This may be common knowledge for others in this group but it was news to me. I was in my local HD the other day and wandered down the aisle with the hardwoods. I noticed their cull bin had a stack of red oak and poplar cut offs stacked on the top. I looked to see if they had been marked with the spray paint on the end as they do with their cull bin items. They weren't marked. There were maybe eight to ten cut offs between a foot to two feet in length. I found an employee and asked him if they were going to go in the cull bin or back on the shelf. He said they weren't going back on the shelf but that they weren't going in the cull bin either. He said they would be thrown away but that I could buy them at the regular linear foot price if I wanted them. He said they couldn't put them in the cull bin because they are sold by the linear foot. I can understand their position- if they put these cut offs in the cull bin it might encourage people to saw off a foot or two and then ask if they can have it at the cull price instead of full price. OTOH I find it sad that this lumber is going to be thrown away. I could use it for small boxes or drawer fronts, etc. In the past at this same HD I have found a maple and a red oak cut off in the cull bin but perhaps this was a mistake or they've changed their policy???
Dale