Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Re: coin sorter mills?
David Weaver
Mills that saw a log and then the resulting boards go through an automated system that groups boards of similar width together.
There are a few retail locations here that must use mills like that because unlike looking boards of very similar widths are always together.
Re: coin sorter mills?
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
I have seen some highly automated mills that automate various steps of the lumber production process but I have never seen a system to sort boards by width, nor any reason I can fathom to do so. If a mill is gang sawing cants there will be a lot of 6, 7 or 8" lumber in the upper grades, depending on the cant and capacity of the gang saw.
That said, after drying there are mills that supply specific products from their KD inventory. For example, Baillie told me they have about 60 oak products, by grade and dimension. A retailer would not be ordering direct from Baillie. There would be a distributor in between retail and manufacture. I suppose a distributor could order a pack (this would be 1000 bdft+/- of some approximate width of oak) but I don't know what the motivation would be to do so.
Re: Quartered lumber and technique comment
Chuck Kettler
Check out Frank Miller Lumber in Indiana. Large mill dedicated to quartered and rift sawn lumber.
Re: coin sorter mills?
David Weaver
I have to admit I don't know how it was done other than seeing something called a "Double sorter" in a lumber operation. I didn't think through when it was used as I saw only the sorter, but you're right - it's probably done with dried lumber after everything is pretty much done.
I think the one that I saw sorted logs by width and length so that each bin had more or less a very uniform product for pallets.
I'm also at a bit of a disadvantage in confirming this is the case at my local retail dealer here (which I don't use), except to note that they cater to architectural/trim work (not to the kind of work going on with this forum). When I get boards from them, they are almost identically sized within a fraction of an inch (despite being rough). It's the kind of place a beginner would buy lumber - you can't pick anything, they don't deliver, and if you ask them to cut down 12 foot boards (in half) to fit in your car, they say they have a $5 cut fee.
Which you then find out is..
......$5 a board when you get the bill. 
I'd guess there's some value to their trim work customers to be able to get boards that are nearly identical in size, and in trim work, things that matter to us probably don't matter to trim customers.
It's usable, and it's cherry, I guess. The exact width rough boards always puzzled me until I saw one of the board sorting setups.
After getting project lumber at the above place twice early on, I got connected with mike digity (of large beech cutting fame), and when he retired, another guy south of here who will deliver 750 board feet here for $50 from an hour away.
There's so much standing and fallen wood here in my development that I don't have access to that it drives me a little bonkers, and even at that, our cherry here is being obliterated by some kind of peach or fruit borer. The old trees remain but nothing under about 16" is surviving.
Still fascinated by the sorting idea as there must be some motive there to be able to maximize lumber price by keeping narrow boards out of retail stacks.
video link
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
The mill has an informative video on their process. You won't see a mill like this one replicated often, or maybe anywhere else. Friend got rift oak for floor from them and it was nicely manufactured lumber.
Re: Quartered lumber and technique comment
Charlie
The Appalachians run from Newfoundland, Canada to Alabama.