The Davenport's wrote:
"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..

"dpb" wrote in message ...
Eigenvector wrote:
One other thing popped into my head while browsing the selection of
hardwoods at the yard - some of the pieces were separating or
fraying in sections. I don't know the technical term for it, but
I would imagine it is caused by uneven drying and having two
halves of the wood crook in different directions. Basically the
edges of the wood are fine, its the middle that has split apart.

So let's say you have 1 foot of that on an 8 foot board - would you
attempt to talk them out of making you pay for that 1 foot of
useless wood
Here's a pic of what I mean -
http://images.lowes.com/general/s/split.jpg

At a BORG you can try anything; who knows, you might get lucky...

At a real mill or wholesale yard, that's just the way it comes.

And, btw, since you've been asking questions on hardwood, I'll
throw in one other tidbit I've not seen mentioned but that comes
up, particularly w/ walnut and cherry and others that have such
vivid contrast between heart- and sapwood. That is, by hardwood
grading rules, sapwood is _not_ considered a defect.

--

Just the way it comes....

So all the REAL woodworkers just deal with it and buy defective
boards?

I guess given a choice I wouldn't purchase that particular piece, so
I would imagine it sits around quite a bit waiting for a REAL
woodworker to buy it - 'cause you know that's just the way it gets
sold.

No, you would buy it anyway because (point 1) it is NOT a defect,
just a split. Which brings me to (point 2) cut the split end off and
you've got a 7" long piece AND two pieces to use for checking how the
stain you are using REALLY looks on this piece of wood, you have
material for making plugs, or for loose tenons or, well, you get the
idea?

It's STILL wood, just shorter.

According to the NHLA grading rules, checks most assuredly _are_
defects, and a long enough check will result in the board being
downgraded. Whether sapwood is a defect or not depends on how much and
what species.

Not going to try to explain the rules here--the NHLA rules are online at
http://www.natlhardwood.org/pdf/2007_Rules.pdf. You can find summaries
that may be helpful at
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...r_Grading.html
and
http://www.natlhardwood.org/illustra...adingGuide.pdf
between them will give you a start.

That said, an experienced woodworker knows that some percentage of any
lot of lumber is not going to be usable for any given project and buys
accordingly.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)