On 02/08/2010 15:33, Fred wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:08:05 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

Redwood is the usual pine species you see in every timber merchant's.

I hadn't realised that. I naively thought that redwood was another
species, redder in colour than pine!

Problem is, it comes in a variety of grades, depending where it's grown,
and the retail punter is not party to that information. Terms like
"professional grade" or "joinery quality" mean sod all really

Yes, I had realised that "professional quality" labels were just for
marketing purposes.

In the timber brochure I was sent it talks about grade. the options
are "unsorted", "fifth", and "sixth". I am guessing that unsorted is
what it says and could be good or could be bad all mixed together but
what is fifth and sixth (and where are first to fourth)?

Thanks.

That has never made sense to me either, and I used to buy softwood by
the pack (around 4 cubic metres). A Finnish 5th is better than a Lower
Gulf unsorted, and Russian Karasea is the creme de la creme. Welsh
redwood is used for pallets. The further north it's grown, the higher
the price