Change Your Life with a Career in the Lumber Industry

Get a life-changing new career in lumber, forestry or woodworking! Many high-quality openings are available now with full time hours and great benefits, and some even enable working remotely. These listings include entry-level positions that will train you for the job you want, as well as opportunities for established professionals.

Planer Manager, Wentworth, New Hampshire

“The Planer Manager will monitor graders grading, clean, grind and joint knives. Must be able to set planer up for blanking and multiple other patterns, monitor moisture levels, and keep track of inventory. Must have the ability to build loads from inventory and complete necessary paperwork and have knowledge of shavings bagging systems and shaving qualities. The planer manager will need to be a certified NELMA grader.”

Learn more and apply at the Nelma Jobs Board.

Lumber Trader, Remote

“Responsibilities: Effectively generate sales from their own sourcing, marketing, or existing book of business. Negotiate prices/establish buying programs. Establish new & maintain current customer relationships. Collaborate with sales team to identify new product lines and opportunities. Develop and market purchasing opportunities with existing and new customers. Work on your own schedule, no minimum hours per week, no relocation needed, no cap on earnings. Heavy commission ranging up to 50% – 60%.

Learn more and apply at WoodJobs.com.

Operations Forester, Millinocket, Maine

“Katahdin Forest Management, a division of Acadian Timber, and a leader in Forestry Management, has an immediate opening for an Operations Forester based in Millinocket, Maine. Responsibilities include planning, oversight, and recordkeeping of forest management activities, including harvesting, road construction, road maintenance, herbicide application, planting, inventory plots, and general property maintenance; Ensuring KFM continues in compliance with all laws and regulations: i.e., the Conservation Easement on KFM property, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative; Maintaining good relationships with Internal and External Customers; Continuing sustainable management of KFM’s 300,000 acres of timberland located in Northern Maine.”

Learn more and apply at ForestryUSA.com.

Senior Design Engineer, Seneca Falls, New York

“Senior Design Engineer needs to have the ability to take a conceptual drawing and or sketch and create Engineering drawings, send drawings out to the CNC routers,  help production through the fabrication process and have a quality product with exceptional quality. The Senior Design Engineer reports to the Engineering Manager. Starting base salary: $70-90K.”

Learn more and apply at WoodJobs.com.

Carpenter, Bar Harbor, Maine

“Acadia Building Company is looking to expand our team of professional carpenters. Seeking individuals that are well versed in high-end carpentry with strong attention to detail and appreciation for accurate work. The majority of our jobs are in coastal Hancock County. We have plenty of year-round work. Qualifications: Carpentry: 5 years (Preferred). Pay: $15.00 – $40.00 per hour.”

Learn more and apply at Indeed.com.

Quality Engineer: Oronoco, Minnesota

“This company is currently seeking a Quality Engineer to join our growing company. The ideal candidate will embrace the opportunity to contribute to the Quality Department and bring a positive attitude and strong organizational skills to a dedicated, fast-paced team. Starting base salary: $65-75K.”

Learn more and apply at WoodJobs.com.

Woodworker, Auburn, Maine

Are you a woodworking enthusiast? Would you like to develop your woodworking skills and turn your hobby into your occupation? If so, we would like to talk to you about a woodworker position in our Auburn, Maine shop. If you have a passion for working with wood, we will work with you to develop and hone your woodworking skills to produce world-class furniture. Thos. Moser’s success is built on family, craftsmanship and its strong values. The right person will also have a strong desire to learn and grow in the trade with the ability to build open and honest relationships through shared respect and communication. The ideal candidate for this position will have the tremendous opportunity to showcase the range and depth of his/her skill set.”

Learn more and apply at Indeed.com.

Estimator, Remote

“Prepare lucrative estimates based off of numerical/architectural data and all required materials for final proposal. Construct take-off and gauged scope of work after analyzing architectural documents. Interprets blueprints, shop drawings or other documents to identify costs, needed materials, and potential labor scope. Remote ok, job based in Winnipeg, MB. Starting Salary: $60 – 90k (Canadian)”

Learn more and apply at WoodJobs.com.

Forest Inventory Supervisor, Wisconsin

“Wanted: Full time Forest Inventory Supervisor to independently supervise 6-8 permanent professional crew members and seasonal employees as required in the collection of statewide forest inventory, forest health monitoring, and habitat classification data. This position demands a high degree of responsibility and leadership. The successful candidate will be solely responsible for the fulfillment of Lumberjack’s contract with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.”

