The lumber grade is determined from the poor side of the piece except for the Selects and 1F grades. The poor side is the side with the least number of cutting units in the cuttings available. At this point, the grade of the board is assumed, and the board characteristics are compared to those given in Table 2. The first characteristic to determine is the number of cuttings permitted for the assumed grade. The larger the board, the greater the number of cuttings allowed.
Some limits apply.
This extra cutting allows a board to be placed in a higher grade, providing an increased yield can be achieved. The cuttings are then visually laid out on the board surface. The objective is to obtain the largest amount of surface area in the cuttings given the limited number allowed and their minimum size. This step requires some skill. In the upper grades, the cuttings are generally required to be clear, and the reverse side of the cuttings are required to be sound.