I wish there was a way to apply this technique to some of the rarer woods that have fantastic uses in production, like teak, rosewood, and grenadilla.
If you're into hardwoods like musical instruments or fine furniture there's an appreciation you grow for the character of these woods. And a moral quandary with the sourcing of it. It seems impossible to find a sustainable method to source the material. A lot of what we make today will seem impossible in the coming decades.
Grenadilla trees in particular are suffering due to over harvesting and poor oversight in the markets where it is sourced. It is prized for woodwind instruments - and the day is coming where it's only going to be economical to use recycled polymer composites (which have many benefits besides commercial) over true solid wood instruments. If we could sustainably turn these trees into fruit trees harvested over centuries it would be a great service to nature and the industry.
This technique doesn't really offer a solution: as a rule, the harder and better quality the wood, the slower it grows, so the possibility to supply more when demand is high is limited, which makes the wood more expensive, so the temptation of "poaching" it is greater.
They probably mean 'stronger' in the sense of a beam, and stronger in the sense of stronger than the cedar that is not grown like that. This is probably due to the straight grain and lack of knots.
That is not the property people need everywhere timber is used. Perhaps the finger board of a violin needs to be hard. The wooden bed of a scaffolding (and they are still wood in the uk) lorry needs to be tough and durable. An electric guitar body needs a certain density.
Coppice poles are not good for any of these things.
Electric instruments in general derive their sound mostly through the electronics. There are quite a few high end electric guitar companies (like PRS) that would like you to believe otherwise. If you are in the market for an electric instrument please don't have it made from rare, questionably sourced hardwoods!
Fair point (although I'm fairly confident that a straight grain and a lack of knots is very desirable for wooden instruments, so if this is true for coppicing in general (so regardless using mutant cedars) that seems like an avenue worth exploring)
The coppice trees actually tend to have a limited size too
To get planks good enough to make a guitar out of the tree needs to at least twice the diameter of the plank, a plank sawn right through the middle of a tree will warp horribly and probably split down the centre. To get wide planks you need an old tree.
See 'quarter sawing' on your favourite online resource.
With what army? The customs agents get bribed to stamp the lumber with official seals and it is sold to exporters with official documents so it can be shipped with plausible deniability. There's no incentive nor will to protect those trees.
And when there is a will it tends to turn into something like the Earth Liberation Front. I can highly recommend the documentary "If A Tree Falls" on that subject - it also discusses the complex role of the national forestry agencies in regards to managing forests.
Perhaps you are in the forestry business, in which case, fine, but otherwise I would advise against speaking with the unearned confidence of a physicist looking at a different field and declaring it trivial[0]. Most of the time things aren't as simple/easy as they appear on the surface.
Funny, but I do feel like there's not much you couldn't throw a team of programming physicists at, if not just for their widened perspective and the fact that they have such a good springboard to study anything else - wouldn't work if they had the attitude of the guy in the xkcd comic of course.
The latter point is why you can often do well with physics dropouts (e.g. ABD ph.d students,disillusioned post-docs); good problem solving skills but less hubris.
Of course physicists are not the only example of this effect.
I wouldn't be surprised if it were possible, but nobody has successfully tried. It would require a combination of expert knowledge, the kind of long-term thinking/investment that the market currently is set up against, plus a lot of money over a long period of time to be able to afford experimenting like that in the first place.
It will probably take state-sponsored forestry research to figure this out.
Or, you know, a retiree with a penchant for forestry and gardening. All it takes is interest, just look at the community of people obsessed with grafting or other botanical pursuits.
Well, given the time frames we're talking about they might lack the remaining lifespan needed to see a project like this through to the end. Definitely an option to get such a project rolling though.
And your second point is valid too - we shouldn't underestimate the internet's ability to give niche subcommunities a chance to flourish even when people are physically far apart.
If you're into hardwoods like musical instruments or fine furniture there's an appreciation you grow for the character of these woods. And a moral quandary with the sourcing of it. It seems impossible to find a sustainable method to source the material. A lot of what we make today will seem impossible in the coming decades.
Grenadilla trees in particular are suffering due to over harvesting and poor oversight in the markets where it is sourced. It is prized for woodwind instruments - and the day is coming where it's only going to be economical to use recycled polymer composites (which have many benefits besides commercial) over true solid wood instruments. If we could sustainably turn these trees into fruit trees harvested over centuries it would be a great service to nature and the industry.