Asking a lot

[Bibbyman]

Mary got a call from one of the lumber yards to quote on supplying an 8' 6-1/4" x 6-3/8 oak post.  Mary questioned why the 1/8" difference.  The salesman didn't know.  He just knew it was a post for a carport.   He's going to call the customer back to verify the need for such specific dimensions.

We can hold board tolerance to 1/32" in most cases but a post sawn out of the middle kind if collects all the evil such as stress or sliver of bark under the cant, etc.  Besides the green oak will shrink and move as it dries.

Just needs one.

[woodmills1]

should get a premium for non regular dimension
charge extra for out of stock need it now
also charge extra for only one piece
I get calls like that alla time but can usually take them into what they need

[bandmiller2]

Prehaps their planning to plane it.I cut for a timber framer and he likes about that amount to dress it up. Frank C.

[Bibbyman]

We've sawn a lot for log and tumber frame construction and usually clear up the specs - right on or so much over.  No problem.   We've even sawed for historical restoration where we had a lot of odd sizes to match what was taken out.   But just 1/8" difference in width is a bit strange.

[JohnM]

What do they do when it shrinks/moves?

[drobertson]

I would say give them what they want, and let it work out how it works out, sometimes cutting close is a curse, been there and done that.   do it and let it go as that.   Otherwise dry and finish to size,  not much else to say,  david

[r.man]

My brother ran a hardware store for years, lots of pipe fittings etc and I can tell you that there is very often a big difference between what people think they need and what they actually need. The ones that listen to common sense tend to return satisfied and asking for advice the second time.

[Tree Feller]

I think I would saw it oversize and run it through my planer to get those exact dimensions. Better sell it quick, though, because it won't remain that size if it's green.

[ancjr]

I sent in an order to a custom sawyer for some small pieces I needed with dimensions in millimeters once... but forgot to put in the note about the millimeters... my reply: "Trees don't grow that big.  What on earth are you building?"

Suffice to say we got it sorted out, and the pieces I got were within 1mm!   ;D

[WDH]

It is gonna split and check, probably.

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

Just curious, would coating the ends help at all? I have not ever done this to any of my logs but wonder if it would make a difference in the long run. Brian

[WDH]

It makes a huge difference in just felled oak logs, at least down here in the South. 

[Bibbyman]

I think I would saw it oversize and run it through my planer to get those exact dimensions. Better sell it quick, though, because it won't remain that size if it's green.

Yes, If they need and expect it to be that exact, I'll have to cut it a little over and either plane it or make very careful trim cuts on the mill. 

Then we will deliver it to the lumber yard 25 miles one way.  Going to be far higher than what we'd charge for a 6x6 ordered by a bunch.

[Kansas]

Customers getting the oddest notions in their heads. And when you have a lumberyard involved, nearly all of them don't understand hardwood lumber, plus you are removed from talking directly to the customer. Best one I had was a lumberyard that ordered oak for the army. They were going to blow up bridges. They called back a couple of weeks later, wanted to know if there was something softer. The oak didn't blow up easy enough. We cut them cottonwood, everyone was happy.

[jueston]

Customers getting the oddest notions in their heads. And when you have a lumberyard involved, nearly all of them don't understand hardwood lumber, plus you are removed from talking directly to the customer. Best one I had was a lumberyard that ordered oak for the army. They were going to blow up bridges. They called back a couple of weeks later, wanted to know if there was something softer. The oak didn't blow up easy enough. We cut them cottonwood, everyone was happy.

having been in he army i can imagine this exactly....

"sergeant, why didn't the your fake bridge blow up?"
"well sir, i think they ordered the wrong wrong lumber, if we had a weaker bridge, we would be able to properly demolish it"

[giant splinter]

I agree with David,
Cut it to specifications and call it done, the lumberyard can entertain the rest of it.
I think Mary's experience and professional nature led her to the question at hand and she acted accordingly, anyone who can spot a potential problem going in is thinking ahead and might avoid having to recut a post that otherwise should have been fine. Good Job Mrs. Bibby.

[Brucer]

I sawed out a timber-frame carport once. The lot was 20' below the road to it was built on a wooden deck supported by 3 timber bents -- the kind that used to support railroad trestles.

It was a very complicated structure and the designer was using some new 3D design software. The program would allow you to specify nominal dimensions and it would deduct a specified planing allowance. This was to be a rough sawn structure but part way through the detail design the designer accidentally told the software to deduct 1/4" for planing.

To make matters worse, the designer was working on another project that had to match existing timbers that had shrunk. He forgot to reset things when switching between projects. By the time he realized what had happened, it was far too expensive to go back and redo all the drawings. So he left it as-is.

The upshot of it was, I was sawing timbers to the full nominal size, other timbers to the nominal size less 1/4", and still other timbers to the nominal size less 3/8". It was a real pain for the framers. Visually it was hard to spot the difference between an 8 x 7-5/8 and an 8 x 7-3/4. I made a lot of friends (and earned a few new customers) when I started putting weather-proof tags on the ends of the timbers with the dimensions on them.