THE WOOD WE RECOMMEND

You can use the wood you have but if you have none we recommend urban wood the world's most sustainable wood. Urban wood is recovered from urban trees (streets and yards) and recycled lumber from deconstructed buildings and structures. What makes urban wood so remarkably sustainably is it has the least embedded carbon compared to wood that's transported from across the nation or shipped around the world. Pound for pound urban wood has far more circular economic potential and value than wood from around the world, as it has the material capacity to supercharge local economies with new green jobs, dollars, materials, products and business opportunities. It also has significant capacity of off-setting tree loss elsewhere in the world. Although recycled lumber may have originally come from a far, it's embedded carbon is no longer relevant in its new life and its stored (sequestered) carbon continues to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Types and kind of urban wood. There's softwoods like pine, and hardwoods like oak. Hardwoods are harder and harder to work yet more enduring, with the exception of poplar. Softwoods are lighter and generally easy to work and are not as enduring. Both types are suitable for making your furniture with one of our Maker Kit's. Another form of urban wood is green wood. Green wood is milled from urban trees that have not been dried (seasoned). With a Maker Kit, because its modular, you can make furniture using green wood, be it hard or soft. Because the wood is green, its easier to saw and drill, as its wood fibers are more pliable and the prevailing moisture acts like a cutting fluid. While this approach can save time and money over drying, green wood will require you to postpone finishing until it is dry enough to be finished. As green wood drys the Iconic Joinery will require periodic tightening until fully dried.

See our RESOURCES DIRECTOR for local wood merchants.