Learn more and apply at Lumberjackrcd.org

Millwright, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

“Work in a company that is family owned. Where the owners are onsite and passionate about their industry. Pleasant River Lumber is a fast paced aggressive company that always has a eye on the future of lumber manufacturing. Please visit our website for a look at our company that owns and operates 5 mills located around the state. $17 – $20 an hour – Full-time with benefits.”

Learn more and apply at Indeed.com.

This Jigsaw Puzzle Dinner Table is a Woodworking Masterpiece

YouTuber Simone Giertz is known for making all kinds of weird and cool stuff. Some of her creations are actually practical, others… not so much. But they’re always brilliant, perhaps none more so than this incredible table. If you love jigsaw puzzles, you’re going to go nuts for this project.

The problem with big puzzles is how much space they take up. If you don’t dedicate yourself to solving the puzzle as quickly as possible, it can engulf your entire dining table for months at a time. Simone’s solution makes space for both the puzzle and a functional tabletop using a mechanical top that rolls out of the way when you want to play.

https://twitter.com/SimoneGiertz/status/1443290157721919488

As Simone explains in the video, you use a hand crank to roll back the surface and then lift up the lower tabletop to access the puzzle. Her YouTube video goes into detail of exactly how she built it. She also demonstrates a few early prototypes to show how the idea developed. 

Even if this project is too advanced for you to pull off anytime soon, it’s an awesome source of inspiration to push you to learn more and grow your skills.

20 Designers Unveil Works Made of Sustainable Wood at Design Museum London

Discovered sustainable wood furniture Wallpaper

Twenty next-generation designers from 16 countries presented exciting new objects made of wood at the Design Museum London this week. Created for Discovered, a collaborative platform between Wallpaper Magazine and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the exhibition highlights works created as a reflection of how lockdowns and isolation affected each designer’s life and creative process.

‘Emerging designers from across the globe have experienced personal and professional challenges during the pandemic, and the 20 young practitioners have produced a collective display that is inspiring and which shows the resilience and ingenuity of creative design,’ comments Tim Marlow, chief executive and director of the Design Museum. 

Discovered exhibition view Design Museum London

That loose brief translates to strikingly different functional and decorative objects made of American red oak, cherry, and hard and soft maple. The artists worked in collaboration with specialist workshops to explore the sustainability of these underused yet widely available wood types, which grow abundantly in American hardwood forests. 

Lahmu by Sizar Alexis
Lahmu by Sizar Alexis

Take, for instance, “Lahmu” by Swedish signer Sizar Alexis. “Having lived through the Iraq war in the 1980s, Alexis imagined his home as a bunker, protecting his family and newborn son during the pandemic. Drawing from the similarities between his own childhood experience and his young son’s, his sculptural pieces are defined by stark monolithic forms and stillness, representing the emotional connection to his thoughts in the pandemic. The chunky volumes serve as side tables or stools, and together as a bench or low sideboard, inspired by bunker architecture. Alexis chose two contrasting woods: one half of his piece is in American cherry, for its warmth, and one half is in red oak, its surface burned with a scorching technique.”

Concur by Mac Collins
Concur by Mac Collins

Mac Collins of Newcastle, UK used cherry wood for his piece, “Concur.” His work takes a more positive view of the isolation he experienced during the pandemic. “For me, the word has always carried romanticised connotations of contentment, serenity, contemplation and a sense of withdrawal from the rigmarole of socially prescribed routine,” he says. Books took on a new significance for Collins during his time alone, so his piece reflects a desire for comfortable reflection and reading.

Migo 01 by Pascal Hien
Migo 01 by Pascal Hien

Pascal Hien’s striking “Migo 01” pieces made of red oak are multifunctional stools you can sit on in multiple configurations. “You can adapt it in various ways, there is no front or back, no right or wrong.” Each one is made of a single plank of red oak with parts held together by dovetails.

Check out the rest of the exhibition at Wallpaper, or see it in person at Design Museum in London through October 10.

Your Hottest Summer 2021 Eastern White Pine Projects

Eastern White Pine woodworking design

What have you all been up to this summer? Oh, just working on some amazing Eastern White Pine projects, if Instagram is any indication! As always, thanks for sharing your work under the hashtag #easternwhitepine. Here are 15 standout projects from the last few months.

This beautiful Eastern White Pine cabin by @garybergeron77: “Cabins going on over 10 years since I began cutting down trees, it became a quitting drinking project and the start of a mostly health obsession with woodworking, made possible by a very patient and supportive partner.”

