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Understanding Hardwoods:
Making The Grade...
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
In an ideal world every piece
of wood that was milled from a tree would be
straight grained and free of any defects. When
purchasing lumber you wouldn't have to worry about
knots or wormholes or color variations. It would be
a woodworker's dream. However, trees are living
organisms with branches and leaves and are subject
to droughts, flooding, fire, insects and animal
infestation and disease. Not every stick of lumber
that comes off the mill will be perfect so a system
of grading was established to differentiate board
quality.
Hardwood lumber in the United
States and Canada is graded according to the rules
established by the
National Hardwood Lumber Association, or NHLA.
On a technical level, the standard grades of
hardwood lumber as defined by the NHLA (in
descending order of quality) are as follows:
FAS
FAS derives from an earlier grade known as "First
and Seconds". It is the best and most expensive
grade. Boards are 6" and wider and 8' and longer in
length. Yields 83-1/3 percent of clear face cuttings
with minimum sizes of 4" x 5', or 3" x 7'. Suitable
for fine furniture, interior joinery, solid wood
moldings, and other applications where clear, wide
boards are needed.
FAS 1-Face (F1F)
One face meets FAS requirements and the poorer face
meets Number 1 Common grade requirements. Usually
combined with FAS lumber, thereby providing at least
one FAS face.
Selects
Face side is FAS, back side is No. 1 Common. Boards
are 4" and wider and 6' and longer in length. Yields
83-1/3 percent clear face cuttings with minimum
sizes of 4" x 5', or 3" x 7'. A cost effective
substitute for FAS when only one good face is
required.
No. 1 Common
Often referred to as "Cabinet" grade in the USA due
to its extensive use for kitchen cabinets. Boards
are 3" and wider and 4' and longer in length. Yields
66-2/3 percent clear face cuttings with minimum
sizes of 4" x 2', or 3" x 3'. Provides good value,
especially if relatively small pieces can be used.
No. 2A Common
Also known as "Economy" grade. Boards are 3" and
wider and 4' and longer in length. Yields 50
percent clear face cuttings 3" and wider by 2' and
longer. Grade of choice for US hardwood flooring
industry.
No. 2B Common
Same as No. 2A Common, except that stains and other
sound defects are admitted in the clear cuttings. An
excellent paint grade lumber.
Sound Wormy
Same requirements as #1 Common and better but
wormholes, limited sound knots and other
imperfections are allowed. This grade is not
commonly available.
No. 3A Common
Boards are 3" and wider and 4' and longer in length.
Yields 33-1/3 percent clear face cuttings 3" and
wider by 2' and longer. An economical choice for
rough utility applications such as crates, palettes,
fencing, etc.
No. 3B Common
Boards are 3" and wider and 4' and longer in length.
Yields 25 percent clear face cuttings 1-1/2" and
wider by 2' and longer. Applications same as No. 3A
Common.
The grading above is a
complete set of grades for hardwood lumber. However,
in practice, some of the above grades are rarely
used in the commercial trade and others are
typically combined. For example:
FAS & FAS 1-Face are usually
combined and sold as "Face And Better"
FAS &Selects are usually
combined and sold as "Sel and Better"
No. 1 Common & Selects are
usually combined and sold as "No. 1 Common and
Better"
No. 2A Common & 2B Common as
"No. 2 Common".
The grade of Sound Wormy is
rarely used commercially.
Source:
National Hardwood
Lumber Association
If you have any
questions or comments about this blog entry please
do not hesitate to
send me an e-mail. Thanks and be
safe when working with tools!!!
Burgie
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Robert Burgoyne, also known as "Burgie",
has been doing woodworking for nearly 30
years. He started learning at an early
age in his grandfather's garage and
continued while working with his father
in construction. The hobby has now
become a business with Creative
Landscape Accents. Burgie builds
high quality woodworking projects for
the outdoors and also enjoys making
decorative accent pieces for inside the
house. While not working in his shop
doing woodworking Burgie enjoys
computers, restoring his old
1964
Chevy C60 2-ton dump truck and
riding his Harley-Davidson Road King
throughout beautiful Colorado.
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