Buying Lumber

[Bob Johnson2]

Can anyone shed some light on the grading of lumber? I just went to 3 different lumber yard web sites and each grade them differently. Can anyone correlate the 3? I understand a little of yard 1, all of yard 2, and none of yard 3. How in the world can you compare prices?
What grade would you use for cabinet fronts?

Hopefully this table transfers.

Yard 1
sel&btr
2c&btr
FAS/1F
1c&btr
FAS/sel
clear
Dselect

Yard 2
Clear
#1
#2
#3

Yard 3
Q1
Q2
WQ1
WQ2
X
Z
WWQ1
WQS

Thanks
Confused in N.E.

[Jim Becker]

Looks like only Yard 1 is using the "normal" designations, more or less. Yard 2 appears to be using softwood nomenclature. Yard 3 is being quite creative...

[Ted Shrader]

Bob -

Agree with Jim about yard 1. Here is some info I pulled down and consolidated from some "official" sites a while back.

Regards,
Ted<table><tr><td colspan=2>Lumber Grading Terms</td></tr>
<tr><td>FAS </td><td>First and Seconds, the top grade for hardwoods.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sel&Btr </td><td>Select & Better. Includes Select & FAS boards.</td></tr>
<tr><td>RGH </td><td>Rough sawn lumber.</td></tr>
<tr><td>R1E </td><td>Straight line ripped one edge.</td></tr>
<tr><td>R2E </td><td>Straight line ripped two edges.</td></tr>
<tr><td>S1S </td><td>Planed on one surface of the board.</td></tr>
<tr><td>S1E </td><td>Surfaced 1 Edge</td></tr>
<tr><td>S2S </td><td>Planed on both surfaces of the board.</td></tr>
<tr><td>S2E </td><td>Surfaced 2 Edges</td></tr>
<tr><td>S1S1E </td><td>Surfaced 1 Side 1 Edge</td></tr>
<tr><td>S1S2E </td><td>Surfaced 1 Side 2 Edges</td></tr>
<tr><td>S2S1E </td><td>Surfaced 2 Sides 1 Edge</td></tr>
<tr><td>S4S </td><td>Surfaced 4 Sides</td></tr></table>

Sel & Btr - This is the top furniture grade, containing the NHLA grades of Selects and First and Seconds (FAS). The lumber will range from clear to pieces which will yield just over 80% clear on the good face. Widths must be 4" and wider and lengths 6' and longer, but most of the lumber will be 6" and wider and 8 to 16 feet long.

No. 1 Com - This is the middle grade in hardwoods. It contains more bark and knots than the top grade, but each board is two-thirds or more usable. Widths must be 3" and wider and lengths 4' and longer. For small projects or when a variety of sizes are to be cut, No. 1 Common is more economical.

No. 2 Com - This is the lowest grade of hardwoods that is normally kiln dried and sold for furniture and cabinet making. Each board must be one-half or more usable. Widths must be 3" and wider and lengths 4' and longer.

Other Hardwood Lumber Grading Info
Sapwood: Lumber that comes from the outside or the live part of the tree.

Heartwood: Lumber that comes from the inside or dead part of the tree.

White: Lumber sorted for the white sapwood - usually Hard or Soft Maple.

Unselected: Lumber that has a mix of heartwood and sapwood.

Brown: Lumber that has been sorted for heartwood - usually Hard or Soft Maple.

Furniture Grade: Knotty White Pine with solid sound tight knots.

Flat Sawn: The grain of the wood runs horizontal.

Quarter Sawn: The grain of the wood runs vertical.
Stained: Lumber that has mineral discoloration or stain due to improper drying.

KD: Kiln dried. Lumber which has had most of the moisture removed from the board.

BF: Board Foot. The basic unit of lumber measurement. 144 cu in is 1 bd ft. For example - A 1 x 12-10' long contains 10 board feet, as does a 2 x 6-10' long. The abbreviation MBF means 1,000 board feet.

Hardwood rough thickness:
Measured in quarters of an inch. i.e. 4/4 is one inch thick, 5/4 is 1¼”, 6/4 is 1½” thick, etc. Common rough sizes 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4, 12/4, 16/4.

[Bob Johnson2]

Thanks Ted, it helps, Yard 1 and 2 make sense. I'll have to call yard 3 and see what their's correlates to. The write-up at the web site says that the NHLA standards were limited so they use the Q setup.

Bob