Was at home depot last night. Killing time while the wife looked around looking for stuff for a bathroom re-do (just shoot me now...).

Got to looking at the red oak 1x2x8. $.98!! They have lots of them, problem is I suck at reading grain and picking out the right one. If the side grain shows parallel lines, I can read them, only problem is they all run off the edge before they get to adequate bow length. Some run parallel, then the grain lines just kind of disappear. No idea what this means.

Any tips for picking a quality board? Would like to try a 70" pyramid and get up to 50# with it.

They also have maple 1x2s for $.89. It would need backed, right?