Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions TF Members have the ability to grade timbers??

I am glad I live in a state where the policy is more or less, 'Give us money, and we'll give you a permit. What you use it for is your own business'
In my county, and indeed in a lot of counties in Indiana, there aren't any inspections at all.
But then again, Indiana is indeed the least regulated country east of the Mississippi, and one of the least in the country. And we like it thataway.
And I kind of like that hunting regulations have been getting looser and looser every year for a while now...

No grading required in this part of the country east of the Mississippi, either, yet. I have said this in the past on this same topic, I don't look forward to when it arrives.

Jim,

I have done some research since my last post and I don't know if this is old information or updated?? According to what I have read, there is no "certification" for grading a hardwood timbers but just for softwood due to safety concern?

If this is the case, what is the point of having a requirement to have timber inspected if we end up using whole hardwood such as oak instead of pine?

Just wondering? Unless the information turn out to be old??

Thanks!

When I was at Leesburg, VA and sat in on Bruce's grading talk, he mentioned that NeLMA uses the same grading rules for hardwood as softwood, should you need hardwood timbers grade stamp in the area of the country where NeLMA rules apply.

What I have done, is that I bought a grade rule book. I studied what grade #2 was for timbers 5" x 5" or larger, and try to get all my timbers to pass this rule as I mill them. If the knots are smaller then what the grade #2 rule is then these timbers could be "or better".

You can still have a hardwood 8x8 with a 6" knot in it. So you should at least try and get a grade rule book and learn the requirements and try and make sure all your hardwood timbers meet that grade. Then you'll know that your frame is safe, and you can sleep at night.

Jim Rogers

Some asked me where they could get the book I was referring to.

If you go to the NeLMA site at www.nelma.org and select "reference" you'll see the first item is "2006 Standard Grading Rules for Northeastern Lumber" and the cost is: $8.00
Here is the direct link:
http://www.nelma.org/reference/order-nelma-publications/

Probably plus shipping. But that is where you can get the book I use.

Jim Rogers

Thanks for the info!

Oh! 1 quick question- how do you locate the tree strength data on Grade #2 timbers?? The purpose of this is to calculate the load if timber meet the requirement or not??

Strength of timbers under the grade #2 rule are shown in the NDS values book. You may have to buy that book.
There are sites where you can see these values and get the numbers. I think you can find them with an Internet search.
I don't know if that will help you or not as logs may not be graded the same way they grade timbers.
You need to have "faces" of the timbers in order to figure out the size of the knots on the face and their sizes. Logs do have faces but they aren't the easiest to measure and determine, which is necessary in order to read.

Jim Rogers