How long should I cut my lumber?

[Silas Smith]

I picked up 500bf of cherry but the majority of it is 12'-14' long. I would like to store most of it vertically but I only have 9' ceilings in the garage. I can keep some of them long, but I don't want to have to pick through the stack and I really could use the wall space back. What recommendations do you all have? I'm hesitant to end up with a bunch of lumber that is just a little too short. Is there an optimal length?

[Michael Moscicki]

I'm not an expert by any means, but do you have any project(s) in mind for the cherry?

Essentially figure out what you want to build and see what the dimensions call for. If you're making say a dining room table then some long pieces for the top would be essential.

How long are the beds on your jointer? What length board do you feel comfortable jointing?

[Dave Zellers]

If your ceiling is 9 feet, then the optimal length is 9 feet.

No?

But mark them if you can so you would be able to match up a cut board down the road.

[Silas Smith]

I don't have a project in mind, but I got to pick through a 10,000bf order I was helping a friend with and he let me pick out the best 500 for $1.40bf. I couldn't pass on that deal. I do have a table I have been thinking about, but 500bf will last me a long time. I also got 4 sheets of 3/4 cherry ply, any suggestions?

[Bill McNiel]

500 BF for $1.40 BF? My suggestion - buy a Lottery Ticket, you are definitely on a roll.

[Jim Becker]

I think you have to make that decision by the board...cross cut each one where it makes sense to do so based on grain, color, defects, etc. Set a minimum and maxium size (just under 9' is effectively your maximum for vertical storage) and go from there. You really cannot "standardize" on one board length because it would, in many cases, compromise the quality of your expensive lumber.

[Silas Smith]

Good advice Jim. Normally the knots and such would suggest a natural waste cut but this group is all about 12-18" pure 5/4 wood with no wane. Red from one side to another. Here is another way to look at it, is there any cutoff that is too short?

[Jesse Busenitz]

Good advice Jim. Normally the knots and such would suggest a natural waste cut but this group is all about 12-18" pure 5/4 wood with no wane. Red from one side to another. Here is another way to look at it, is there any cutoff that is too short?

I find that most of my scraps at the end of a project are right under 2' if that's worth anything... Nice score btw.....

[Brian Henderson]

I would honestly cut in two lengths, an 8-9 foot and a 6-7 foot. That will give you some 2-3 foot boards too, that gives you a wide range of different sizes that you can use for different projects. I really can't imagine too many projects that are going to use a 12"-18" board. If your storage space is 9", go as close to that as you can. That's a real catch you got there!

[Kent A Bathurst]

.......... this group is all about 12-18" pure 5/4 wood with no wane. Red from one side to another..........

I think you have a good variety of answers on cut lengths. But I gotta tell you - in all honesty, with that stuff in my hands, I would sacrifice virtually anything to get the floor space to stack & sticker. 12" - 18" no wane....unbelievable.

[Jeffrey Martel]

I think you have a good variety of answers on cut lengths. But I gotta tell you - in all honesty, with that stuff in my hands, I would sacrifice virtually anything to get the floor space to stack & sticker. 12" - 18" no wane....unbelievable.

This is the route I'd take. Make some horizontal racks floor to ceiling that allow for the full length. Something similar to the photo below. If you take your time and separate by color or grain pattern, and put each group on its own shelf, you will be happy for it later. Less need to take apart the whole stack to get a board you know is in there.

308591

[Marc Seguin]

I also vote for figuring out a way to keep it full length. I milled a bunch of slabs of curly maple from a 13' log a year ago. I have lots of space to store them horizontally full length. However I think I'd cry if I had to cut 4' off all of them just for storage.

[Thomas Canfield]

I think that trying for the best 9' sections makes sense. It would be a lot of initial work to mark each board to get the 9' section, which would mean cutting some drops from each end many times to drop knots or splits, but the result would be better quality material ready to be used. I did some Mahogany recently that was 12-14' long and had to be cut down to 8' for storage and used a 8' stick and chalk to mark the cut lines for miter saw. I did save some of the long stock that is stickered on the floor in tight stack for later.

[Scott T Smith]

Silas, personally I really don't like to cut long boards down just for storage, as I like to study the grain pattern in each board and select the portion that best complements my project.

If you absolutely have to cut some of them down, the approach that I would take is to divide the lumber into flat, quarter and rift sawn. Because the quarter and rift sawn boards typically have vertical grain, these would be my first choice to cut into two boards.

If that's not enough to fill your vertical storage, then my next step would be to study the flat sawn boards and cut them based upon the defects and grain in the individual boards. Look for bookmatched boards, and cut them in the same place relative to the ends of the boards so that you maintain the bookmatches.

[roger wiegand]

I'd keep it long. I don't know of any benefit of standing it vertically that would outweigh the flexibility and saved waste of not cutting until you know what you need. Perhaps its a tad easier to sort through boards in vertical storage than in a horizontal pile, but I actually prefer keeping them on edge on a set of heavy duty shelves. It's easy to slide boards out to look at them.

Of course the smart-aleck in me wants to reply to "how long should I cut it? with "until you have two pieces".

[Pat Barry]

I think you have a good variety of answers on cut lengths. But I gotta tell you - in all honesty, with that stuff in my hands, I would sacrifice virtually anything to get the floor space to stack & sticker. 12" - 18" no wane....unbelievable.
I agree - it might be very wasteful and also very frustrating when you go to use them to find out that the cross-cut was in the wrong place for the grain pattern / length you need for your project

[glenn bradley]

Great deal Silas. when I have boards at the yard that are quite long I am unwilling to haul them in my little pickup (plus I don't need the ticket). I have them cross cut at a defect or point in the figure that I might choose to cut them myself anyway. I don't often need extremely long parts but, I do often want similar figure patterns for a set of parts. Most boards present this logical location or, less often, are so homogeneous in appearance that it doesn't matter. Don't stress.

[Silas Smith]

Great advise as always guys. I think I will keep the majority long and make a few more layers on my lumber rack. Of the ones I cut down, I will pay special attention to the grain pattern. In the "what was I thinking" category, at the end of the pick, we came across about ten 12/4 boards that were 8' long and 22" wide with about the last third curly. I only picked up two of them because I was already having to explain to my wife why we were $700 poorer. It was probably the best wood of the lot. If I could go back in time, I would have taken all 10 of them since they were the same price as the 5/4 stuff. At least I live in an area of the country where these deals can be found every now and then.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Great advise as always guys. I think I will keep the majority long .............

Good news. You were gonna make grown men cry. ;)



........ we came across about ten 12/4 boards that were 8' long and 22" wide with about the last third curly............ If I could go back in time, I would have taken all 10 of them since they were the same price as the 5/4 stuff.

Ooops - too soon. You DID make grown men cry. :(



At least I live in an area of the country where these deals can be found every now and then.

You find that same deal again - contact me immediately by PM. Do not post. Don't even speak about it other than in a low whisper. I'll drive over in a rental to get it. Finders fee for you. :D

[Jim Becker]

Good advice Jim. Normally the knots and such would suggest a natural waste cut but this group is all about 12-18" pure 5/4 wood with no wane. Red from one side to another. Here is another way to look at it, is there any cutoff that is too short?

Think about your projects if the wood is clear and size based on how you might get maximum use from them.