Imagine an old-fashioned wooden barrel — standing twenty-two feet high!  In Baltimore, a group of these proud giants have stood for one hundred years on an industrial site, part of a pickling plant.  For a century or two before that, the Douglas Fir trees

from which the barrel staves were cut towered over the early American landscape.  They were first growth, with grain straight and true like nothing available today.

One of our favorite local craftspeople is Mark Supik, at whose lathe we have stood for many happy hours gradually getting covered with wood shavings and sawdust.  Mark saw an opportunity for salvage in these unused barrels.  It was a labor of love getting them down and safely stored in Mark’s warehouse.  Hovering over them with a moisture meter, Mark discovered a treasure of first growth, richly colored Douglas fir, ready for use in building or furniture making.  Our clients love the idea and the reality of this wood; we have two projects underway already to use it.