Anyone seen? tried? salvage from Timeless Timber, Ashland WI?

14 years ago

Some years ago a project was started for salvaging sunken logs from the cold waters of Lake Superior near Ashland, WI and Chewamegon Bay. The wood was cut a century or more ago and is said to be very dense in grain because the logs grew slowly in dense forests. Apparently there are unusually colored pieces also, giving exotic bluish or greenish or reddish boards occasionally. Currently they have elm, maple, birch-- birch being the favorite of customers. The website is a mess, but if you root around on it, you can find photos of the products. I have talked to a salesperson and will go to the lumberyard to look at their wares in person. (Like other companies that are involved with the construction industry, they're cutting back on staff, etc. ) He says they sell everything from a little piece of wood all the way to large orders. Boards, flooring, countertops, violin wood, veneers, whatever. The company has also salvaged logs from other sites in U.S. and Canada.

I am curious as to whether anyone else has looked into this product or knows anything about it. I'm considering a couple of 24 " x 24 " butcherblock slabs for use on each side of my range. Am I crazy?

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood salvaged from Lake Superior sunken logs

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Comments (15)

Gena Hooper
14 years ago
I haven't seen lumber from that business, but your description reminds me of this:

It's hemlock salvaged from Quincy, MA. The blue clay in Boston Harbor has permeated it and given it a blue cast. Very cool!

I don't think you're crazy about trying to use reclaimed butcherblock slabs. It sounds potentially quite beautiful. Then again, I'm trying desperately to fit in my beloved antique heart pine counter somewhere instead of beautiful, but cold soapstone or marble.
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, Pickle! You reassure me and have shown us another example of reclaimed lumber in actual use. I looked up the company with the Quincy bridge wood that went blue in your photo. See below.

Anyone else looking at very distinctive wood for countertops or floors or...?

Here is a link that might be useful: LongLeafLumber: reuses and reclaims lumber, Cambridge Mass
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formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
I went to visit Timeless Timbers in Ashland, Wisconsin this week. Very interesting. Currently, for countertop use, the major wood available in their lumberyard is birch.

I took photos of sample items sold in the gift store, which are apparently typical of the final product. I'll post photos of two styles: end grain and side grain.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the end grain material which has been treated with oil.
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
Here's one oiled and one unoiled sample of the end-grain butcherblock material.

Carpet is bluegreen.

Here is a link that might be useful: one oiled and one unoiled sample of birch end grain butherblock
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
Here is an unoiled sample of the side grain butcherblock material, in a gift store piece that is probably a little over an inch thick.

Salesperson said this is stronger than end-grain butcherblock and would recommend it for pounding meat, etc.

color of the carpet is blue-green

Here is a link that might be useful: Unoiled side-grain birch butcherblock
rjr220
14 years ago
Florantha -- OT: I'm a fan of the Ashland area (my sister lives there). It isn't easy to get there -- not quite the center of transportation -- were you able to get in a trip to Madeline Island? It's one of my most favorite places to visit.
Circus Peanut
14 years ago
Mmmmm. Love it, Florantha! I'm a huge fan of reclaimed lumber. Nothing beats the quality of that old-growth wood. For what it's worth, we used large quantities of old reclaimed fir floorboards for the renovation of our bungalow trim and flooring:

For budget reasons, we went the architectural salvage yard route and did the milling ourselves, but there's an excellent outfit up here in Portland ME that also carries lots of lovely options: Barnstormers, Inc.
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
Off Topic...
For those who don't know this part of the globe, my drive to Ashland from St. Paul was not quite half a day, leisurely ambling along Hwy 2 from Duluth-Superior. Driving was good on a Thursday in the pre-tourist season on a sunny day. It's such an early spring that the natural world seems out of whack. Lots of ducks and geese to watch and the pussy willows have already gone past the pussy stage and have iridescent green fluff on them in silhouette. I spent an hour at the Timeless Timbers warehouse + gift shop and the rest of the afternoon in the archive at the visitor center that also houses some of the Wisc. Hist. Soc. stuff for the area. Because this time of year puts deer on the road in early evening, I did not waver off the highway very much on return trip. Did buy some of DH's favorite beers but had no time to seek out my usual cheese shop haunts in western Wisc. and no time to poke around on Brule R. or St. Louis R. where I usually spend time at parks watching spring water flow gush through the historic waterways. Did find some cheese ends for cheap at a grocery store. Left at 9 am, got home at 9 pm.

I am very familiar with Madeline Island and Bayfield and Cornucopia and will be up there in a few more weeks to look at spring wildflowers (and perhaps to pick up two pieces of butcherblock countertop if I weaken in my resolve to keep to budget). Might also paddle a voyageur canoe around the Apostles if my calendar works out for summer.

rjr220:

There's an internet page "going around" right now that shows places in U.S. which have more bars than grocery stores and guess what? Wisconsin wins! If you know back country Wisconsin, you know that the local bars are the community gathering places. Go Packers!

