After a lot of thought on what wood to use for rebuilding a New Idea spreader, I special ordered some southern yellow pine from my local Menards (big home improvement chain in the Midwest). The wood was labeled #1 grade, so I had expected that it would be nearly knot free and overall nice looking lumber. What showed up had bark on it in places and fist-sized knots. The wood stayed at the store and I didn"t pay for shipping or restocking. Other than the species, I could have picked out better wood from the SPF in the lot. Was I expecting too much from something labeled #1 grade?
- Thread starter MFan
- Start date
Here, Clear lumber used to be graded "clear or better" which I guess meant that even clear could have tiny knots or be "better". I'm only a novice woodworker but as to SYP I now have a different attitude. I obtained a large quantity of SYP 2 x 12 scaffold planking in like new condition. Literally used one time for a job torn down and tossed in the dumpster. Clear, hard, heavy and beautiful. I brought it home and used it for a small deck and steps to my pool. I ripped for size and passed through my planer. My wife painted it with solid stain added a little sand to the topside for traction. It lasted two years! My pool gets little use-by which I mean not every day-maybe 20 times a year. It literally grew mushrooms and turned to powder and mush. The scraps that lay outside unpainted are fairing a little better but not much. I know SYP is good wood but this was not the app for it I guess.
Donald Lehman
Well-known Member
Most lumber I have bought from construction supply places looks like it was processed by The Warp and Twist Lumber Company. #1 grade translates to: if one fool doesn't buy it, another one will.
Find a local sawmill that sells to the public and hand pick some oak, white ash, or hard maple. If you want to save a few bucks and go with a soft wood, go with northern hemlock. Poplar would be okay, IF you can find poplar that isn't warped all to crap. About the only way I know of to cure poplar without warping is pile it on a concrete floor with no stickers. Pile it narrow and pile it high so the weight keeps it from warping. It will be blush green and ugly, but except for the top two rows, it will be straight.
Find a local sawmill that sells to the public and hand pick some oak, white ash, or hard maple. If you want to save a few bucks and go with a soft wood, go with northern hemlock. Poplar would be okay, IF you can find poplar that isn't warped all to crap. About the only way I know of to cure poplar without warping is pile it on a concrete floor with no stickers. Pile it narrow and pile it high so the weight keeps it from warping. It will be blush green and ugly, but except for the top two rows, it will be straight.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
Still waiting for a dry window for knocking down my alfalfa. It's been a fight for most of the summer.
M-MAN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bostic, NC
No 1 and better is about as close to perfect as you can get so your expectations were in line. #1 grade must be something Menards producer sells but they are not in line with normal southern yellow pine graders.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
Sheesh, wrong forum.
if it was stamped it should have been graded according to the SPIB rules---the grading rules are available and it is surprising on what is allowed in some grades. A dense grade is always better than just a Number. They also have structural and select grades---with different allowable stress for each grade
look in the board that you bought, there should be an ink stamp with SPIB and the grade and the mill number where it was cut at. a #1 can have small knots and more that a 3/4" nailing edge. Ill check tomorrow when i get to work. I work in a Southern Yellow Pine saw mill and i know the graders over in the planner mill.
ill find out for sure what the specs are for #1...... stand by
bass
53superC
New Idea thought that SYP was the best lumber for that job as that is all they ever used. I would go back with it. Am curently rebuilding a New Idea and using pressure treated from Menards and Lowes. Except for a couple of pieces on close out Lowes with my wifes employe discount was higher priced than Menards and they even did not have avaible the sizes I needed. I have never had quality problems with either place.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
Why would you put pine in a spreader and not treated lumber,pine rots quickly?
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