Grade Defect Definitions The following definitions and illustrations provide examples of the defect terms used in our grade descriptions.  The terms are arranged in alphabetical order and can printed from your browser for quick reference.
	Bark Pocket: A bark-filled blemish in the board.
	Bird Peck: A patch of distorted grain resulting from birds pecking through the growing cells in the tree and sometimes containing a hole and/or ingrown bark.
	Boxed Heart: The term used when the pith falls entirely within the four faces of a piece of wood anywhere in its length.
	Burl: A burl is a swirl or twist in the grain of the wood that usually occurs near a knot but does not contain a knot. Those containing sound centers are admitted in the cuttings except when otherwise specified.
	Check: A lengthwise separation of the wood that usually extends across the rings of annual growth and commonly results from stresses set up in wood during seasoning.
	Cup: A distortion of a board in which there is a deviation flat-wise from a straight line across the width of the board.
	Cutting: A portion of a board or plank obtained by cross-cutting or ripping, or by both. In the common grades, a cutting shall be flat enough to surface two sides to standard surfaced thickness after it has been removed from the board. In the grades of Selects and Better, the entire board must be flat enough to surface two sides to standard surfaced thickness. Diagonal cuttings are not permitted.
	Clear-Faced Cutting: A cutting having one clear face (ordinary season checks are admitted) and the reverse side sound as defined in Sound Cutting.  C1F: Clear one face. C2F: Clear two face.
	Decay:  The decomposition of wood substance by fungi.
	Green:  Freshly sawn lumber, or lumber that has received no intentional drying; unseasoned.
	Grub Hole: One 1/4 inch in diameter or larger.
	Heartwood:  The wood extending from the pith to the sapwood, the cells of which no longer participate in the life process of the tree.
	Honeycomb:  A cellular separation that occurs in the interior of a piece of wood, usually along the wood rays.
	Incipient Decay:  The early stage of decay that has not proceeded far enough to soften or otherwise perceptibly impair the hardness of the wood. It is usually accompanied by a slight discoloration or bleaching of the wood.
	Lumber (Stump-Shot):  That having jagged or irregular ends, sawn from a butt log.
	Mineral Streak:  An olive to greenish-black or brown discoloration of undetermined cause in hardwoods.
	Pin Knot:  A knot that does not exceed 1/4 inch in average diameter in its sound portion or 1/8 inch in average diameter in its unsound portion.
	Pith:  The small soft core occurring in the structural center of the log.
	Sapwood:  The living wood of pale color near the outside of the log.
	Seasoning (Air-Dried):  Dried by exposure to air, usually in a yard, without artificial heat.
	Shake:  A separation along the grain, the greater part of which occurs between the rings of annual growth.
	Side Bend:  A distortion of a board in which there is a deviation edgewise from a straight line from end to end of the board.
	Sound Cutting:  A cutting free from rot, pith, shake, and wane. Texture is not considered. It will admit Sound knots, bird pecks, stain, streaks or their equivalent, season checks not materially impairing the strength of a cutting, pin, shot and spot worm holes. Other holes 1/4 inch or larger are admitted but shall be limited as follows: One 1/4 inch in average diameter in each cutting of less than 12 units; two 1/4 inch or one 1/2 inch to each 12 units and on one side only of a cutting.
	Sound Knot: A knot that is solid across its face, as hard as the surrounding wood, and shows no indication of decay. Sound knots include star checked knots.
	Split: A lengthwise separation of the wood, due to the tearing apart of wood cells.
	Stain: In hardwoods, the word stain is used to describe the initial evidences of decay.
	Wane: Bark or lack of wood.
	Warp: Warp is any variation from a true or plane surface. Warp includes bow, crook, cup and twist, or any combination thereof.
	Wormhole, Pin : One not over 1/16 inch in diameter. Wormhole, Spot : One over 1/16 inch but not more than 1/8 inch in diameter. Wormhole, Shot : One over 1/8 inch but less than 1/4 inch in diameter.