If you get a chance to visit the Timeless Timbers lumber yard at some point, would love to know what you think of the products. The Cheese, Beer, and Wine promotion councils of Wisc. have a great promo map of the state which is a hoot to follow, if you need a diversion when visiting. Personally, I think they need to add sausage joints to the map also, and maybe pasties. Watch out for the speed trap in Iron River!

P.S.--Timeless Timbers needs about 3 week lead-time to produce countertops currently. Your results may vary.

The visitor center has large area of Timeless Timber flame birch used in front hall cabinetry. Good place to see actual use of the product as furniture, not butcherblock.
rjr220
14 years ago
I am actually originally from North Central Wisconsin . . . The first time I took my Miami raised husband "home", he marvelled at the number of silos and taverns -- and the fact that you cannot go farther than 5 miles and not hit a tavern on those back roads. However, having said that, the taverns aren't just for drinking. In these areas the closest TV stations are MILES away, the newspapers are weekly. The taverns are (or used to be, prior to the internet and cable/satellite TV) a place where the farmers and locals got together every night after milking to truly socialize and pass along the local news. Your description of your day made me VERY HOMESICK for a early Spring Wisconsin day . . . . Oh, and to see trilliums and smell the Lilly of Valley ----

I've emailed my sister and asked her if she knows anything about Timeless Timbers. Her significant other is very familiar with construction up in the Northwoods, and they may know someone who has personally used the products. Will let you know.
flwrs_n_co
14 years ago
Here in CO companies use the lodgepole pine beetle kill forsts to produce something beautiful from a desperately sad situation (we've lost whole forests to beetle kill in the last 5-7 years in some of the most scenic areas of the state). The process by which the trees are killed by the beetles leaves the wood with a bluish tint. One of my mom's neighbors makes beautiful salad bowls, jewelry boxes and other items from the wood. Here's a site for a company that has evidently been doing this way before this most recent catastophic outbreak even started.
http://wwfd.net/index.html

Here are some other links to reclaimed beetle-killed pine:
http://www.ecowoodsales.com/
http://www.corbinwoodworking.com/CORBIN_Woodworking/Cabinetry.html

Link to other companies using this wood:
http://www.coloradoforestproducts.org/bluewood.htm
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
flwrs_n_co:

What an amazing product your wood-beetle-kill pine of Colorado is!

It's definitely a situational product, with so many variations of color within the wood that each piece of lumber adds another design dimension to a project. Not for the timid customer--that wood has a huge personality!

Here is a link that might be useful: (Repaired link) Whispering Wind Designs / Example of Beetle-Kill Blue Stained Pine from Colorado
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
Circuspeanut:

You must be intrepid to take on the milling of the wood yourself! Thanks so much for your photo.

Other posters:
Thanks for adding to the story of reclaimed wood. This was a new concept to me, only understood in the abstract, until this project got me started looking up close at the dense grain of timber from old forests. The products that nature hands us in the wake of disasters--manmade or natural--are a lesson in themselves and the work that artists make from them is another lesson. That is, if we're receptive and ready to recognize we're being given some lessons.
betsyhac
14 years ago
I'm in WI, and find this interesting. Do you know what the cost is?
formerlyflorantha
Original Author
14 years ago
One of the hardest things in dealing with this company is to get a price. There are many variables because of the surprise of what is brought up from the watery deep and more variables resulting from the Recession and labor patterns and seasonal pulses of customer orders, if I understand correctly.

The product I am considering, which is the end-grain butcherblock in two hunks 2-foot square to fit either side of the range as countertop, was quoted at $75/sq. foot either 1.75 or 2 inches thick. If I changed one variable, such as a dimension of the slab, all price calculations would have to begin again.

Frankly, two of those big, thick readymade cutting boards would be all I needed, if it weren't for the decision we've made and married that deals with countersinking the knives and the utensil holders into the countertop either side of the range; short-depth drawers have been made already.

We have dithered as to whether we want that deep-colored oiled look or the lighter oil-it-yourself look. I've gone as far as deciding to dump a beloved backsplash idea in order to make the butcherblock more of a centerpiece, but it's all theoretical until I pull out the checkbook.

We need a few splurges in this modest kitchen, and this looks to be one of them. $600 for the two butcherblocks that would always be the object of conversation and delight might be a good thing. I think I would enjoy this more than cabinet knobs, for example. But then--I'm the one who is not buying any new appliances except a range hood for my new kitchen; this is a really conservative project in many ways, so money is an issue. Somebody else might find the cost to be peanuts.

One more important thing--they need lead time to complete orders. Once I make my decision, then it will be approx. 3 weeks for the items to be made. After they're made, I either go fetch them or we discuss shipping. And the 3-week time window is at this time of year right now. At another time, everything might change again.

All it takes is money.
rjr220
14 years ago
Florantha: I just sent you a pm re: Timeless Timbers

Rita

Anyone seen? tried? salvage from Timeless Timber, Ashland WI?

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Anyone seen? tried? salvage from Timeless Timber, Ashland WI?

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