Buying Rough Lumber

Good Morning.

Tell me, when lumber is described as "select tight knot", just how tight are those knots? When it goes through the planer is it coming to come out full of holes?

And what does it mean if the lumber is described as "shorts"? How short are "shorts"?

What does "4/4 X rdm width" mean?

Thanks all,
:)
 
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Tell me, when lumber is described as "select tight knot", just how tight are those knots? When it goes through the planer is it coming to come out full of holes?

Generally, no.

And what does it mean if the lumber is described as "shorts"? How short are "shorts"?

It depends on who is selling the lumber as I do not believe it is a standard, but it is normally anything under 8 feet in length.

What does "4/4 X rdm width" mean?

Means the boards are all 4 quarters in thickness (1") and they vary in width from board to board.
 
Tight knots usually are safe to run thru the planer, but you might give them a shot of CA just to be safe. Shorts in my area are usually under 6' lengths. And 4/4 is a thickness measure meaning 1" 5/4 would be 1 1/4" 6/4- 1 1/2" etc. Random width is self explained. Have fun.:thumb:

And Bill beat me by 2 minutes.
 
Good Morning.

Tell me, when lumber is described as "select tight knot", just how tight are those knots? When it goes through the planer is it coming to come out full of holes?
around here, that means very few knots and those that are, are actually tight, as in not rotten or falling out...no planer yet so no help there

And what does it mean if the lumber is described as "shorts"? How short are "shorts"?
Varies here by distributor

What does "4/4 X rdm width" mean?
4/4 'by' 'random' width
Thanks all,
:)

hope it helps

edit- I type way to slow, Roger beat me to it{lol}
 
At our BORGs 'shorts' means the actual board foot cost gets ridiculously expensive. Better to buy long and save the excess for future projects.

At the BORG yes Frank but other wise you can usually save buying shots. I was told by my lumber supplier that per Hardwood grading regulations that anything under 8' length is considered a short and is to be sold as not making grade. If that makes since to ya
 
cynthia, pay close attention to lumber yards and their deals on short stock.
If they dont advertise, and you can use alot of shorts, go over to the owner and ask him how much cheaper he'll go if you purchase alot of shorts.
When youre building furniture, alot of the pieces you might need may not be more than lets say 36 inches long, and some places give you nice discounts on 36 or 40 inch lumber pieces.
when I used to build adirondack chairs out of hardwoods, only 2 parts were longer than 30 inches, so I purchased alot of shorts and the lumber yard near me was 1/3 less price for short pieces.
When youre talking hardwoods over 5 or 6 dollars a bf, thats a substantial savings.
for an example of this, take a look at lakeshorehardwoods.com

This dealer is known for cherry, and look at the difference in prices he charges for shorter pieces.
 
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Good advice Allen. I used to buy pallets of pine shorts that were 24" long and all clear lumber it was great for making stuff for the Tole painter at the time. I would buy 5 to 8 pallets at a time, 1000bf/pallet.

Also would ask my lumber supplier for 7' and shorter and save a bundle. It was always the best stock and most often clear as a bell no knots.
 
At our BORGs 'shorts' means the actual board foot cost gets ridiculously expensive. Better to buy long and save the excess for future projects.

I'm fortunate and unfortunate.. I've found a place in Knoxville that sells most of their lumber by the BF and will cut any board to the length you want... if you only want a foot, they'll cut a foot off for you... they sell lots of exotics as well as the local stuff... they'll even run it through a rough planer for you if you want... if it's not already planed on the rack... the unfortunate thing is you can spend a lot of money there really quick... for a wood worker it's better than a candy store.:thumb:
 
I'm fortunate and unfortunate.. I've found a place in Knoxville that sells most of their lumber by the BF and will cut any board to the length you want... if you only want a foot, they'll cut a foot off for you... they sell lots of exotics as well as the local stuff... they'll even run it through a rough planer for you if you want... if it's not already planed on the rack... the unfortunate thing is you can spend a lot of money there really quick... for a wood worker it's better than a candy store.:thumb:

I have that same problem.:thumb: The only way to cure it. Is when you know you are going to be stopping by, know what your after and take just enough money to buy that.
Oh and leave KaLea home.:thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
Oh and for the guy off the street they charge a few dollars to plan the board you want. For me well not so much.:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 
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