Buying wood for craft projects – Tutorial

I use wood for so many of my craft projects.  Mostly 2×3’s & 2×2 studs.  I run to Home Depot or Lowes, find the right size of wood I need and buy it.  When I get home I hope it works for my projects.

Then I was able to convince my husband to start cutting my boards of wood for me and he was surprised at how crooked the boards were.  None were that straight.  –Well it looked straight when I bought it?? See I am a bit clueless.  So he took me to the store and showed me how to pick out a 2×3 board that was straight.  So I thought I would share it with you.  This may be pretty obvious for many people but for me I learned something.

So first you have your big stack of wood

Some pieces of wood are obviously crooked but some aren’t.  So this is what you do.  You set one end of the piece of wood on the ground and then you look down the other side – and you will clearly be able to see if it is crooked or not –
This picture will explain it better

This board looked perfectly straight from the side view, but when I looked directly down it I could see it curved at the end.

This board is nice and straight, and the one I bought.

I hope this little tutorial helps you like it did me!  It is something very simple but can make an impact on your projects.