Like houndliture above, I, too, am an avid Historical Concepts fan and am smack dab in the process of installing and finishing these butt boards in several rooms of our under-construction lake house. We are using pine boards which were kiln-dried at the lumber yard and which our carpenters 'trued' to a consistent width before nailing to the walls (i.e., to the studs using a nail gun). You will want to consider your final measurement if you choose to true your boards since naturally, some of the overall width of each board will be lost in the process. Also, we stapled black felt to the walls (studs) before nailing up the boards to give a uniform look to the 'pinstripes' (not hard, just cumbersome) AND we made sure to prime the fronts, sides, and backs of the boards beforehand. If you are applying the boards to a finished wall, you could simply paint the wall black to achieve the same backdrop. Finally, it might be wise to allow your kiln-dried boards to acclimate to the ambient temperature in your room before applying them as this might help minimize further 'movement' of the wood. Hope this helps anyone interested in achieving this look!