1. Curtis Borne Fort Valley State University
Course: Agriculture Mechanics Technology Unit 1: Woodworking Lesson 4: Identifying Types and Grades of Lumber
Curtis Borne
Fort Valley State University

2. Board Feet (FBM) 1. Board foot = L x T x W 12
Divide by 12 if length is in feet
Divide by 144 if length is in inches

3. 2. Materials used in farm construction
Three major kinds of materials used in farm construction:
Wood, steel & masonry

4. 3. Classifications of lumber
Two Classifications of lumber:
Softwoods - pine, cedar, fir, redwood, cypress
Hardwoods - oak, ash, birch, cherry, sycamore, walnut, hickory, maple
Almost impossible to nail hardwoods & in knots in softwoods

5. 4. Farm Buildings
Made of softwoods

6. 5. Grades of softwoods Two grades of softwood Common
Select - knot free for finish work

7. 6. Uses of common lumber Common No. 1 & 2 used for rafters & joist
Common No. 3 used for studs & plates
Common No. 4 & 5 where strength is not a factor

8. 7. Dressed lumber
A dressed 1” x 4” is actually
25/32” x 3-5/8”

9. 8. Lumber for specific jobs
concrete forms-pine,fir No. 1 & 2
framing building-pine & fir No. 1,2,3
roof sheeting-pine & fir No. 2 & 3
siding-redwood & cedar
floors-pine & oak select lumber others above are common grades

10. Fencing materials When selecting fencing consider:
1. type of livestock
2. permanency

11. Types of paint 1. exterior 2. interior 3. floor 4. roof
5. enamel 6. barn
7. masonry 8. metal or implement paint

12. Rafter length formula a squared + b squared = c squared
take square root of c squared
subtract half the thickness of ridge board
add length of overhang c b a