Hi folks,
This might be a bit off topic, but I thought I'd give it a try.

I recently bought a Jet lathe to, among other things, turn my own reel seats. But while looking over the selection of wood blanks available at the local woodworking store, I started thinking about where these woods are coming from. I certainly haven't seen any cocobolo trees growing around Oregon lately (not that I would know one if it tangled my backcast). Rosewood, ebony, zebrawood...pretty sure none of those are indigenous to the U.S. either. My guess is most of these are produced in third world countries, most likely from rainforests or other trees that are being cut down without any of the environmental checks that are present in the US and Canada including replanting.

Most fisherman (or women) I know are conservationists by nature. Even though it might be a small impact compared to the gas I burn driving to the river, or the pesticide laden apple I eat for lunch on the bank, it goes against the spirit that I'm trying to build into my rods. The idea of contributing to the destroy an ecosystem somewhere in order to have a pretty reel seat jsut doesn't sit well with me.

Does anyone have sources for wood blanks that are produced domestically from sustainable sources, preferably salvage?

Taking this a step further, it seems that more rod companies are moving oversees to bring the price of their blanks down. I certainly don't know for sure, but I would guess that blank factories oversees produce more pollution, have poorer working conditions, and generate more "costs" to both people and the environment in the long run that their domestic counterparts. When you buy a blank made in the US, you are helping to pay a worker a decent wage, provide health coverage, cover the cost of proper toxic waste disposal. In the case of companies like Patagonia, you are also directly helping to preserve the things we love most because they contribute 1% of all sales to conservation efforts. I can't think of a rod company that does this.

Again, it's probably not all that significant compared to all the other choices we make everyday, it's more the principle of the thing.

Guess I'll shut up now.

Brian - If those foreign foresters don't want to fell and sell their trees, then they don't have to. If they don't want to sell them for export, or to sell them to buyers who supply the United States of America, then they don't have to. I don't see how they are not selling these exotic woods unwillingly. In fact, to them, there is nothing "exotic" about those woods. They are native and ordinary trees which have a moderate value to them when sold domestically, but a tremendous value when sold to Americans whose trade currency, the US-Dollar$, is considered the "gold standard" around the world. Even Saddam Hussein had a huge cache of American cash around him when apprehended.

In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that our purchase of these exotic woods can give those foresters and land owners and governments the opportunity to greatly improve their situation in life, and that of their people. How they manage that opportunity is largely their responsibility. I don't think we're talking about opium or endangered species here. They could use their profits to build a sustainable, harvest of trees, if they choose to, and a better life during their life time. If that's how they learn to do business. If they don't, is that my fault, ... ??

And from a different angle, consider this: Just as a vegetable or an animal gives it's body to feed a person, a tree gives it's trunk for man to build with. Or man takes it. If we could live without killing a plant or tree or animal, that would be great. But you can't live more than a few days without using their life to sustain yours. I think of conservation as responsible use, not refrain from use. Where we draw the line for restraint of consumption is a matter of the knowledge and perspective that shapes our individual and collective conscience. I hope my comments have helped balance your own, as yours have done so for mine. -Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-U.S.A.-

Cliff,
Both you and Brian make some very good points. You are certainly correct that all life exists at the expense of other life. In order to sustain our lives we must destroy other life. However, I think that what Brian is getting at is the question of whether or not some of the things that we are doing to support our way of life can be continued or maintained long term. In other words what sort of a world are we going to leave future generations as a result of what we doing.
To your point about choice. In most of the places in the world where the rain forrests are being cut down there are very few people involved that really have a choice in what is happening, certainly not the poor farmers or loggers, the people that are doing the actual logging. One might even question how much choice the large timber interests or even the governments of the countries involved have. I think that Brian's point is that the real choice is ours, the consumer of these products.
Personally I think that the logging practices being used are not sustainable long term and may actually be altering the earths weather. Certainly the few wooden reel seats that we use are not going to result in the collapse of any part of the worlds ecosystem but I think that Brians point is it is a question of the principle involved.
Most rod builders are naturally fishermen and I think that most fishermen are at least to some degree conservationists. If that is the case then Brian has given us some food for thought.

Wood is a renewable resource as opposed to many of the inert materials we use in rod building but if you still have qualms about the source of wood for reel seats there is an abundance of unique woody material available within reach of most anyone. Look about your area with an eye for it. As an example I use Rocky Mountain Juniper as it is abundantily available to me. It is unique and it is a species considered as a nuisance locally.
Scrap hardwood pieces are often available on sites where freight is handled in the form of broken pallets or other forms of packaging.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Amen, Emory to you and to Brian. Brian's comments are right down the centerline of a moral conscience. But this is (or could be) a renewable resource. I'll admit I'm taking a hard-line from an international trade angle, but that is for the sake of balance, and not because of not agreeing with Brian' s conservation-minded premise.

Our American woods were born of a temperate climate, and are generally less impervious to water than tropical hardwoods. Walnut, maple, & myrtle are certainly native to the continental USA, if that helps the selection process. I guess others like oak or ash (used in baseball bats) don't impregnate or machine on a lathe as well as the tropicals. Whatever the reasons are, that's the range of immediate options, it sems.

Anyway, that's just what's at The MudHole. Maybe some of the other RBO Sponsers at the Links (at Left) have woods that are suitable for flyrod reel inserts that are native to North America and don't offend the conscience. Look & see, because all the specialty fly rod suppliers seem to have a generous selection of woods, IMO.

-Cliff Hall, from the Cypress Swamps and Oak Hammocks of North Central Florida-

Stan, I know many boat builders around here that would be glad to take a few truck loads of that nuicance juniper off your hands. LOL

Jay

There are many lumber supply companies that think long term and work to keep a sustainable supply of tropical hardwoods. I suggest supporting companies that have a policy of responsible harvesting. You might pay a little more, but generally not much more.

[www.emersonhardwood.com]

Christian

Brian,

Just look in you local area and you will find some saw mills. A friend of mine owns a sawmill and I can pick through his scraps at my leisure. You should be able to find a sawmill in your area and work out a deal that will let you dig around for turning stock. You may find that the wood needs to be dried but then you will get to play around with something else as drying is half science and half voodoo. At least for me it still is. If you want another source of turning stock you can also get in touch with tree removal services in your area. You can talk to them about the types of wood you would like to get a hold of and for a little coin you can usually get some turning stock that will surprise you. This will be green wood and you will find that you will have stumps, crotches and root balls all around your yard seasoning but this surely would be considered efficient use the resource.

You will also find all kinds of eco-friendly wood with some searching on the internet. There are all kinds of wood salvage businesses that specialize in selling wood recovered from construction demolition. You can also find woods that are harvested as hurricane damage and such. I was just asked if I wanted to go in on buying some very beautiful figured mahogany that is hurricane-damaged timber. It is some very sweet wood but we needed to buy by the whole log and if you have seen wood prices you can imagine the cost. I have several friends that collect and restore wooden boats and even between the number of people we just couldn’t make the buy-in required.

I hope you will find something in there helpful.

Scott

Thanks all around. I figured that might spark a little productive conversation. Though I definitely don't agree with Cliff's assessment, this is not the forum to delve to deep into such matters. Christian and Scott, thanks for the links. I'm sure I'll find something. Mabey I'll have to take up stabilizing my own seats. Better get the asbestos suit out!

Brian
Check with Andy Dear at Lamar Reel Seats. They have a good stock of all sorts of product to turn your own reel seats from.
Their one of the sponsors to the left.
Hope this helps
Joe Kassuba

His Rod Shop
Joe Kassuba