Eigenvector wrote:
"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.

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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.

For some reason, this didn't show up previously to my client...I did see
your other comment but wasn't sure what was said...

Anyway, if you're at a place which allows picking and choosing, sure,
leave it go -- somebody will have a project that needs or can use the
two narrower pieces and won't have any problem with it. If you're
buying/selecting only for immediate need and need the full length and
width of that particular size piece, then it makes no sense to take it,
granted.

Given the reference to Lowes, I was assuming you were talking of the
BORG hardwood selection of surfaced material, and "rough" was used in
the sense of defects, not unsurfaced. For that material, sure it makes
sense to only select a full piece as it is select stock. What little
experience I've had buying that kind of material there was the basis for
my comment of "anything goes" -- it seems to me those decisions are made
ad hoc by department or store managers on the spot with no store policy.
Ergo, you can try most anything...

Larger mills and lumberyards, however, typically don't like to deal with
the individual "pick-through" simply for the reason you realize -- it
leaves them w/ nothing but culls (or for graded hardwood that all met at
least the minimum for the grade, the lowest of the grade which is the
same thing).

Some places do cater to that market and are priced accordingly, some
smaller yards will allow it on an occasional "ask me nicely" basis...

If buying actual roughsawn material, someone else noted splits are
defects at the grading time, but checks and splits can (and do) develop
after that point. Graded/selected to length bundles typically will
average a little over the nominal length to account for it. Random
width/length is simply that...

HTH...

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