What happened to birch?

[Jamie Buxton]

When I first got interested in wood -- in New England in the sixties -- the go-to light-colored wood was birch. Maple was available, but not common. Today, in California, the situation is reversed. Birch is rare, and maple is common. My hardwood dealer doesn't stock natural birch at all, and has just a little 4/4 red birch. The only birch plywood they stock is Baltic Birch. So what happened? Is it just changing tastes, or has has something happened to the North American birch forests?

[Howard Pollack]

I don't know the answer to your question, but if you're looking for birch I bought some nice clear light birch from Mac Beath in Berkeley a few years ago. -Howard

[Tyler Bancroft]

Yellow or white? I can get yellow birch in eastern Canada for a reasonable price, but IIRC, it grows mostly in eastern North America.

[Wade Lippman]

Maybe they stock local woods?

[Mark Bolton]

I dont think it has anything to do with tastes I think it has to do with what is available in the stand. There was a recent article that I cant find but would likely turn up in a google search that Maple is taking over large commercial stands of timber in the US. I know here in WV 20 years ago a lot of maple was left to stand because it wasnt the desirable wood of the time and now the stands have changed with regards to the predominant species. I own a large piece of property that was timbered bout that time ago and at that time Hickory was less desirable so my place is drowning in Hickory right now (about as miserable to work with as Hard Maple).

I think the current climate at least in the U.S. is not really what the consumer wants. Its what the corporations feel then need to profit from. If they have a glut of Maple and Maple isnt selling, they will make it sell through marketing and pricing. I find it interesting that nearly ALL of the import cabinet ply I have available to me (we dont buy it) is Birch. This may speak to why you cant find Birch. Its likely all be cut and shipped to china to be turned into $35 a sheet pre-finished carcass material for cabs to then be shipped back to us.

[Van Huskey]

This may speak to why you cant find Birch. Its likely all be cut and shipped to china to be turned into $35 a sheet pre-finished carcass material for cabs to then be shipped back to us.

That is exactly what I was thinking as I read the OP.

One of my neighbors owns flooring stores and we often marvel at the fact wood can be cut in the US, shipped to China, milled and finished, packaged and shipped back to the US and sold for less than US manufactured flooring. We understand the reasons but it still is a mind bender to me.

[Mel Fulks]

Birch for a long time was a back bencher to maple and used for stuff like motel furniture. I guess that when ever painted stuff is in its price goes up.

[Mark Bolton]

That is exactly what I was thinking as I read the OP.

One of my neighbors owns flooring stores and we often marvel at the fact wood can be cut in the US, shipped to China, milled and finished, packaged and shipped back to the US and sold for less than US manufactured flooring. We understand the reasons but it still is a mind bender to me.

I have had that same conversation with others as well as within my own head for years. Its mind blowing. My hardwood comes from a yard that saws and dries millions of board feet a year and literally single digits of that hardwood is sold in the US. Its all sold overseas and shipped to factories that are stacked to the ceilings with pallets of corrugated boxes labeled broyhill, lazyboy, thomasville, and so on.

I use to search for it a bit but havent in a long time and this may be complete hearsay but I read an article a long long time ago and have heard the same story from commercial vendors and salesmen several times.. When we were in the home building world most all of the 6 panel pine door slabs we got were all from Chile. The story was that the doors never got farther than international waters from the U.S.. A floating factory would float in to the west coast, load up pine veneer, and core stock, float out to international waters, and build doors. All the scraps, sawdust, and so on,... overboard, they would be loaded into containers and floated back in, dropped, reloaded with more materials, wash rinse repeat.

I to find it astounding how we can ship material back and forth profitably but I honestly just find it astounding sometimes how an item can even be made for what its sold for. Of course it all makes sense when it falls apart in a couple weeks or months.

[Lee Schierer]

I also think that large yellow birch trees don't exist. There used to be lots of yellow birch trees in PA, but now it is very rare. Maple on the other hand grows fairly quickly and is common.

[Jamie Buxton]

I don't know the answer to your question, but if you're looking for birch I bought some nice clear light birch from Mac Beath in Berkeley a few years ago. -Howard

Yeah, I've bought birch from MacBeath in years past, but it was a recent trip to MacBeath SF which made me realize how little birch there is left there. In lumber, their best offer was alder, which they have in good supply. Alder is in the birch family, and does look a bit like birch. However, it is softer -- more like poplar.

[Mark Bolton]

I also think that large yellow birch trees don't exist. There used to be lots of yellow birch trees in PA, but now it is very rare. Maple on the other hand grows fairly quickly and is common.

And the question is why...

[Lee Schierer]

And the question is why...

They were cut and turned into plywood and 60's blond furniture.....:rolleyes:

[Neil Gaskin]

Both birch and maple are readily available in my area, Lawrence KS.

Personally I prefer working soft maple to birch.

[Tyler Bancroft]

Birch for a long time was a back bencher to maple and used for stuff like motel furniture. I guess that when ever painted stuff is in its price goes up.

Which is a shame, because you can get some gorgeous curly figure in yellow birch.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Simply the woods and trees of value have been constantly changing. Maples come up like weeds everywhere around here. Easily self propagating. Thing is, saw mills do not want maple here. Poplar, oak, cherry and walnut are the big demand items. The big stands of poplar that have been here for decades are quickly disappearing for residential trim and shipping pallets. Same for oak. I just signed a contract with a saw mill. I was amazed at some of the trees they wanted. when the property was logged 30 years ago, the mill did not want the poplar. And there were some huge poplar. 36 to 48 inches in diameter and lowest branches some 40 feet up. and they did not want them back then. Now the mill wants the poplar down to 20 inches in diameter

My father had some property logged 20 years ago, and they took all the big oaks, a few ash and left the poplars and maples. He had a fair amount of birch and they only took a few of the largest.

[Andrew Seemann]

From what I've seen around here, birch tends to be available in smaller widths than hard maple. Not that it matters that much, neither is stable enough to be used in wide boards. Maple has been coming down in price over the years, while birch has risen. Maple is easier to get in all white (stain grade) than birch. The local hardwood supplier sells yellow birch in paint grade; it is quite pretty and and not that bad in price.

My experience is that birch is an even bigger pain to work with than hard maple. It seems to be even less stable, while being more prone to tear out. Unless it is paint grade, it tends to be quite bland and plain looking, although plain sawn it has a little more figure than hard maple, and can even have some pretty curl or fiddleback in it. It often takes stain poorly and is prone to blotching, even with a clear finish.

In general I much prefer working with soft maple to either hard maple or birch. It looks quite similar but is much more stable and easier to work.

Full disclosure, I say all this while typing at a birch desk I made:) I like using the aforementioned yellow birch to trim out the solids on baltic birch furniture.

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[Peter Kelly]

No shortage of decent FAS and figured birch at Hearne Hardwoods as of a month ago. Stock there is limited to 4/4 though.

Douglas Fir is similarly difficult to find on the East Coast. Eye-wateringly expensive where I have found it, usually milled as 1" T&G flooring.