One of my woodworking specialties is the art of cajoling lumberyard workers into letting me sort through their lumber piles, looking for that perfect board for my next project. Sometimes I have to pout and threaten to take my big-time business elsewhere. Usually, though, I get permission simply by promising to restack everything when I'm done. And so, I've spent many a morning working in another guy's business, lining up about a quarter ton of lumber just to get a few boards that suit me.

The first thing you need to do is rid yourself of the idea that you have to use top-grade lumber or a perfectly clear board for everything you make. Most furniture makers don't. They use fairly short or narrow pieces that can be cut from even the lower grades of lumber. You can, too. Just take the time to analyze the size and type of parts you need before you start…

The question of lumber grades can be confusing, so it's best not to get too hung up on them when picking stock. Grades give you an indication of the number of defects in a board, not the board's total quality.
Instead of grade, concentrate on the yield, which tells you the grader's estimate of how much clear wood a board contains….But, how do you figure the amount of wood you need when you have to work around all those knots? The easiest thing to do is buy 20 to 25 percent more wood than you think you'll actually need. "Working wood is not like slicing loaf bread," says Hil Peel, manager of Wall's lumberyard. Waste is inevitable even if the board is free of defects because you lose to saw kerfs, jointing, and other milling operations. Don't underestimate the waste from kerfs; some carbide blades take nearly 1/4 in. per pass.

Once you've chosen your wood, consider how the new environment of your shop will affect it. I like to buy wood at least a week or two before I need it so it can adjust to my shop's humidity level. This generally reduces problems with wood movement from differences in humidity between the shop and the lumberyard. To minimize chances that kiln-dried stock will pick up moisture after it leaves the lumberyard, keep the wood inside in a dry, perfectly flat area. Lumber dealer Wall also advises against putting stickers between layers of kiln-dried wood, saying they promote air circulation and moisture changes.

Moisture can wreak havoc on surfaced stock, and that's a good reason not to buy lumber that way. Wall said some of his customers have been especially discouraged with surfaced stock after seeing how much a species like oak moves and twists shortly after they get the lumber to their shops.

Here's another tip: It's often more economical and easier to mill part of a rough-cut board to produce a project than to process the whole board. If you only need a 3-ft. long piece, it doesn't pay to joint, flatten, and thickness-plane an entire 8-ft. board. Besides, cutting the board into shorter segments can significantly reduce warp in the leftover piece and make subsequent milling operations easier.

Processing your own wood gives you an opportunity to learn more about the material and how it changes with the seasons, says Wayne Raab, head of the woodworking program at Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina.
Raab encourages people to use moisture meters, although the actual moisture level of a piece of wood is not as much of a problem as mixing stock with divergent moisture levels in the same project. "If you mix a piece at 12 percent with pieces at 8 percent, there's a good chance that you're going to have popping joints," he says.

Wood grading is part art, part science for the pros, but mostly confusion for novices. Not only is the grading system complex, but also the rules applied to hardwoods differ from those applied to softwoods. Plus, each species is likely to be eligible for several exceptions to the general guidelines.

Fortunately, you can take advantage of the grading system without actually knowing much about how a lumber grader does his work. You just have to understand a few basic terms.

When a grader evaluates a board, in a way he is actually doing some of the preliminary work for you by gauging the number of defect-free areas, how large they are, and what percentage of the board they make up. Of course, he's not evaluating beauty, figure, and other design variables.

Graders judge hardwoods using standards the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) has administered since 1897. The grader checks each board with a lumber rule to gauge the number of board feet, then uses several fairly complicated systems to determine how many clear cutting units the sawyer can obtain. Typical diagrams for firsts and seconds (FAS) and No. I common boards are shown in Fig. 2. The fewer the defects, the higher the grade and value of the board.
Wide boards are much more expensive than those less than 9 in. but are more prone to cupping and cracking in the drying process, so the sawyer must rip them apart for the maximum yield of high-quality lumber. This is one reason hardwoods are sold m varying lengths and widths.

Pine is graded and processed differently because softwoods are used primarily for construction. Rather than expect the builder or manufacturer to process the lumber, the m& do it and produce stock in standard widths and lengths.

"Whatever you do in hardwood grading, do the opposite in pine and you'll probably be doing the right thing," says William 0. O'Kelley, chairman of the Haywood Community College wood products department, which runs a sawmill and kiln. "With hardwoods, you try to put a defect on the edge so it can be ripped off. On framing lumber, you put the biggest defect in the middle where it will have least effect on strength."

Hardwood grades generally are based on the poorest quality face. Withpine, the best face sets the grade for boards likely to be used by furniture makers. Many defects are prohibited in some grades of hardwoods, but you can have a little of everything in pine, although the grade drops with the increased number of defects.
Pine graded for construction follows rules that would sound very familiar to a builder. There are bans on defects that would destroy the nailing edge, limits on how much pieces can be out of square, and standards that permit crooking to the degree that it can be removed with the pulling force of a nail.

For additional information, check Rules for Measurement of Hardwood and Cypress, ($6, NHLA, Box 34518, Memphis, TN 38184, 901-377-1818), Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine Lumber ($5.25), and Grader's Manual for Boards and Two-in. Dimension ($5) (both available from Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, 4709 Scenic Highway, Pensacola, FL 32504, 904-434-261 1).

I used to shy away from mailorder lumber, figuring I just wouldn't be satisfied with anything I hadn't personally picked. Then, one day a co-worker asked me to go in with him on mail-order purchase; he wanted to meet the minimum for free delivery. The price was good, so I took a chance.

The selection I received was pretty good. The boards had defects, but there was plenty of clear stock, lots of interesting color and figure. What's more, working the stuff and finding the parts I needed was fun.
Since then, I've had good luck with purchases from the five or six companies I've dealt with. If the company offers free shipping for a minimum order, I always buy enough to take advantage of that. If I have to pay the freight, I shop around until I find a deal where the cost of the lumber plus the freight is competitive with local sources. Now and then, I get a board that is unusually difficult to work, but that can happen even if I select each board personally. I chalk it up to the witchcraft of wood, not really a problem worth complaining about.

One way I've found to assure a successful purchase is to study the company's catalogue and call the customer-service department to discuss any concerns or questions before ordering. If the dealer seems too busy to bother with questions, I assume that's my hint to do business elsewhere.

When you decide to buy by mail, begin by telling the dealer what you are building. "Speak in English, and don't try to be Mr. Professional Lumber Buyer," says James Heusinger of Berea Hardwoods, Berea, Ohio. Talk about grades might sound good, but it can actually make it difficult for the dealer to provide what you want. If he knows what you are planning, Heusinger says he has a better chance of providing wood that best matches your project.

The two most common ordering problems Heusinger encounters stem from customers too precise about the sizes they need and customers who don't provide enough information about the wood's use. He says his company will try to provide exact sizes if possible. Most of the time, he tells customers that it's best to concentrate on stock that's suited to their project and to size it themselves rather than order specific sizes and end up with lumber unsuited for the planned project.

Once the dealer understands what wood is needed, the customer should ask what it will cost. Sometimes, the dealer can't provide the stock at a price that suits the customer, Heusinger also recommends customers ask up front about how to handle problems: Can the wood be returned? Under what circumstances? What about reimbursement? Does the buyer get a product credit or a refund? Who covers shipping costs, which can be considerable because of the weight of the material?

To help buyers get used to mail order purchases, dealers often have specials that allow customers to try various hardwoods. One dealer I know offers a 30-pound box of mixed hardwood shorts delivered prepaid in the continental U.S. for $29.