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That makes no sense to me. I guess I am slow, but how does that apply here?
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Came across something odd on the lumber I bought
- Thread starter woodchucker
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That was my thought, you wouldn't glue up a board, instead just rip it to 6" wide without the added strip. Only thing I can think is it was rejected from a wider glue up, like one of those 2' wide or more, and rather than re-glue it they just ripped it into 8" pieces.
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It's using every scrap of usable wood to produce a sellable product; I assume that most of the work done to produce the end product is done with exceeding little human effort or direction.
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These days, wood isn’t what it used to be. I’ve bought “premium” wood from big retailers like HD that 5-10 years ago would be considered builder grade.
Less wood to cut, smaller trunks being taken, fewer old growth large logs to rip wide boards from means suppliers are going to start “thinking out of the box”.
Translation: get ready to start dealing with lower quality wood sold as higher grade products.
I find lumber in general has gone in the s-er lately. There was a time you could buy plain old econo-studs for a buck/buck fifty a piece and still get somewhat decent dimensional lumber. Last time I looked at e-studs, I swear they were more bark than lumber and you’d be lucky to find a couple decent inches in an 8 foot length….
Less wood to cut, smaller trunks being taken, fewer old growth large logs to rip wide boards from means suppliers are going to start “thinking out of the box”.
Translation: get ready to start dealing with lower quality wood sold as higher grade products.
I find lumber in general has gone in the s-er lately. There was a time you could buy plain old econo-studs for a buck/buck fifty a piece and still get somewhat decent dimensional lumber. Last time I looked at e-studs, I swear they were more bark than lumber and you’d be lucky to find a couple decent inches in an 8 foot length….
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Clear pine, aka select or #1; just means that it is free from knots pr other defects. Wider clear pine boards are often edge glued nowadays. They're cutting smaller trees and its harder to get wider boards. I'd consider myself fortunate if there isn't bark on both edges.
When I go shopping for lumber, I always hand pick mine. There is some really obnoxious lumber masquerading as select out there.
I also don't buy my lumber at HD. Anyone who refers to their lumber as "white wood" doesn't need my business.
edit: BTW, premium is not a standard lumber grade. It is a marketing tool.
When I go shopping for lumber, I always hand pick mine. There is some really obnoxious lumber masquerading as select out there.
I also don't buy my lumber at HD. Anyone who refers to their lumber as "white wood" doesn't need my business.
edit: BTW, premium is not a standard lumber grade. It is a marketing tool.
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Also, anyone who has tried to hand-pick lumber at HD has probably gotten in trouble for transferring an entire bundle of warped and knotted firewood into the aisle...
GsT
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Our regional big box DIY is Menards. They don't mind if you sort through the lumber. They do appreciate it if you don't at least make an attempt to straighten up when you're through.
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I'm aware, but the lumber yard where I used to go started treating my like crap. Seems they too only want to deal with contractors, and before I stopped going, I could often get no one to write me up. They would ignore me and just keep having conversations with the contractors, and even if the contractor left, acted like I wasn't there. I got the picture after a few times. I was sorry to lose them as a supplier. But I'm not going to get on my hands and knees to beg them to let me buy from them. 22 years and that's how I was treated ..
edit: in my mind, I don't want to hear from these clowns when things go south. They cut their own throats by turning customers away.
I've never actually been in trouble at HD, either. BUT, you can go through everything they've got without finding anything that could even aspire to mediocrity. Fortunately I don't do much with wood anymore, especially since moving to AZ, because the local-ish 'good wood palace' has prices that make titanium seem like a very reasonable alternative.
GsT
This is happening more and more. Not so common in common boards, but it's everywhere. Just like everywhere else, there's CNC machines on autopilot, counting yield, planning yield, keeping track of all the scraps... Nobody did a "glueup", somebody just sent (crap) down a conveyer, and the finished board got collected on the other side as soon as it was set enough to be handled. So it really is a very small cost of putting together these "composite" boards. A lot cheaper than letting a tree grow another twenty years. They're literally running out of trees big enough to get clear boards out of, and the ones that are are far more profitable to sell in value added forms where the return compounds. Pre sorted bundles to industrial users, pressure treated, tongue and groove/shiplap type products.
Sad really, but it's where we're headed...