Jonathan
  Lumber is the easiest thing.
You walk right up to the end of the stack. Forget the side or top for a 
minute.
Look at the grain on the end.
Lines going sideways, bad. Lines swirling irregularly, bad.
Lines going kinda up and down and meeting in a bullseye in the very 
middle, fine but you have to cut out the bullseye and a little wood on 
each side. They crack.
 Lines going straight up and down? Pull out these verticle grain planks 
and have a look.
If not too knotty or wany (that's wane as in ragged irregular edges),  
get out your wallet. A little wane beats bad grain everytime though. You 
can cut off wane.
 Remember that name. Verticle grain.  Ain't no lumberman alive who'd 
mistake that name.

 People will use flat sawed wood (horizontal or sideways lines) for 
pronounced grain effect and when the wood used is more then plenty 
strong for the application. But mostly, save that for later and look em 
right in the end for now.  
 Bad as butt sniffing dogs, us end grain lookers! 8^D
    yours, Scott

********** Scott Grandstaff, Box 409, Happy Camp, CA 96039 ********* 
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