All Aboard
SANDY LAKE TWP, Mercer County — The McKeever Environmental Learning Center is often known for its educational camps, where youths can stay overnight and learn about various aspects of nature.
But the center's oldest program likewise drew an older crowd last week as 18 adults fine-tuned their skills in the lumber industry.
“We have three countries represented here,” said Barry Kibbey, an instructor from the National Hardwood Lumber Association who taught the four-day course on grading hardwood.
The countries included Canada and China as well as the United States, represented by Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Iowa, Kentucky and West Virginia. Attendees themselves were equally diverse, ranging from sawmill workers to foresters to sales professionals.
The course included classroom time as well as time outdoors, where students identified a range of defects in oak, cherry and other prized hardwoods. Students then balanced those defects against a host of mathematical calculations to arrive at the grade, based on useable surface, of the species.
The eight grades range from FAS, used in furniture, cabinetry or flooring, to No. 3B, marketed for its distressed look in paneling or used for pallets and crates.
“It's not really hard once you learn the rules and once you learn the math,” said 35-year-old Randy White, who works for a chain of sawmills in Kentucky.
“I've never really worked with fractions other than in high school, and I wasn't good at it,” he added.
White said after one-on-one time with Kibbey, he was comfortable doing much of the math in his head, although a special lumber rule is typically used to establish board feet.
White has a five-year history at the mill, but has worked as a grader for the last six months. Although experience allows White to determine a grade by eye, he now has the tools to justify those decisions to buyers.
“I can prove a board,” he said.
Also enrolled in the course was Kelley Scott of Ontario, Canada, who will use her skills in sales.
Scott, 26, works for a company that converts raw lumber into moldings and other products. Understanding lumber grades will assist her in explaining a product's value.
On the other end of the spectrum was 28-year-old Bruce Liu, a Chinese businessman who runs an export business from Toronto. Although Liu previously shipped specialized batteries to China, he recently turned to North American hardwood due to the stability of that market.
“Now I know what I'm buying,” Liu said, explaining he formerly had no tools to assess whether grades were accurate.
According to Lee McCoy of Grove City, who has coordinated the course since it began in 1978, lumber grading has been among McKeever's most successful programs.
“This is probably one of my most successful and longest running classes,” agreed Kibbey, who estimates he teaches a course a month in various parts of the country.
He and McCoy both attribute the ongoing popularity of McKeever's class in part to its competitive price of slightly more than $300.
McKeever director Fran Bires said the center covers the cost of the instructor, food, lodging and materials and often makes some profit.
The McKeever Center, a mile from Sandy Lake on Route 358, is administered by Slippery Rock University as a public service institute of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
