After all, when you’re wandering the timber yard at your local merchant and see those coded numbers or letters stamped into each piece of wood it’s not just noise. They are giving us clues to enable us to pick great woodworking stock. Knowing how to assess the quality of wood can help you save money, prevent headaches and ensure that all your work looks professional.
The Basics of Wood Grading
Simply put wood grading is a quality control system for sorting lumber based on strength and appearance, but the other requirements of it (structural integrity), also plays an important role in the manner that certain woodworking projects are built. Consider it as a grade card for every single item of wood you are intending to buy.
Among the factors taken into account during the grading process are knots, grain patterns, moisture content and any other defects like splits or warping. Each piece is examined by professional graders who provide a grade that reflects the structural capability as well as its appearance. For advice from Timber Merchants Winchester, visit https://www.timbco.co.uk/timber-merchants-winchester/
Common Grading Systems Explained
Stainless rounds are the grades that are suitable for applications such as bolts and nuts as seen in construction and engineering, the food industry etc. You also may see ratings such as C16 and C24 — the higher the number, the stronger strength of timber. C24 is slightly stronger than C16 and will be suitable for heavier structural loads such as roof trusses and floor joists.
Appearance Grades — more appearance than strength. From virtually flawless “Clear” grade for very high-end use, down through various grades of “Construction” grade. The boards are graded into Clear for visible applications such as furniture or interior panelling, to Construction grade where the board is hidden in structural work.
Many of the design options available can hit a middle ground with Combination Grades, enough strength yet passable looks at best. Good for projects where some of the wood will show.
Decoding the Numbers
The “C” says it has been machine-graded for use in construction, and the 24 means that wood would fail at about 3.4 thousand pounds of pressure per square inch (the testing system is metric). For less critical applications you have the budget-friendly but lower strength-rated “C16” timber.
Because of all these ratings, you could easily see references to “Prime” for appearance grading or the numbered systems where Grade 1 is paramount.
Making Smart Choices
Do not choose the highest grade automatically. Choose the grade according to your requirement. Your hidden framework does not need Clear grade but it is a complete waste of money using premium quality such as Clear if you are hiding the timber.
