About Cook Woods
Origins
Off The Beaten Path
Reaching worldwide, our source of logs, lumber, and burls bring you the best wood in the industry. We’re constantly reaching to new countries and in new areas to acquire the most figured, rare, and beautiful exotic and domestic woods possible. Our 15,000 sq. ft. facility houses more than 250 wood species! The unspeakable beauty & diversity of wood captivates even the least creative mind. Its range of colors, figure & patterns compares easily to the most beautiful gems. We are proud to bring you the rarest and most beautiful gems we can find!
Salvaging What Others Throw Away
In Oregon we salvage Myrtle and Maple logs that are considered “collateral damage” in the logging industry. When Douglas fir is cut, Myrtle and Maple trees growing in the same stands are also cut and often chipped for the overseas market. We salvage them and make specialty wood table top slabs, mantels, guitar sets, rifle stocks, and lumber. Additionally, we take logs from tree services and homeowners, recycling what would’ve ended up in the landfill. Globally, we use exotic woods that have little native value. Chris was nicknamed “trash man” in Brazil when he purchased stumps that were slated to be burned. “The wood crafting industry is the reason some of the threatened species are still alive, because when there is no value in something there is no reason to keep it alive,” Christopher Cook. We take pride in preserving forests for the next generation and in helping to educate other cultures of the value in exotic woods.
Quality Means Doing It Yourself
Our careful process begins in the forest and ends with you. In between we meticulously handle the process. Logs enter our yard and are sorted, then cut on one of our two state of the art sawmills. Wood is air or kiln dried, and then cut to final size in our wood processing building. If wood has arrived by container load, we process the cants, lumber or burls into usable products in our wood processing building. After that we inventory the stock, take photos, and list it on our website, all while keeping a vigilant eye for quality.
Our facility houses a state of the art European WMV 50 hp full hydraulic self-cleaning sawmill with 1/10” saw kerf and 45 ft. long x 6 ft. diameter cutting capacity! This mill sits on 5.5 million lbs. of rock and concrete that has ice/snow melting capability for winter weather. It is complete with vacuum jib crane to lift massive wood slabs with the flick of a switch.
Temperature & moisture control is critical to wood. That’s why we’re constantly working on perfecting the art of wood drying and storing. If wood is dried too fast, the outer layers of the wood crack and shrink because of the moisture in the inner core. To avoid this, we dry wood slower. Air drying takes an average of 1 year for every 1” of wood thickness. Kiln drying typically begins with air drying and ends with a careful balance of heat, time & airflow in the kiln.
Wood photography is a tricky business that we’re highly committed to. When wood is posted to our website, we are careful to achieve the best quality images possible so that you can hand select the perfect woods for your needs. We understand that your creativity starts with the images that you see. We steadfastly photograph multiple views of our woods for just that reason!