Hit a couple lumberyards and ended up find a 2x10x12' and a 2x12x12' at Menards that looked like they came out of the same tree. Pretty clear overall, which was surprising for boards that big. I'm in business.

Thanks for the help, particularly Bill who offered me a deal on some cypress if I couldn't dig some up.

: After looking around it appears I legitimately can't get A grade
: cedar without driving for a couple hours (each way), and given
: the business hours of specialty wood places this means missing
: work as well. Before I take that step, I wanted to ask you guys
: about my options.

: a. Ordering wood from a place like CLC and being done with it.
: Shipping to Chicago would not be cheap, but neither is gas.
: b. Going to local lumber yards and getting "run of the
: mill" lumber, and just skipping the parts with knots.
: c. A local place has C grade lumber. Supposed to be pretty clear,
: with the occasional knot. A little wood waste but much cheaper
: than gas.
: d. Driving to Rockford or South Bend and getting the clear marine
: grade stuff.

: I'm trying to make an informed decision, so I wanted to make sure
: of a few things.

: 1. I know grain orientation is important for paddles, does it
: matter for strips? The local C grade stuff I would be buying
: sight unseen (they don't let customers pick over the stacks,
: though they're willing to grab boards of color you may want),
: and in terms of color "light" is good enough since I'm
: dying strips.
: 2. A lot of the standard cedar I see, even in huge places, is
: mostly 2x stuff. Is this appropriate to rip down? Part of this
: goes back to Q1, does grain orientation matter.
: 3. Anything else I should be considering?

: Thanks. The local hardwood store has incredible selection of woods,
: but you can't get clear cedar around here for some reason.