Curious... Question about softwood lumber grades...

Ken Moiarty · 2005-07-12T05:44:21+00:00

Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as large as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4 foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about 6 times greater (per lineal foot)!After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told me that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much . But what's got me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed (apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does it have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to specify it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and lots of money is not)?Thanx,Ken

Jul 12, 2005 21 Replies

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Dave Balderstone 21 years ago

If you plan on cutting your own, check if there are cutting restrictions due to Dutch Elm Disease. Here, we can't cut between April and September.

djb

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Ken Moiarty 21 years ago

Thanks for the clarification on the "fir" designation... In my original post, I was assuming (I now realize, wrongly) that "fir" necessarily meant, Douglas Fir.

Ken

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