NEW TO WOODWORKING?

If you are new to woodworking, or have never been to a specialty lumber company before, you might be surprised when you get here. We are proud to stock lumber from six continents (sorry, Antarctica), with many available in several thicknesses, and most in the highest grade for your furniture and cabinet making needs. Our lumber is, in most cases, available in both rough and milled form, letting you choose which works best for your capability or budget.

The majority of our rough lumber is sold as "Random Width / Random Length". You should expect to find lengths between 6' and 16', and widths between 5" and 11", depending on the species. Also, most rough lumber will not be seperated by width or length, and will usually not have an abundance of one width or length.

Because rough lumber is so varied in size from board to board, it is sold by the "Board Foot" - a volumetric measurement totalling 144 cubic inches. For example, a board 1" thick, 12" wide and 108" long equals 9 Board Feet (1" x 12" x 108" = 1,296 cubic inches. 1,296 divided by 144 = 9 Board Feet). A board 2" thick, 6" wide and 108" is also 9 Board Feet (Twice as thick, half as wide). Lumber measurements are always based on the original dimensions of the rough board - NOT the net product. A "1x8" was 1" x 8" before it was milled to 3/4" x 7 1/4".

Often, a customer will be surprised to find that his/her lumber adds up to much more than they planned to buy, or that they purchased the exact board footage that the plans called for and still came up short. Here are a couple of tips to avoid these surprises:

1. SET A REALISTIC WASTE FACTOR! Lumber is a natural product, and color variation, knots, wane, sapwood and end-checking are par for the course. Simply put, the rough boards are only the "gross" products FROM WHICH you get your "net" pieces. Some species, especially Cherry and Black Walnut, can require as much as a 30%-40% waste factor (if you want nothing but knot-free, sap-free lumber). And even those rare, flawless boards may be a bit wider and longer than you need.
2. DO NOT RELY ON BOARD FOOTAGE OR LUMBER "CALCULATORS". They can be helpful for "ballparking" a cost, but are, by design, overly optimistic. They do not anticipate the waste factors listed above, and sometimes don't even allow for adequate length waste for end trimming and saw kerfs. They are okay for Poplar and plywood, but not recommended for anything else.
3. ALWAYS BRING YOUR CUT LIST! If you are working off plans, make sure to bring every page with you, especially the cut list. Many plans will have cutting diagrams based on nothing but 8' lengths of 1x6's and 1x8's, and are often very wasteful. With rough lumber of varying width and length, YOU determine the waste factor - not the plans. Just find a board you like, determine what pieces you can get from it, and cross them off the list. Repeat until finished. Most importantly, without the exact cut list, you could only guess whether that little knot is in the way or not.

I found a very good post from a Sawmill Creek forum that sums up the process perfectly.

Click here to read it.