Library

When I saw New York was going to ban gas stoves, my immediate thought was – damn, it’s CCA all over again. Making a complicated story very short – someone discovered that chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated playground equipment had leached arsenic into a playground, so...

Floor trusses have been golden for the component industry for over half a century, and their origin is worth recounting and celebrating. Because of their flexibility and utility, wood trusses dominate apartment construction and have taken it up to 5 stories. Getting there, however, has required...

Spida Machinery specializes in the design, manufacturing, and distribution of various types of machinery for frame, truss, and component businesses throughout the world. With three remarkable, dedicated, and machinery-focused manufacturing sites across the globe, we bring together the best of...

Right now, many CMs are waking up to the increased pressures of a slowing home-building market, and all the capital investments they have made are just not going to be enough because all their competition has done the same. Now that the new build season is ramping up to full swing, the ones who...

Recently, when a building owner started getting leaks in the roof and noticed unusual variations in the ceiling, I was asked to do an inspection to determine the best way to correct a deflection problem. Upon inspection, it was very evident that the roof trusses had not been installed correctly...

A Gordie Howe hat trick is accomplished when a player gets a goal, an assist, and a fight in a hockey game. A “Feed the Beast” hat trick is accomplished when a team of machinery wranglers installs a Lumber PickLine to feed a 3rd party automated saw, a standalone auto-feeding...

The legacy of the Eide name runs deep. Established in 1927, Eide Saw Company was a saw blade repair and supply company in the heart of Minneapolis’ milling and lumbering industry. Over the past 96 years, however, we have grown and expanded to keep pace with the ever-changing woodworking...

Last fall, Panels Plus moved to a different location with more space, and I’m pleased to report that our staff was able to pull off this move with no interruption in business. Our customers continued to place orders at a record pace and our suppliers were able to send us the parts we...

For those concerned that interest rate hikes will continue, the Fixed Income team at the Capital Group believe the last hike of 0.25% in early May will most likely be its last of the cycle. Many economists share that perception. After 10 consecutive hikes by the Fed, inflation is cooling at...

The MSR Lumber Producer Council’s new Design Values Comparison Tool makes it possible for component manufacturers and other lumber buyers to easily build a comparison table based on species, size, and grade that includes design values for both visually graded and machine-graded dimensional...