Warpage


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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.245.23] on Sunday, July 03, 2016 at 17:33:46 :

In Reply to: Re: Make it simple posted by Jerry in Idaho [162.158.68.47] on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 01:45:58 :

Best prevention for warpage is to select your board. It's harder these days but if your friendly lumber yard will let you high-grade a good one out of the pile, it won't warp. Ideally, you want vertical grain, no knots. Realistically, you can find flat grain with only pin knots, at least in North Idaho where they still grow good trees. Flat grain will cup uniformly lengthwise but it won't do the "potato chip" thing. The grading stamp should say "D-FIR-L", not "SPF", or "HEM-FIR". The tighter the growth rings the better. What you absolutely must avoid is the pith (center of the tree) or anything with big (>1/4") growth rings.

One thing I'll do to get high-grade boards out of a construction-grade unit is buy a little extra length if what's left is prime. Getting the most dollars out of a log is a complicated calculation, and very often it makes more sense at the mill to leave a couple feet of wane or a pitch pocket on the end of a board and grade it as a #2 instead of a #1, or even put it in with the construction lumber rather than making clear finishing lumber out of the best part of it. But that means if you need 6' for your bed, look at the 10s, the 8s, and the "stud" lengths (92-5/8) in the yard. To avoid tearing the units apart, look at the ends. If you see anything with tight grain and wide-radius rings (indicating it was cut far from the center of the log), then pull that one out for a closer look. I once found half a dozen perfectly clear vertical grain 2x4s in a unit of common studs. Sometimes the mills are in a hurry and they just want to ship what they have orders for, which means throwing some good stuff in with the common rather than thinking about it too much. If you end up with flat grain, remember it will cup in the opposite direction of how the growth rings curve, and if it checks, it will be on the inside of the cupping (outside of the log), so if appearance counts, you turn that side so it doesn't show as much.



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