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The Basics of Lumber

Another important aspect of the entire design process is the choice of material or materials well use in our projects. So for this episode lets start talking about lumber. The first question to ask about the lumber youll use for your project is what are you looking for? Is the piece were building in need of a material that helps it stand out, or do we want the exact opposite, are we looking for a material that allows our piece to blend into the background, one where the material is less important than the overall design itself. Irregardless of which direction your design goes in, there are so many different wood species that will fill the need of your projects final look that the hard part really is deciding which one to use. A few things to take into consideration when buying lumber already dimensioned from a retailer include many of the same things youll want to think about when buying rough sawn lumber. These include checking the moisture content of the stock, how long has the stock been sitting around and last but not least is how much warping is there in each board? All these questions are important when picking the appropriate stock for your project so well cover the things you should know when picking your stock. Terms to remember: Moisture content a measure of the percentage of moisture remaining in a board during and after the drying period. Kiln dried a method of drying lumber inwhich lumber is dried using a kiln under controlled circumstances and is completed in a matter of weeks vs months or years like in air drying of lumber. Cupping warping across the width of a boards face. Bowing warping down the length of the boards face. Crook warping down the length of a boards edge. Twist warping down the length of a boards face in which the boards corners twist out of position.

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