Buying Wood





Defects in Wood and the Wood Grading System

– FAS
– FAS 1 Face and Select
– No. 1 Common
– No. 2 & 3 Common
These represent how much viable board you can get from a single board. The easiest way to understand this is by looking at the following chart. Buy a higher grade, pay more money for it, and get more material that’s clear of defects.How Wood Gets Graded
So, the way this works, the inspectors look for regions of uninterrupted wood—the fewer interruptions, the better the board’s quality (and the more expensive).
Finding Suppliers


Plywood

Softwood Plywood (Construction-Grade Plywood)

– Exterior: These sheets have been waterproofed and can withstand exposure to the outside weather.
– Exposure 1: Similar to Exterior but not intended to remain bare for an extended period of time.
– Exposure 2: These are made with glue that can withstand limited weather but are primarily intended for interior use.
– Interior: For interior use only and should not be used outside.
– Structural: Typically used for earthquake strengthening.
Softwood plywood is graded as AB, BB, BC, etc. Higher quality faces get an “A,” while the lowest quality receives a “D.” What determines quality is the general appearance of the wood and the number of knots, repairs, or other blemishes.Hardwood Plywood

Multi-Ply Plywood

Final Words
Suppliers that sell quality hardwoods are generally also good places to shop for better-quality sheet goods. There are MANY more sheet stock options available, such as melamine, MDF, particle board, or MDO. They all have their place in woodworking shops, but these forms of plywood are the most prevalent. Last, just about any place selling wood or plywood will cut what you’ve purchased down to a size that will fit your vehicle for free, or for a nominal charge. Knowing the minimum size you’ll need for your project is essential. Otherwise, the wood will fit in your vehicle but might turn out to be too small for your project. What they will not do is cut all your pieces down to size for your project for free. You can expect to pay for this service if you need them to do that.
What about “sycamore or plane tree “wood?
Hi Allan. I have never worked with sycamore or plane tree wood, but you can look up the characteristics of virtually any wood species here:
https://www.wood-database.com/
Thanks
Paul
Woodworkers Guild of America
note: under” MULTI-PUY PLYWOOD you have “1/8″, 14″, 3/8. I think that should be 1/4″ not 14”
Hi Eric, thanks for that. I’ll send a message out to WWGOA to fix that. Thanks!
You can also prepare your using hand planes and then don’t require a planer.