Your Overstock Discount Lumber Outlet

All winter long you have been dreaming of your new deck.  Now with summer BBQs fast approaching it is time to make that dream a reality.  You have your plans, stainless steel screws, extra batteries for the impact driver, and a big stack of Ipe.  Ready to build a deck?  Ready, set, WAIT!  Have you given your lumber a chance to acclimate?  Don’t rush in only to have your beautiful deck, buckle and crack several months later when the summer heat and winter cold have had their way with it.

Here are some things to consider before you start cutting and drilling that Ipe, or any tropical decking:

When the tree is felled in the jungle the moisture content of the wood is 50% and higher depending on the season and the species.  Once the wood has been sawn into boards it is air dried to somewhere near 20%.  It is then milled into an S4S, E4E (surfaced on 4 sides, eased on 4 edges) product and shipped overseas to Europe or the US.  The decking goes through some massive changes in shape and moisture content even before it is stuck in a steel container and baked on the deck of a ship for a month or so during transit.

Whether your local lumber yards imports the decking directly or not, the boards then will go through a series of climate shifts sitting in a storage shed.  It may change hands a few times from importer to retailer adding further environmental changes.

Finally you buy your lumber and it is shipped or you pick it up.  You will have very little idea how that decking was stored, how long it has dried, how long it has even been in the same zip code.  Depending on when the lumber was sawn and how far along the decking season may be, you could be using decking that was a tree 6 months ago, or several years ago.

This is a fact of life when dealing with decking.  As an exterior, air dried product this is really the only way it can be done.  Your best bet is to take matters into your own hands when you buy the decking and give it time to adjust from the world tour it has just completed.  Accept that it will need some time before you try to screw it down into a fixed position.  The more the decking can come into an equilibrium the better off you will be in the long run.

So plan ahead on your deck project.  When you receive your lumber stack it in a cool, dry place and let it sit ideally for a week, but at least for a few days.  Most decking lumber is pretty long so sticking it in a garage is probably out of the question.  Cover it with a tarp and “sticker” the lumber so that air can flow in and around the boards.  This will speed up that acclimatization and allow you to get to work that much faster.  You have invested far too much in Ipe or Cumaru to rush the job and have problems come up later with wood movement.

Woodworker’s Safety Week  is always full of great information about working with sharp tools and awareness about dust from working the lumber.  I want to take a few step back to the lumber yard and talk about safety when it comes to moving rough lumber around.

Most lumber yards sell 8-12 foot boards and these get heavy really fast.  A piece of typical FAS 8/4×6 Cherry that is 8 feet long will run about 17 lbs.  That doesn’t sound like much but it can still break a toe when dropped on your foot.  Moreover, the length can be unwieldy forcing you to engage muscles that don’t get used much.  Now imagine an exotic that can weigh 3-4 times as much and add some inches to the width and feet to the length.  This is lower back hurting territory.  Hopefully it goes without saying but always lift with your legs and whenever possible let one end of the lumber rest on something else to take the weight.  When pulling boards from a horizontal rack, lever them off and on to the floor.  Most lumber yards will provide rolling carts and take every opportunity to use them as well.

Imagine trying to get the piece on top only to have the whole stack fall over on top of you.

Just talk to someone who works all day moving lumber they will have plenty of bumps, bruises and scars to show you how lumber can bite back when it is in motion.

Wear tough work gloves when handling rough sawn lumber.  Splinters may seem like a necessary evil, but they can be painful and quickly get infected, causing much bigger problems.  Exotic woods are notorious for oils and resins that cause nasty reactions when the splinters get under your skin.  If left in place painful scar tissue and even blood poisoning can result.  I have seen many an instance where an untreated splinter has resulted in a visit to the hospital and some judicious slicing with scalpel to remove the foreign body.  It isn’t just exotics to be wary of either.  There is no telling how your body will react to a species of wood, but White Oak and Walnut are common offenders of allergic reactions.  Any wood that smells strongly while being milled is an indicator as you are smelling the resins and oils that will cause the reaction.

Of course I’m overlooking the obvious thing there that a splinter is really nothing more than a wood spear.  The small ones are annoying but they come in all sizes and will skewer you quickly.  If checks or wane exists on a board be wary of long splinters that will catch on exposed skin or loose clothing and quickly tear through anything in the way.

On the whole when compared to high speed spinning carbide, rough lumber injuries may seem trivial.  I find that it is exactly when we think things are safe that we let our guard down and get hurt.  Be safe, know the weight of what you are moving, wear gloves, and don’t try to carry lumber in vehicles when it isn’t tied down securely.  Remember Newton’s first law of inertia and make sure that sudden stop at the stop light doesn’t turn your lumber yard treasure into a missile.

How many times have you visited the lumber yard not knowing exactly what pieces you will find and hoping that you can get lucky and get the pieces you need to build your project?  Walk into any lumber yard or look at a price list and you will see many terms like FAS, SAB, Select, Common, etc.  These are all grades of lumber each with a price point attached to it.  Certainly a better grade will get you clearer, more defect free lumber but understanding the grading guidelines will help you get the right dimensions out of your pieces too.

