9b crosscutting for quality

In this video, I want to show you some of the tricks I've learned over the years

for cross-cutting to achieve better quality wood in your finished projects. Imagine we're starting with a not-too-great board

Lumber like this is going to have a number of defects. Maybe some big old knots, some banana knots, wavy grain next to them

Maybe just have some wonky grain all on its own that's prone to cracking when the lumber dries

Or maybe even the center of the tree shows up in some of the boards

Lumber like this might be grade 2 or grade 3. It's not going to cost very much, but it's also going to have a lot of defects in it

As simple as it sounds, cutting around the defects whenever possible and getting rid of that bad wood can yield some really nice lumber from otherwise low-grade boards

You're going to get nice chunks of wood that could very well be big enough for the project parts you need

It's quite easy to raise the grade of lumber from 2 or 3 to number 1 or even clear status

by the time that wood gets to your projects. Even though you're wasting parts of the board with defects

I still find you come out ahead financially than if you had bought higher-grade boards right from the lumber yard

Here's another tip for you. Let's say you're making a large tabletop or a shelf or any other assembly that requires edge gluing of solid wood

In cases like these, do everything necessary to avoid locating half-knots along joint lines

The same goes for wavy and exceptional grain where it meets straight grain in a neighboring board

This really just looks dissonant and ugly to the eye when it's together, and it's not necessary

You're far better off to locate knots and areas of interesting grain where you can see the whole feature at once

It seems like a little thing, but it makes a big difference in quality