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Selecting Lumber for Best Results
by
Brian Campbell, Basswood Artisan Carpentry
(IC: professional)
We all know to avoid lumber with large, loose knots, and twisted, warped, split, cupped or checked lumber... but how do you tell which boards will most likely do those bad things AFTER you buy them and use them? Here are some photos to show you what to look for and what to avoid. The pieces on the left are desirable and those on the right side of the photos are to be avoided. This is based on how wood behaves depending on ring shape, density and orientation. The last photo shows you what the pith looks like on the face rather than end of the board.
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Published October 17th, 2012 7:22 PM
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3 of 39 comments
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Christine Dwyer on Jul 09, 2017
The red typing on top of the picture makes it very difficult to read
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Jere Howard on Jan 30, 2018
Brian, I’m saving and passing info to my family also. Does this apply to molding also? We wanted to do an extensive molding projects through out a basic builders home. As I was sent off to Home Depot to buy molding, my husbands last words, (make sure the boards are straight) The great HD employee and I laid board after board in the aisle to get straight board. I was astounded at how crooked a lot of the boards were.
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Frequently asked questions
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Hi,
Nice info ! but it'd be more complete if you'd le us know about optimal screw placement with respect to the growth rings.
I am under the impression that for a square piece of say 15*15mm the mechanical properties should be diffrent if screwed parallel versus perpendicular to the growth rings ? which is stronger ? which is stiffer ? any pro & cons ?
Thanks very much !!!