wood quality

[Amanda_931]

I needed a 1x8 a few days ago, bought one at the local lumberyard.

It was the worst piece of wood I've ever bought.

Came out of the Czech Republic.  Here I think it would have been classed as pulpwood.  Pith in the center, knots nearly meeting near the pith, obviously quickly grown..  OK, I hope, for my purposes. After we cut it to length, bypassing the worst of the knots and the pith, we thought about ripping what was left over to stick in somewhere.  Didn't have to rip anything.  Two or three good fwacks with a hammer and it was nicely split longways.  

[optionguru]

I've had really bad luck with the local Home Depot quality.  I've never seen so much dimensional lumber with such warping.  About 1 in 3 pieces was useable.  Luckily I have a great local saw mill for most things.
Peter

[Amanda_931]

I can sometimes find sawn on spec wood at local sawmills.  Mostly too much at a time.