A peak at the inside of Chinese disruption

[Dave Grubb]

This in my email this morning:

Greetings, David-
Once again, I cannot open your photo, but I assume it's quartered, and gorgeous.
Just checking to make sure your comma is in the right place....did you mean 33,000 SF, as in thirty-three thousand feet?? My god.
I would relish the opportunity to get that sale for you, but the Chinese are buy the lion's share of the ebony logs today, and they are slicing it at .4mm or less.
I have given up on it as a species because the Chinese production is so thin, and the quality of the cut is horrible. Thick and thin mis-cut veneer is useless.
While I don't want to be a wet blanket, you might want to consider another species.
I have a customer who bought zebrano from me and ebonized it and I cannot tell the difference. I will send you photos so you can see it. It's remarkable.
You're basically turning $2.00 wood into $10.00 wood in the spray booth.
So I thank you for the invitation to the dance on this one, but I will not be able to help, unless you want to go the Zebrano route.
The good news is you can actually get Zebrano. I think you're going to have a tough time with the Ebony.
With thanks, and best regards for the long weekend,
Ben

Simply put--you use (or try to use) Chinese crap or find something else

Our most common veneers are cut in the area of 0.026", 0.4 mm is 0.016"---and that is a huge difference in how it runs.

Another reality that I have dealt with for years: the majority of all cherry veneer comes from Pa and when I go into log yards in China and see piles of Pa cherry it pisses me off---we send them logs so they can add value by slicing and then send it back at a much higher price. I have long been an active advocate of veneer mills here taking control of the Pa cherry.

[Blue74]

I'm sure you know about this.

I remember when I was a kid that if we picked up something and looked at the bottom and saw a sticker that said "Made in Japan", we would just put it back. Because no way would our dad buy it.

I'm tired of buying something, knowing that it might last long enough for the project I'm doing but might not work the next time I need it. It's sad but I'm starting to miss that Made in Japan stuff.

[CactusCurt]

Ok, but why are the chicoms able to do this? Is it through statecraft or unfair trade practices? Would tariffs help...