About Cook Woods

Origins

Cook Woods had humble beginnings in Chris’s graduate college dormitory in North Dakota in 1997. After marrying Catherine, the two returned to Chris’s native state of Oregon in 1999, purchased land and began building Cook Woods. 'We have a passion for life and enjoy seeing the uniqueness of every specialty wood,' says owner, Chris Cook.

Cook Woods had humble beginnings in Chris’s graduate college dormitory in North Dakota in 1997. After marrying Catherine, the two returned to Chris’s native state of Oregon in 1999, purchased land and began building Cook Woods. "We have a passion for life and enjoy seeing the uniqueness of every specialty wood," says owner, Chris Cook.

Our facility houses a state of the art European WMV 50 hp full hydraulic self-cleaning sawmill with 1/10” saw kerf and 45 ft. long x 6 ft. diameter cutting capacity! This mill sits on 5.5 million lbs. of rock and concrete that has ice/snow melting capability for winter weather. It is complete with vacuum jib crane to lift massive wood slabs with the flick of a switch.

Temperature & moisture control is critical to wood. That’s why we’re constantly working on perfecting the art of wood drying and storing. If wood is dried too fast, the outer layers of the wood crack and shrink because of the moisture in the inner core. To avoid this, we dry wood slower. Air drying takes an average of 1 year for every 1” of wood thickness. Kiln drying typically begins with air drying and ends with a careful balance of heat, time & airflow in the kiln.