Until you get to the lumber yard to get your material, much of your design can be compromised because you can’t get the sizes needed.  Knowing what it takes to meet a lumber grade can help you plan your lumber purchases and design your projects to ensure you can get what you need.

FAS: First and Seconds

This lumber must be at minimum 6″ wide and 8′ long and 83% of the board must be free of defects.

Select

This lumber must be at minimum 4″ wide and 6′ long.  It has one FAS face while the opposite face can be 1 Common quality.

Common 1, 2, & 3

The common grades follow the same pattern with decreasing percentages of clear area.  The minimum board size is 3″x4′ and clear percentage starts at 66% down to 50%.

Using the Grade to Choose Your Lumber

Defects include knots, splits, checks, bark inclusions, pith, wane, worm holes, decay, sticker stain from kiln drying.  Notice that sap wood is not considered a defect by the grading systems even though the general buying populace wants a heart wood only face.  Regardless each grade has a minimum board size so when designing your project cut list you can count on a certain width and length just by designating which grade you will buy.

For example:

I’m building a blanket chest with frame and panel construction.  Each side will have 3 panels plus one panel on each end.  I don’t want to glue up 8 different panels so if I design my chest so that the panels are 6″ or under I know I will be able to buy FAS lumber and make all my panels 1 piece.  Remember FAS lumber’s minimum size is 6″x8′ long.

Or…

I’m building a bookcase that is 12″ deep.  I would like to make each side from one board but I’m concerned I won’t be able to get 12″ wide stock from my supplier.  I know they always have lots of FAS stock so I can at least do a book match or sequence match from a thicker board to get the grain and color match of a single board.

Keep in mind that these grades specify the minimum measurement and wider and longer boards are always a possibility.  Possible doesn’t help you plan a project however.

So next time you visit your lumber dealer, pay close attention to what grades they normally carry.  Knowing what it takes to make the grade will give you a good understanding of the widths and lengths you can count on being available.  This will help you to better anticipate the sizes of lumber available while at the drawing board instead of hoping they will have the right sized boards when you show up.

It’s Get Woodworking week this week. This is an effort, nay, a movement inspired by Tom Iovino of Tom’s Workbench to introduce the craft of woodworking to the huddled masses longing to cut tenons. All this week, woodworking bloggers are writing articles and producing video designed to get newcomers excited about woodworking and to get them building.

Woodworking like any niche area can be a bit confusing and even intimidating when getting started. There are so many shiny tools, foreign techniques, and wood. Lots and lots of wood. Once the novice gets past the tool barrier and forces themselves into the shop to tackle the techniques, the wood specter is still looming.

• What wood species should I buy?
• What is a board foot?
• What grade do I need?
• Why is this so expensive?

Lumber yards can be a scary experience to the beginning woodworker.  Often the price lists are not published and if they are, calculating board feet on the fly then multiplying by the listed price is not something that the average Joe can do.  If you are not used to thinking in terms of board feet then just getting the right amount of lumber can be difficult.

Even the most customer friendly lumber yards can be overwhelming.  Lots and lots of wood stacked to the ceiling evokes “kid in a candy store” syndrome that will distract the woodworker.

I find that solid preparation prior to going to the yard is important.  Plan out your project ahead of time and visualize the sizes of the pieces you will need.  What pieces are visible and need to be in the primary wood?  What can you make from secondary or less than perfect primary wood? Begin to plan the process of going from rough lumber to ready to assemble parts.  If necessary draw some diagrams of a board and what parts would come from it.  Round up your part sizes to the nearest whole number or even add an inch to account for saw kerfs, wood movement, etc.  This is your shopping list.  It isn’t a cut list but with it you should be able to buy the number of boards needed then break them down into parts prior to milling.

Start with the biggest pieces first.  Will you need to glue up wide panels?  Make a note of that and make sure to find boards that will allow you to assemble a panel by gluing parts together from a single board for best color match. Now translate these pieces into number of boards. ie: I will need 3 boards to glue up a panel for this table top that are at least 6″ wide and 72″ long.

The good news is that most of the lumber industry follows grading standards.  FAS grade lumber (First and Seconds) is lumber that is at least 6″ wide and 8′ long.  At least 83% of this piece must be free of defects.  So usually the average board is a bit wider and longer than the 6″x8′ size to hit the 83% mark.  So even before you get to the lumber yard you can count on the fact that 9 out of 10 boards will be in the 6-8″ wide range and 8-10 feet long.  Of course exceptions to this rule will be found also like longer boards and wider boards but it is best to plan on finding only 6-8″ wide pieces.

It doesn't look like much but this stack will become a workbench

With this in mind I create a plan A and plan B scenario.  Plan A assumes that each board will be 6-8″ wide and the number of boards I need is based off this.  Plan B is the what if factor.  What if I get there and find a 12″ wide board?  Making a case side from 2 pieces is much better than 3 so think about the best areas where a wider board could be used and build that into your plan B.  Head to the yard with the better plan B in mind and seek out these wide boards first.  The same applies to thicker stock.  If 12/4 is needed for sculpted leg then make sure you find that first as the project may be a no go without it or more stock may need to be purchased to glue up a thicker piece.

