Prime Grade for Poplar


jmaichel

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There are a lot of alternative grading systems out there.  Prime is one that is used in addition to the standard NHLA grading levels.  Think of it as FAS-1 face with square edges.  I know AHEC uses "prime" grade, as well as Comsel.  Here's a link to one their manuals.

Excellent! Thanks M. I should have known just to ask you directly. 

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I just spoke with my hardwood dealer to price out some Poplar. 2.44 BF for "Prime" I have not heard this grade given to a hardwood before and it doesn't seem to be listed as an official grade under the NHLA grading criteria. Any insight would be appreciated. 

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FAS S2S with one edge straight line ripped is $1.29 bd ft at my favorite lumberyard. We all have tablesaws so why do you need the other edge ripped? You do know they figure the board footage before they straight line rip. Do it twice and you either get a lot less than the number on the board or they call it premium , raise the price and sell it by the actual footage left . 10" , 12" and even up to 14" boards are pretty common in poplar. Sometimes it's even fairly flat and well behaved !

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Dang.  That's a great price for that garbage!  About what it should be, IMO. :D

Apparently in its quartered state it is an excellent secondary wood for drawer boxes. I have to agree that I much prefer hand cutting dovetails in poplar as opposed to maple and day.  :P

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NHLA hasn't changed much since the 1950s and customer expectatons have climbed over the years, especially with the greater access to exotics that are naturally wider and with less sap.  FAS doesn't really cut it anymore so a lot of unofficial grades have popped up to try and classify the stuff that exceeds the FAS guidelines.  One point however when threads like this pop up and the wide spread of prices surface is that when all things are equal you won't see very much price deviation.  I'd say no more than .20-50/bf.  If you find a price higher or lower than that range then something isn't equal.  That may be how it was dried, how it is cut, lenght/width spec, additional milling, where it comes from, etc.  In other words there is no free lunch so if you find a killer deal on a species don't be surprised if there is something you don't know about it.  This isn't to intimate that a dealer is trying to take advantage of you (though that happens) but more that there are just too many damn variables to keep track of.  This doesn't mean you can't find these deals, especially when you go direct to a mill where they have total control of the wood from stump to board and can cut down on the costs.  But these days it is VERY expensive to run from cradle to grave in the lumber business unless you produce only very limited quantities (and usually these guys go out of business pretty quickly).

 

Last thing to keep in mind, domestics have been in a price slump for a long time and now that is changing.  Across the board, domestics are going up because the infrastructure to support them has fallen apart and mill after miller and dealer after dealer have close their doors.  In some instances the ready to sell national inventory has been reduced by more than 66% yet the demand for the product has doubled as the construction industry climbs out of the recession very slowly. 

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