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Got an Elsewhere Knot in Your SPF? Let the Grader Academy Help!

In March, NELMA’s Grader Academy expanded once again with the addition of training courses for Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF).  The 100 Series of courseware is now online, available 24/7/365 for individuals that want to learn more about construction lumber grading.  While the learning modules for SPF will follow similar segmentation as the Eastern White Opening Page Image-webPine courses, there are a variety of characteristics uniquely inherent to the Spruce-Pine-Fir species grouping.

Beginning with the Introduction 100 course, the learning starts with information on “What is SPF and Why SPFs?”  Then begins the introduction of Knots and Wane in Characteristics 101, which includes the answer to what an “elsewhere” knot actually is and how to identify it within a board.  The Series continues with Fiber Failures 102, where timber breaks are defined, then Discoloration Defects 103, where stained heartwood would come into play.  Voids & Distortions and Manufacturing Defects will round out the 100 Series.

As with the Eastern White Pine module, a quiz follows each course to test an individual’s understanding of the information presented.  Any course may be viewed and studied at any time; however each quiz must be passed in order to take the next course quiz.  All it takes is a simple registration to log into the Grader Academy, where the learning progress will be automatically be tracked on a person’s individual profile.

So, an “elsewhere knot”? According to the Academy, “An Elsewhere Knot is any knot in which the center of its displacement (Pith-Center) is not located true to the centerline of the piece of lumber, and the knot does not visibly occupy 50% or greater of a narrow face, and the knot is not occupying both narrow faces.”  Got that?

www.graderacademy.org

 

 

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