For many beginner woodworkers, a home improvement store is the most accessible retailer for the wood they need for their first projects. Unfortunately, there are some pitfalls to buying lumber from these stores. If there's one takeaway you should take from this article, it's this: wood always moves.
The types of wood and wood-based products most commonly available at home improvement stores are solid (dimensional and appearance) boards and engineered sheet goods (plywood and MDF).
Appearance boards and plywood are ideal for beginners without an extensive collection of tools.
- Wood that is sold for framing buildings and other construction purposes. Commonly labelled "studs" or "furring strips".
- Sold in boards labelled by their "nominal" dimensions, e.g. a "2 by 4" is not actually 2 inches thick by 4 inches wide.
- Typically sold either "green", or dried to a moisture content of approximately 20%. Wood will continue to dry and move in your home, frequently causing the boards to bow, cup and twist.
- Usually a softwood species such as Spruce, Pine or Fir, leading to the acronym "SPF".
- Wood intended for projects where it will be visible.
- Typically sold S4S, making it ideal for beginners without jointers and thickness planers which are used to square up lumber.
- Although it's sold in random lengths, in home improvement stores these boards are typically sold at fixed nomimal widths and thicknesses like dimensional lumber.
- Available in softwood (most commonly a species of Pine) and hardwood species (most commonly Poplar, Oak and Maple).