Is straight lumber a thing of the past?
You can find “straight grain” lumber, but most people don’t know how to order it and most “yards” (Home Depot, etc.) won’t order a small amount (half units, etc.).
Lumber is divided into three “Grades”: boards, dimensional, and timber. Further, dimensional and timbers are graded into “light framing”, decking, beams, timbers, etc. Those grades are further graded into: standard, select, utility, economy, No. 2 &amp; better, No. 1 , etc.
For “Boards”, it’s further graded into “appearance grades”, they are further graded into: finish grades, casing, flooring, siding, etc.
Lumber yards keep a standard grade for framing and a standard grade for trim, etc.
In order to get the material you want, you’ll need to special order the size and grade. (Remember, lumber grading rules allows 10% mis-graded boards in a unit and it’s still considered acceptable. I’d order 10% - 20% more than needed if the appearance grade is critical.)