A gorgeous custom window frame by @rustedpulchritude: “The finished window, made with the sill we were working on in our previous post – made from local eastern white pine and utilizing a reclaimed double-pane window. This window won’t need to open (being installed in an open storage space) so a fixed pane works ok.”

Eastern White Pine planks are playing a role in this old home restoration: “Well we are finally putting on plank. Timber framing in modern times generally means you are framing but also doing finish carpentry, however framing and sheathing at the same time works a new part of the brain. When replacing the plank frame’s sill we opted to change out the trough that held the plank for a rabbet(cut out corner) in which allows the plank to be inserted into the top plates trough then swing into the rabbet. We fixed surviving plank by relieving a mirror of the rabbit. We then fastened everything with structural screws.”

These satisfying dovetails by @jproniewski: “Who doesn’t love some dovetails? I needed more storage space in the shop and I almost bought a tool chest from the D-pot. Then I came to senses and started building my own. Here are some process shots of the carcass. I get all warm and fuzzy inside thinking that this thing will last for a long long time.”

Another stunning project by @rustedpulchritude: “A current WIP: a board made from local eastern white pine, decorated with handcarved apotropaic marks, aka witches or hex marks, believed to be protective of structures (and the people within them) in colonial america, brought as a concept from england. Many were inscribed onto portals through which a spirit might pass – windows, chimneys, etc – by a carpenter or craftsperson, the idea being that evil spirits are confusable and get caught up in the repeating pattern before making it inside. Another independently developed but similar-in-goal object that people might be more familiar with is the Native American/First Nations “dreamcatcher” (asabikeshiinh in Ojibwe) which instead of confusing a spirit would capture it, as if in a spiders web. Another version that I grew up with was the Irish St. Brigid’s Cross, in addition to other superstitious behaviors (throwing bread against doors on New year’s day while reciting a specific saying, etc). Another commonly seen example is Celtic and Scandinavian knotwork, in addition to other unique and fascinating traditions around the world.”

A modern home by @timberblock featuring Eastern White Pine: “As promised, we’re showing you the back of our beautiful brand new Sonoma. This home is the definition of pure contemporary living…inside and out. See more photos, plus get the floor plan. It’s all on our website…the link is in our profile.”

Check out these lovely floors by @vermontplankflooring: “This cozy bedroom features Old Growth Eastern White Pine with Vermont Planks’ Chelsea Finish.⁠”

An old fashioned barn raising by @pinestackjoinery: “Had an amazing weekend raising a barn frame for some very fine folks in Jordan Bay. 22X34’ with two storage lofts. Middle bay is open and will have sliding barn doors on both eave walls. Lean-to rafters and window framing to come.”

A refreshingly simple live edge Eastern White Pine slab project in progress by @mainelumber: “Simple garden table. We used one of our slabs, cut out the heart for stability and added a pair of pretty good looking @naturalgoodsberlin legs. Two matching benches to follow shortly.”

Check out this beauty by @roguefoxcollaborative: “Farmhouse Table and Benches in Eastern White Pine. Rustic Finish. 30”x72”. Small but tough. Buttons have been stress tested through plenty of one person lifting and moving. They strong.”

The underside of a stunning Eastern White Pine floor by @rockheartcabin: “Can you figure out what you are looking at here? I am standing on our basement stairs. You can see the first floor wall and ceiling and then the stairs that go up to the second floor. A feature that I like about them is that they will be open.”

Look at all this beautiful Eastern White Pine! Via @mooselogandtimberframehomes: “Interior photos of our gorgeous full round logs in our southern WI project! What’s your favorite part?”

Woodworking students learn some awesome new skills at @tfgheartwoodschool: “Heartwood students prep the final pieces and cut the last joints needed for putting the cruck frame together!”

This creative use of Eastern White Pine is going to make one cat very happy indeed! Via @round_angle: “Feline Climber Number 3 in production. Easy disassembly and reassembly.”

@kylielittleart shares an impressive project from the esteemed Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina: “I wasn’t planning on sharing all of @penland_wood ‘s summer class pics, but if they continue being this amazing…I won’t be able to help myself. The students built this timber frame in less than 2 weeks with very little experience. All joinery. No hardware.”

Via the @softwoodexportcouncil: “The classical rural New Hampshire home built with wood cut down on their one property and locally source Eastern White Pine, also has other Eco-friendly features such as a rooftop solar array, heat recovery ventilation system and a heat-pump hot water system. The owners note that “Every new home should be seeking Energy Star Certification. As long as your not cutting corners, meeting the requirements is easy and the amount of documentation needed is minimal as compared to other certifications such as LEED. And compared to other certification programs, Energy Star pays you and not the other way around.”

