Hardwoods

How is hardwood sold?

Hardwoods (Angiosperms),leaf-baring trees that are usually very dense(or hard) used most typically in the production of cabinetry or furniture. Hardwoods tend to show beautiful grain pattern and figure. When stained or finished , hardwoods can be very appealing to the eye.

All Hardwoods we sell are kiln-dried to 8-12% moisture content and are purchased from insured qualified mills. Both Domestic and Exotic species of hardwoods are naturally harvested products. Individuals could have any level of allergic reaction to any of these woods. Our suggestions if you plan on working with any wood material is to work in well-ventilated work areas. If sanding any of these wood products use a face mask respirator so you will not breath in the wood dust.

Hardwoods are sold by the board foot. A board foot is a volume measurement based on a boards thickness times it's width times the length divided by 12 (if length measurement is in feet) or divided by 144 ( if length measurement is in inches)

(Drawing)
T"x W"xL ' = Bdft

Rules about how we sell Hardwoods:

Most customers who buy hardwoods are very particular about their board selection. We allow and encourage customers to select their own boards. (Any assistance you may need in moving stock or cutting boards for transport, please ask assistance from one of our friendly sales staff.) If you want a partial cut on any board, we can cut footage off any board selection as long as the remainder that is left behind is at least 6' in length.

What are the different grades?

It is important for a customer to understand the difference between how hardwoods and softwoods are graded. Softwood grading is based on an overall appearance of the board. Hardwoods grading is based on the total number of clear woodcuttings yielded from a given piece of hardwood. A grader adds up the total number of cuttings that exceeds the minimum size requirements. A grade is then determined based on the quantity of pieces that reach minimum size requirements.

(Diagram of Typical Graded Board)

The Most Standard Grade available for most wood projects are F.A.S.(first and seconds), F.A.S. (1 face), selects, #1common. The most typical grades Capitol City Lumber sells are F.A.S. grade and Selects grade. (#1 Common grade has too much defect.)

(continuation of explanation of grading)

Understanding F.A.S. Graded Hardwood:

A customer might come across a nice wide, long board that we have purchased as an F.A.S. graded board; However , the customer may look at the boards overall appearance and see that it's less than desirable because of a large knot or end check. A customer should understand that a board with this amount of defect could pass grade as long as it's overall clear yield cutting reaches grade standard minimums. At Capitol City Lumber we do not mind adjusting a price on a board (or discount ) a purchase if a boards defect is caused by something in our control, like warp or water stain, caused by pick-up of excess moisture. Our quality control tries to detect these issues when the hardwood is delivered. If the defect is naturally occurring and is allowed in the grade, we feel these issues are out of our control. A customer should then try to pick board that will allow enough yield to complete their project

What is S2S, S4S.

Most of our hardwood is sold S2S (surfaced two sides). The edges of these boards are left rough and un-true. In buying hardwood S2S, a customer will need to use a jointer, to true up one edge an then rip the board to a desirable finished size. When picking out pieces of S2S wood, customers may want to allow an extra inch in width for the finishing process.

Buying wood S2S can save money; however customers must have a jointer and table saw or access to these tools to reap the benefits.(Our future plans are to offer these services to the general public with quick turn around.)

S2S lumber is surfaced or planed on the wide faces. If a customer is buying what we call 4/4" stock the actual dressed surface thickness is 13/16". Below is a chart showing most of the sizes we sell and what their surfaced, or planned surface thickness should be:

Size Called	4/4"	5/4"	6/4"	8/4"	12/4"	16/4"
Actual Size	13/16"	1 1/16"	1 1/8"	1 3/4"	2 3/4	3 3/4"

Capitol City Lumber offers S4S (Surfaced Four Sides) Lumber in some of the more common Domestic species like Poplar and Red Oak. All available in more Standard Nominal sized finished boards, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 1x10 and 1x12.

Cutting hardwoods: Capitol City Lumber can cross-cut hardwoods for easier transport. We have no minimum purchase amounts on any of our wood products.

www.hardwood.org : shows what the hardwood looks like, where it is from and uses.

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