woods produces top quality products with so many years of expertise behind the production process. 

   Improvements Keep Coming

        We are working hard on improvements to the mill this summer. On Wednesday our main parking lot was repaved. Possibly one of the hottest days we will have this summer. 

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4^th of July to everyone…..

What is the meaning behind the red, white and blue colors of the American flag? Red        stands for hardiness and valor. White symbolizes purity and innocence. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

               Dan Wightman, Cliff Clune and David Wightman

Check out our web site wightmanlumber.com to learn how Wightman Specialty Woods was born. Dan and David Wightman are the current owners. They strive each day to expand the company while maintaining the time honored traditions of delivering quality materials to our customers. If you stop by you will see these guys busy working around the mill.

Not counting the years that spent growing up around the business Dan and David collectively bring another 91 years of experience. This brings the number of experience and expertise introduced up to 185 years. 

We will be closed on July 4^th for the holiday. Our retail sales will be open on Friday, July 5^th from 8 am to 4:30 pm and on Saturday, July 6^th from 8 am to 12 pm. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

Our retail sales representatives are Pat Wightman-Yank and Marty Corsi. Pat has been working here for 29 years. This only includes the years she as actually worked at the mill not the number of the years she has been around the family business.

Marty is on the go around the yard and available to help you make your wood selections.

He has been with us for 13 years. Marty said he has had the opportunity to work in almost every area of the mill to help him develop a strong understanding of the milling and grading processes. He shared with me that he has learned from everyone he has contact with and that often our customers bring new knowledge and perspective on product uses. Marty said that the number one thing he enjoys about his job at Wightman Specialty Woods is the really great customers he gets to meet everyday.

Together Pat and Marty add 42 years the organization. Joel Griffith adds 8 years and with Cliff Clune’s 44 we have introduced you to 94 years of experience and we are just getting started. As I continue to introduce our employees it will be amazing to find out how many years of know-how we have collectively.   

Holy Maple ------

This week we have been sawing Hard Maple logs and this is a big one. It is truly amazing to see the size of the boards coming off. The largest hard maple log we currently have in inventory is 36” in diameter with 1024 board feet. That is a lot of log to handle and these guys know just how to get the job done.

                        Spots in photos are caused by sawdust particles. 

                                          Very large hard maple log.

                                          Typical size hard maple log.

Pictured Joel Griffith – Feeding cuts from large maple log into edge trimmer. Joel has been with Wightman Lumber for 8 years. He works in the sawmill as a sawyer, saw operator and filer. 

Delaware Academy Furniture Gallery

On June 17, 2013 Delaware Academy held the 4^th annual Furniture Gallery featuring woodworking projects completed by students of Technology Teacher, Eric Sturtz,. Marty Corsi was able to attend the showing and enjoyed viewing the workmanship of the students combined with our specialty woods. Marty found that the students displayed much talent and great future potential in the field of wood working. We wish the students great success and fulfillment in their future years as wood workers.

The following was taken from the program:

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer;

a man who works his hands and his brain is a craftsman;

but a man who works with his hand and his brains and his heart is a an artist.”

                                                                                    Louis Nizer

Cliff Clune - Whole Sale and Mill Safety Office

Cliff joined Wightman Lumber in August of 2012 and brought with him a wealth of experience and knowledge. Having started in the lumber business at the age of 18 he has grown with the industries for over 40 years. Cliff is a graduate of the National Harwood Lumber Association Inspection School in Memphis, TN. His years in the lumber industries have included lumber inspection, kiln operator, mill management, purchasing and sales. For a number of years he operated his own business, Clune Lumber, located in Otego, NY.   

Cliff shares that he enjoys the honest, hardworking and interesting people he has meet over the years. When I asked Cliff why he loves his job he told me, “After over 4 decades in the industry every day is still a learning experience.” He also shared that is his looking forward to spending many more years learning and meeting people. We are grateful for the knowledge, talents and experience that Cliff brings to the job.



Cyndi Miller saying hello from Wightman Specialty Woods

I would like to introduce myself, Cyndi Miller. I am a fresh face at Wightman Specialty Woods. I will have the opportunity to enjoy a wide diversification in my work responsibilities. One of my many exciting goals is to keep in contact with weekly updates to Wightman’s blog and Facebook page. I will be introducing to you our employees and sharing a little history about the experience that they bring to our company. Collectively we have an incredible number of years of experience in the industry.

I am looking very forward to the opportunity to let our friends know what’s going on at the mill in Portlandville, New York. We have been very busy at the mill this spring. We are looking forward to some projects slated for this summer and are also busy developing plans for our 20th Fall Open House which will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2013. I hope to meet you all in person at our open house.