Inevitably once you have identified what boards are needed for the big pieces like table tops and case sides there will be a score of smaller parts that still need to be accounted for.  Usually these can be covered by the left overs from the boards used for the large pieces.  In building furniture it is rare we need a piece longer than 8′ yet finding 10-12′ boards at the lumber yard is common.  In most cases you will have a 2′ cut off once you have identified your large pieces.  This is the perfect stock for the door rails/stiles, drawer runners, stretchers, etc.  So now I begin to make a list of these smaller parts and begin to fit them in to the cut off pieces. There more parts you can get out of fewer boards the less you waste and the more likely you are to get a consistent color and wood behavior throughout the project.

Finally, I will usually add 1 to 2 more boards to the total.  If you can’t get all your smaller parts from the cut off pieces then these extra boards fill in the gap.  Perhaps you can get the pieces you need but the board you brought home from the lumber yard develops a crack in the end grain as it acclimates to your shop environment.  Now your carefully planned cut list is shot.  This extra board saves the day.

If all goes well and you don’t need the extras then you add theses unused boards to your lumber rack to begin your collection of lumber that you can fall back on in the future.

Now armed with a rough board list with minimum sizes and plan A and B it is time to head to the lumber yard.  Bring your list, a tape measure, and gloves.  This rough sawn stock loves to bite so the gloves will help keep the nasty splinters at bay.  If you are looking for special character lumber for door panels or tops then bring a block plane to expose the grain underneath the rough saw marks.  However, always ask someone who works on the yard if it is ok to plane a small section first.  I have never been turned down in this request but I think it is just plain rude to show up and start planing their merchandise.  Don’t forget a pencil and possibly a calculator to figure you costs once you see price lists.  There are some great smartphone apps on the market that calculate board foot and costs for you that can really help with the whole process.

In the end, ask questions.  The staff on the yard will always be busy but I they are there to help and will be happy to stop what they are doing and help you pick out a board or answer questions about an unfamiliar species.  If they don’t, then you need to take your business elsewhere.  If you are organized and prepared the yard workers will happily help you fill your shopping list.  If you show up and say, “I need some Walnut” and don’t have any specifications then you are setting that employee up for failure as they don’t know what you are trying to build and will have to make guesses that ultimately lead to frustration on the part of both parties.

The lumber yard doesn’t have to be an intimidating place.  Fortune favors the prepared.

When I started working in the lumber industry I was shocked by just how much waste was produced.  What’s more, these lumber importers were throwing away, literally throwing away as in burning, boards that I would love to have in my own workshop.  I very quickly came to realize that “high quality” is a relative term based upon what the intended use of that board should be.  Additionally widths and lengths that were considered undesirable for wholesale orders would make the average furniture maker very happy.

And so Hardwood To Go was born.  Every day lumber importers and wholesalers are culling figured lumber from production runs.  The unpredictable grain in this figure either causes tear out problems during milling or problems with color and appearance matching in the larger order. So they get pulled aside and either sit and weather prematurely until useless or they get cut up for other yard uses and sometimes disposed to power a kiln.

These small packs get lost in the greater inventory and often go unsold until we buy them up in bulk.

Wholesalers are usually dealing in 500 board foot or larger orders and have small packs that keep getting pushed to the back of their sheds.  These packs usually consist of less than 100 board feet and be found buried under many other packs. It takes a lot of labor to get to them but when we buy up the entire stock of small packs our wholesale customers are usually quite happy to oblige with some forklift help.

Very long boards (16′ and longer) are cut down to uniform lengths and can leave 4 and 5 foot lengths remaining.  These shorts are practically useless to the wholesaler and we go find that lumber and buy it.  When we get it back to our yard, the lumber is examined and combined into smaller packs or separated out and sold as individual boards.

This is but the tip of the iceberg that you can find walking around a large commercial lumber yard.  Most of the lumber we buy is of FAS quality and better but we also will get “lesser” grades that may show a defect or two.  Most of the furniture makers I know want those defects to use as a character piece and we hate to see that lumber go to waste.

Our business model is not a new one.  Consider us like an outlet store where all the merchandise that didn’t sell in the big retail store goes when it is returned or sits on the rack too long.  All of our stock is in great shape and our lumber packs have been specially assembled with the woodworker in mind by an avid woodworker.  While we do get figured lumber on a regular basis this is not our specialty.  You can expect to find mostly run of the mill common species, but you will find them in quantities you need and can store at prices that are below most retailers because we have bought the overstock lumber in bulk from the wholesaler and helped him clean up his yard.

It is our hope that this model will be able to help you get your hands on some great quality lumber without costing an arm and a leg and regardless of how close you are to a specialty lumber yard.  Because we buy overstock our inventory can be unpredictable.  We rely upon our customers to tell us what species they want and tailor our buying trips around those requests.  So please tell us what you want and we will do our best to accommodate you.