You Call That Lumber Grading?

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

Administrator
Staff member
Has anyone noticed how FB MP has completely re-written and improved the rules for grading lumber? Read that with heavy sarcasm. What the hell is "cabin grade"? Would that be A, B, C, or D? This reminds me of the new trend in shotgun chokes, e.g. "decoy", "pass", "UFO". "wing", "RC", blah blah blah. Let's just toss out century old standards and dumb it all down for the sake of uninformed consumers.

Woke up at 2:30 a.m. in a mood!
 
Last edited:
Eric Patterson said:
Has anyone noticed how FB MP has completely re-written and improved the rules for grading lumber? Read that with heavy sarcasm. What the hell is "cabin grade"? Would that be A, B, C, or D? This reminds me of the new trend in shotgun chokes "decoy", "passing", "UFO". "wing", "RC", blah blah blah. Let's just toss out century old standards and dumb it all down for the sake of uninformed consumers.

Woke up at 2:30 a.m. in a mood!
Click to expand...
Good morning, Eric~

I woke up in a fine mood - and just enjoyed Scott Gilliland's stories and photos from northern Canada. But - I have been planning to post an NDR here about the unstoppable downward flow in too many things. Of course - words - and especially terminology - are at my core.

A couple of weeks ago, I could not find my tube of Lanolin in my (out-of-control) shop. I use it mostly for leather (on oars and spars) - but occasionally when I need a "safe" lubricant - one not derived from petrochemicals. My mental image of my tube - marked simply Lanolin and kept consistently in a tin next to my beeswax - was that it was squeezed fairly flat and almost empty. So, I put it on my list for my next visit to my pharmacy...

I knew enough to ask before searching. The clerk had never heard of Lanolin - and neither had the manager. She searched her database and confirmed: Walgreen's does not carry Lanolin. (Ever one to share my knowledge, I explained to both women the connection between sheep and Lanolin et cetera - but I imagine I have since been consigned to the Crazy Old Coot category - except "Coot" is probably as foreign as Lanolin...)

A few days later - in a hardware store - the customer next to me at the checkout inquired about "Wolmanized" 2x4s... The otherwise knowledgeable clerk exhibited the same blank look I had seen in the Walgreens staff. I told him "That takes me back." - and then relayed my Lanolin tale. His response: "Try asking for castor oil!".

BTW: I was sad to hear about the current choke designations - I was blissfully ignorant. My 1925 Winchester Model 12 is still marked FULL on its barrel.

All the best,

SJS
 
As far as lumber grading, unless I visit a sawmill the traditional lumber grading doesn't seem very consistent or accurate. I attribute much of that to the scarcity of large trees, as much of the available timber land has been cut over two or more times and trees never get more than 18" in diameter. I have not seen "cabin grade", but would view it as suitable for a woodshed until proven otherwise. Corporate speak for sell them what you have, even if it's garbage.

The choke designations bother me as well, but I simply won't buy a choke marked in other than a traditional way. That leaves three options for marking:
1. Full, LFull, IMod, Mod, etc.
2. Constrictions, i.e., .040, .035, .030 etc. These do require knowledge of the bore diameter to make any sense of.
3. Euro designations, i.e. 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 etc. In a 12 that would be roughly IC, M, IM/LF
Aside from the dumbed down designations, I won't use an extended choke either, except for turkeys. The reason is weight at the muzzle. If you want to test it for yourself, take a flush mount and an extended choke of the same constriction and material. Swap them out, swing the gun a few times with each. You will feel the difference, especially in a double barreled gun. I like a lively gun, if you enjoy a pig on a shovel the extended choke is for you.
 
SJ

I think it has a lot to do with mom and pop sawmills selling on FB MP that don't actually grade their lumber and are trying to convey what they have to a buyer that often doesn't know stuff like structural grades and appearance grades. So you end up with a bunch of nebulous terms and some become part of the vernacular while others are just useless and annoying.
 
I'd rather they just say "Ungraded lumber look at the pictures or come see for yourself if it meets your needs." instead of making up bullshit as if it is some sort of industry standard.
 
Eric Patterson said:
SJ

I think it has a lot to do with mom and pop sawmills selling on FB MP that don't actually grade their lumber and are trying to convey what they have to a buyer that often doesn't know stuff like structural grades and appearance grades. So you end up with a bunch of nebulous terms and some become part of the vernacular while others are just useless and annoying.
Click to expand...
Your thinking about small mills may be accurate. Everybody has a portable sawmill nowadays. I and another guy owned a WoodMizer for ten years but only sawed for our own use. It was a lot of work, as ours required that you push the saw assembly up the rails to cut. I can see where somebody with a lot of land with timber might start a small business.
 
There is a standard set. I tried to send one of our sawyer trainees to it down in Memphis last summer. NHLA puts it on, and there is a true certificate program. One can even watch a quick webinar on it to get close. Logan Wells had put one on when he was at Wisconsin Department of natural resources.

Agreed with points above, portable band bills have changed the system a lot. Some states regulate this stuff, shocking CT doesn't. Makes for a lot of frustration at my day job
 
I like the smaller mills for finding local woods suitable for boatbuilders. Atlantic White Cedar and White Oak. You won’t find quarter sawn unless you order it. I believe Maryland regulates wood that any wood used in home construction needs to have a stamp and most small sawmills don’t want to bear the expense.

Rick
 
Eric Patterson said:
Tod, one of them sound sleepers, huh? Not me.
Click to expand...

I was joking, I've been grumpy my whole life, thought you would have noticed. Pretty early riser as I've gotten older too, I usually am up 5ish if I'm not hunting and up earlier if I am.

I've found sleeping is easier when I'm not working, I'm guessing that will be the same for you when you retire given the demands I expect you have in your career. Even though I had the summer and fall off from work, I was pretty wound up with the expectations/demands I placed on myself and haven't been sleeping like I should. All too soon I'll be back to work . Started getting texts and emails from colleagues and that REALLY wore me out. The past several months it has been nice to be under the radar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top