These giving trees have served multiple purposes before being resurrected into functional art. Against the Grain furniture hold tremendous history and strength, by capturing recycled energy, from the original spirit of Oregon’s old-growth forests.
Our main source for Pacific Northwest Fir is from Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage. They are truly an amazing place to visit for your home restoration projects! They have a vast inventory of historic artifacts & antiques. They also salvage Oregon barn structures and historical buildings built before1930. Reclaimed in order to preserve the local area’s old-growth wood supply. Their crew works diligently in the summer seasons de-constructing historical landmarks by hand. One plank at a time, which includes an obscene amount of old square nails to pull out. They can preserve the original integrity of the wood by being thoughtful to its disassembly. I love that each piece of weathered lumber I collect is true dimensional, coming from an early Oregon structure. I also enjoy searching for antique hardware that will compliment my cabinetry. I’m known to spend a lot of time in the lumber yard just reading wood. I enjoy scouting out tight growth rings and intricate grain patterns in their stacks of seasoned Doug-fir.
For example, in early 2009, Against the Grain specially reserved a coveted stock of Coast Fir. First pick, of the choicest planks. Originating from the Oregon State Hospital, which was built in 1883 as the Oregon State Insane Asylum. The original structure was still being used until its deconstruction in 2008. The facility is best known as the location for the film based on Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, starring Jack Nicholson in ‘75. The tables created from this wood tell an epic story that will go further into time. There are plenty of interesting stories in historical buildings all over this area. It is so important to recycle these building materials, and that is certainly becoming more recognized and appreciated.
Doug-fir’s grain patterns are remarkable upon cross cutting, including simple but beautiful clear vertical grain (known as CVG). I never know what I’m going to uncover, but that’s half the fun. We can source other local woods to customize your special order. We have created extraordinary work from woods of other kinds, such as : Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Redwood, Maple, Black Walnut, and Oak. Using them in various furniture designs that compliment the unique quality of each tree. Every piece takes on its own identity. Revealing its history through weathered texture, rough hewn saw marks, live edges, and nail holes.
Talking About Wood
Coast Douglas - Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii
Once upon a time, in the Northwest frontier, lived an ancient, old-growth forest, and it grew for hundreds of years. Its landscape embodied lush evergreens, gorgeous rivers, coastal cliffs, and several misty mountain ranges. These forests were dominated by the tallest trees in the world.
Trees breathe deeply acting as the lungs of our planet. They give us oxygen, provide sanctuary for animals, and a habitat for plants and other species. They have a very gentle strength and living energy. Obtaining many memories, and experience many lifetimes. Trees sustain our land’s ground water, and absorb an astounding amount of carbon inside themselves.
Amidst the Oregon wilderness lies various species of coniferous trees. From the blues and the greens, and by the soft lines of their flat leaves, old-growth Doug-Fir is distinctive in this region. The Doug-fir happens to be honored as the state tree of Oregon. This native tree is extremely resilient and adaptive to the northern environment. Surviving in cold winters and in the nutrient-poor, sandy soil deposited by glaciers. Beginning as tiny seedlings, forming into young saplings, the Douglas-fir endures many seasons, before gaining enormous girth and reaching towering heights. Recorded to grow up to and over 400 years old, 400 ft. tall, and 40 ft. in circumference. To this day, one will rarely see Pacific Coast Fir in its giant form.
Sadly, most of these ancient forests were felled at the turn of the century, in order to feed humanity’s immense growth and greed. From wildfires and logging…From the Appalachians to
the Cascades…‘Man’ basically did a good job stripping our Country from its Old Roots. One of our great mistakes was to ferociously chop down these sacred trees with haste. It takes an incredible amount of energy to clear a forest, and the impact leaves a terrible footprint of
destruction. Losing our tree roots devastates the environment’s infrastructure, which contributes to fertile soil erosion and a dried out water table. Ultimately, we have been building a baron desert around us.
The great cause was to fuel the turning wheel of the industrial revolution. Old Fir was sought out for its strong and straight fibrous material. Good enough to make ships, and airplanes, and definitely the sturdiest building structures. A major resource of wood in the Northwest are the North American Conifers. These trees are a vital part to our eco-system, but they are vastly being depleted and exported all over the world. We have been consistently receding our back country without correctly replenishing this resource. It takes generations to recover our internal losses, if we are even able to repair these man-made scars at all.
After 1930 there was a government limit to the use of the old-growth trees, because most were already strategically removed. In relation, the city of Portland is historically nicknamed ‘Stumptown’ because the entire location was cleared to make room for exponential growth. The stumps were finally removed during the mid-century development of our city. On trips to the coast, or towards Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters, we can plainly see the areas of past clear cutting. We know of it’s looming sadness, and it’s difficult not to be stricken by a negative emotion from that point of view.
We borrow this world from our children, but regardless, we tend to undermine values and act very wastefully. It is up to our current innovators to find real solutions within alternative building materials and methods. It is very important to manage forests responsibly. We can change industrial patterns and prevent complete destruction of our most valuable assets. Thinning out the runts to keep the old trees growing faster, and diversely planting native trees in cleared areas for the future, are very important aspects to maintain our natural resources. In turn, we can create jobs balancing the forests, which will also prevent carbonous wildfires. We need to learn how to understand nutrient rich soil, control invasive species without the use of chemicals, and work in harmony with nature.
Against the Grain is optimistic for the world.
