When you hear "Wow", "Hockey Stick", "Wane" -- you might think of the Great Gretzky, but you might just be overhearing a conversation complaining about lumber.
Just what do all those strange terms mean when we evaluate lumber?
Wow, Hockey Stick, Bow, Twist and Warp all mean bad bends and often they refer to different kinds of bent wood in different parts of the country.
That Hockey Stick is one that has a bad bend on one end.
Bow generally means it looks like you might shoot an arrow with it and twist means movement around the central axis.
Wow and Warp generally just mean bent.
Wane means that the corners are not square because there was or still is bark on this part of the stick.
Check means that there are splits along the length of the wood.
Cup means that it is warping across the width of the board.
Culled Wood is simply below grade wood that has been thrown to the side because it was not up to whatever standard was being sought.
And Dry Rot is not dry, it is a living organism that just looks dry and can survive through actually drying up. Give it moisture again and it goes back to eating your stick of lumber.