Emerald Ash Borer

Here is a recent photo of our forester giving a talk to local elementary school students.  The question raised by one very well informed 1st grader was: were the ash logs on the load cut because of the Emerald Ash Borer?  Impressive for a 7 year old!

The answer is no.  Luckily we have not seen too much of the Emerald Ash Borer in our area...yet, though some of our surrounding counties in New York have reported incidences of this Asian beetle.  Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) was first discovered in Michigan in 2002 and has since spread rapidly throughout the northeastern U.S., infecting and killing millions of Ash trees - a sad situation for the health of our forests.

Emerald Ash Borer

To learn more, please visit The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website where regular updates on the status of the Emerald Ash Borer within New York are posted. 

Lumber manufacturing (continued)

Recently we've talked a lot about our sawing processes, but what happens to our sawn lumber after this step?

The next step in our manufacturing process is drying the boards of lumber.  This is accomplished by placing lumber into large drying kilns where circulating air allows the excess moisture in the boards to evaporate and the wood to be brought down to the correct moisture content for finished materials.  This is a critical step as wood with too much moisture will cause problems in the final application (ie. swelling in wood floors, bowing of boards used in furniture making, etc).  Different species of wood require different amounts of time to dry down to the ideal moisture content (hardwoods, 6-8%).

Lumber being loaded into drying kilns

Once lumber comes out of our drying kilns it is processed through our grading facility.  This step separates the nicer boards from the more rustic boards.  The grading of lumber is actually a complex science with strict requirements that have been set by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA).  Our graders have passed rigorous NHLA coursework and are regularly updated of new developments in lumber grading standards.

Grading kiln dried lumber

Once our lumber is graded it is either sold in the rough form in wholesale lots to cabinetry and furniture making companies, or processed through our finishing mill to create the wood materials that you might use in your home.

Finishing mill

What lies within

What is found inside of a tree?  Wood of course, right?  

Turns out that's not all you might find. 

Unknown metal object found in log

It's amazing what we have found inside some of the logs that we have processed through our plant over the years.  Whether we realize it or not humans have had a great impact on forests and their trees throughout the course of time.  From sap spiles used to tap maple trees for syrup to metal brackets used for clothes lines, it's incredible the amount of metal objects that become embedded in trees over the course of their life.  Take for example the forests of Europe:  many of the trees in these forests have permanent scars from the effects of bullets entering the wood during both World War I and II.

Arrowhead found in log

For a sawmill metal materials can severely damage sawing equipment should they come in contact with the sawing blades.  For several years we have had a metal detector in place which scans each log before it enters our sawing facility.  We recently installed a new detector which has been even more effective in identifying the presence of metal materials in our logs before they are sawn.

Metal detector that logs pass under at our facility prior to entering our sawmill

A great time for siding!

The summer months provide the perfect opportunity to install siding on your home.  Obviously the warm weather is a key factor for the comfort of the installer but warmer temperatures are also critical when applying primer, stain and paint to unfinished siding.

Many oil based primers require minimum temperatures of around 50 degrees; latex stains and paints have similar temperature requirements.  Taking care to seal both the front and back side of the wood siding will ensure the proper protection of the wood.  Sealing the ends of each board is best to guarantee against any water penetration into the wood; caulking at joints will also achieve this goal.

Here is a Cypress siding installation in progress:

Unfinished Cypress clapboard

Primed and painted

Installation of clapboard and trim in progress at front entrance

May Rough lumber availabilities

Mini Lot Wholesale (200 – 500 BF)  Small Lot Wholesale (500 – 3,000 BF) 4/4 Select and Better Grade
Specie	6'	7'	8'	9'/10’	11'/12’
Ash		y	y	y	y
Basswood			y	y	y
Black Walnut					y
Cherry - Sap		y	y	y	y
Cherry – Red		y	y	y	y
Hard Maple	y	y		y	y
Hickory				y	y
Red Oak	y		y	y	y
Red Oak – Qtr. sawn				y	y
White Oak				y	y

4/4 Common Grade Specie 6’ 7’ 8’ 9’/10’ 11’/12’ Ash y Basswood y y y y y Birch y y Hard Maple y Red Oak y y y y y Soft Maple y y y y y White Oak y y y   4/4 Rustic Grade
Specie	8’	9’/10’	11’/12’
Cherry	y	y	y
Red Oak	y	y	y

5/4 Select and Better Grade Specie 7' 8' 9'/10’ 11'/12’ Basswood y y Hard Maple y y y y Red Oak y y y y   8/4 Select and Better Grade
Specie	8'	9'/10'	11'/12'
Ash			y
Hard Maple	y	y	y
Red Oak		y