Posted by Sherman in Idaho [98.225.32.22] on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 22:57:09 :
In Reply to: Re: I saw them do it with oak posted by Tim Holloway [69.54.28.229] on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 06:32:09 :
I never saw any Japanese marked lumber, and they cut to metric dimensions. Plus there just isn't a lot of money in the sawmilling hatbusiness any more. Common lumber sells for about the same price per thousand as logs on the stump, and the only way the mills make money is on the scale (they use an old log scale that assumes a lot more waste cost a modern mill produces). It used to be the logs were almost free and the cost was all in the logging and milling. Nowadays the logging and milling are almost free, thanks to automation, and the logs are what costs.
Another popular rumor around the same time was that the Japanese were buying the last of our old-growth logs, sinking them in their waters, and would sell them back to us once ours were all gone. Never saw any of them come back either. What is true is that the import(ed?) a lot of raw logs to mill in their own mills. When Canada banned the export of raw logs, they just slabbed them in Canada and exported big cants.
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