Minimalist Home Objects Made of Solid Pine

A Swedish company called Vaarnii wants to help usher in a new era of interior design: one dominated by the refreshing beauty of pine wood. Their collections of minimalist furniture and decorative objects is designed to endure for generations and eliminate unnecessary frills to put the focus on the wood itself. The result is a series of creations that are boldly simple and clearly durable.

“Pine is substantial, characterful, full of natural pattern and colour and, if grown correctly, it is strong. The Finnish vernacular style that inspires us is a direct product of this material: Pine was always the wood of choice for Finnish craftspeople because it was local, free and abundant; an embarrassment of riches. As a result, the making processes and design thinking that shaped our domestic lives is pine shaped and pine coloured; log houses, carved implements, rustic furniture. There is a primitiveness, a raw beauty, a reassuring strength, generosity of scale and warmth to this architecture and object culture that we want to return to and celebrate again.”

Scots pine is the most common tree growing Finland, making up about 44% of all forests. Vaarnii chooses slowly grown trees for carpentry and cabinetmaking, which are heavier and hardier, sustainably harvesting the trees during the coldest months of the year. 

“Pine is full of natural oils and resins which, over time, react with UV light to bring a rich honey colour to the wood. This characterful mellowing is something, we believe, to look forward to. Cracks, knots and lively grains are all used to maximum decorative advantage. A black filler is used to fill naturally occurring cracks. Making these visible is true to our values of honest furniture making.”

Vaarnii’s pine products include a blocky dining chair; a stool with rounded legs; coffee, dining and side tables; a lounge chair with ergonomically rounded surfaces; and a series of accessories like mirrors, bowls, trays, wall hooks and doorstops. Each item has an impressive solidity and heft that elucidates its quality. 

“The designs for the inaugural Vaarnii range celebrate all the natural qualities of pine: A wide and expressive grain means pine lends itself, structurally and aesthetically, to being used in large expanses. And so, our designs use pine generously: Swathes of solid wood make bold and heavy designs. Which is just as well, as the furniture is intended to serve generations.”

Fresh Wood: Winning Designs from the 2021 AWFS Student Design Competition

Twenty-four woodworkers from 12 different high schools and colleges in the U.S. put their talent on display and won a range of honors and prizes at the 2021 AWFS Fresh Wood Competition, which wrapped up at the end of July. The winning projects included everything from a fun folding chair design to a finely crafted guitar, and from the look of the finalists, it must have been hard for the judges to choose.

Best in Show: Sideboard with a Void by Jinsoo Kim
Best in Show: Sideboard with a Void by Jinsoo Kim

The special theme for 2021 is “Remote Woodworking,” asking the entrants to show off what they built while learning remotely during 2020. Categories included seating, tables, case goods, Design for Production and an “anything goes” open category, and the competition judged high school and post-secondary school entries separately. Saying these students produced exemplary items is putting it mildly. Some of these projects are incredibly polished and wildly creative, and you’re going to want to check out every single one, but here are a few highlights.

Best in Show award went to Jinsoo Kim, a student at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, for an elegant table that also won First Place in the post-secondary Case Goods and Tables category of the competition.

The Nest by Mohammad Al-Yaseen
The Nest by Mohammad Al-Yaseen

Mohammed Al-Yaseen of Lincoln East High School won the People’s Choice Award for his high school project The Nest, an ergonomic chair that unfolds to cup a seated user and then folds completely flat.

Lumbarest by Josiah Miles
Lumbarest by Josiah Miles

A similarly functional flat-pack design netted First Place in the Design for Production – High School Category: the Lumbarest by Josiah Miles, also a student at Lincoln East High School.

Revolution Mirror by Susan Kokoski
Revolution Mirror by Susan Kokoski

How cool is this Modernist piece? The Revolution Mirror by Susan Kokoski of SUNY Buffalo State College received Second Place in the Open Category – Post Secondary.

Sundown Guitar by Katie Farnsworth
Sundown Guitar by Katie Farnsworth
Contemporary Table by Jacob Farnsworth
Contemporary Table by Jacob Farnsworth

It’s always amazing when high school woodworkers are able to put the rest of us to shame. Katie Farnsworth of Corner Canyon High School did just that with her Sundown guitar, which won First Place in the Open Category – High Schools, as did Jacob Farnsworth from the same school with Contemporary Table.

Abulafia Lectern by Dotan Appelbaum

The delicate, finely detailed nature of the Abulafia Lectern by Dotan Appelbaum of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship earned its creator First Place in the Open category – Post Secondary.