Have a look at this picture and think if you were planning it which way would you do it? As this illustration details, the location of the pith and the extending grain arcs is located at the top of a regular bowl, but at the bottom of a natural edge bowl. A similar thing happens when you saw or plane the long grain with dull blades, or even sand it with well-used sandpaper. If you’re having trouble cleanly planing the end grain of a board with a traditional bench plane (either in the vise or on the shooting board), the problem isn’t the cutting angle of the plane. When the fibers meet the work surface it looks like the point of an arrow that indicates the direction. On many doors the grain runs from top to bottom, instead of side to side. I need to match a Grain direction in order to correctly view the product and the design. New Feature. If you go with the grain, your plane (planer, jointer) will take off its required set depth of material. Your planer is designed for planing wood. People also love these ideas. thanks in advance Luc Prod. across the grain (direction of cut is across the grain lines, but the plane of the cut is still aligned with them) end grain (at right angles to the grain, for example trimming the end of a plank) Grain alignment must be considered when joining pieces of wood, or designing wooden structures. Grain direction ; Grain structure; Relative humidity; Temperature; Air flow; Wood species; Planning; Why Does Wood Warp? The size of the plane’s mouth is irrelevant. The segments are 2.1/4 wide by 5 long. Running the plane in this direction will create smooth cuts instead of chunky, bumpy cuts. Just like the ribs of the feather, you look at the side of the board you are cutting, to determine it’s grain flow. Print . And while going the wrong way along grain direction is better than going across the grain, but if you want your work to look really nice it’s worth learning the right way to work with your wood. No matter which way you feed the wood, you’re planing with the grain part of the time and against it the other part. Then, I created a saw-tooth pattern with a parting tool (or V-gouge). Final Conclusion. By Tom Caspar “Going against the grain” is a familiar phrase. With some very figured and difficult woods, the grain runs in many directions and therefore working against the grain is inevitable. Look at the edge grain. 452. Typically, planers set at 30 degrees can be used for everything and a certain amount of blowout and feathering is expected. Pinterest. Run the plane in the direction of the wood grain. Any help is appreciated! Always plane in the direction of the up-angling wood grain. Explore. Carol Reed: Indeed there is. Left to right? The board will shrink and warp in the opposite direction of the rings in the wood. by Reader Submitted • May 6, 2008. Sign up for eletters today and get the latest techniques and how-to from Fine Woodworking, plus special offers. When you’re planing against the grain, the knives tend to lift the wood fibers and tear them out, leaving the surface chipped and gouged. You want the knives to shave the wood down the grain slope, or "downhill" as you joint. A more in depth discussion of grain direction in wood. Because the natural edge bowl is turned in the reverse direction of the regular bowl, the wood grain pattern is also reversed. The grain is the arrangement of wood-cell fibers. Other materials, including glue, will dull or damage the knives. No one … The text book thoughts on this: – Always alternate the growth rings on consecutive boards (for stability). Today. Wood grain is similar. The primary cause for wood warping is an uneven rate of drying or rehydration of different faces of a piece of wood. thank you. Figured wood doesn’t have a consistent grain direction, making it difficult to joint or plane. The grain in the segments are running the right direction. Report. It means doing something the wrong way.When you’re talking about wood, you always want to go with the grain—cutting or planing a board in… Article by Popular Woodworking. When planing the narrow edge of a board, inspect the direction of the wood grain on the side of the board. Message 3 of 5 *Klein, Mark S. in reply to: lpitre 02-12-2003 04:08 AM. Tear-out from planing, or splintery saw cuts, for instance, will spoil the look of any project. Right to left? Plane the hinge or lock sides of the door in the same direction as the wood grain, applying light pressure to remove very small amounts of wood at a time. But hey, I do what I can. When planing a board with the grain, there is clearly a right direction and a wrong direction, but how can I tell by inspection which way to push before I begin? The culprit is the blade. 0 Likes Reply. Can someone direct me as to how I would change the Grain direction on an applied 'Wood Finish'. All wood has slightly different texture and planing characteristics. Sign Up Sign Up × X. X. To illustrate this, I have carved the letter ‘Y’ (or possibly the trunk of a tree) using a #5 round gouge. This does not change with a laminated stock if the laminations are all oriented the same. Log in. Of course, wood is an organic material, and not all boards can be planed cleanly in one direction. The result is either a cupping of the wood or a crowning, depending on which way you face the board. These wood slabs are on the smallish side. Wood grain is important for more reasons that simply aesthetic purposes. in the wood furniture buisness and im working with inventor 6.0 and i was wondering if somebody would know how to change grain direction on a surface . Planing Resouces ... Also inspect the lumber to find its grain direction and any warps, twists, or bows. Adjust the throat (mouth) of the plane to increase or decrease the gap between the plane iron and the bed of the plane. I came up with 19" x 65" Measure the maximum width of the slab and the maximum length of the two slabs together. I am not sure of the correct Englush name for this plane which today is used mostly for prepping surfaces for gluing. Will I be asking for trouble if I run the spacer grain the other direction or should i glue up enough ebony to run it the same direction as the segments. To control the grain of boards, saw mills pay special attention to the direction in which a log is cut. Highlighted. The grain of the wood is probably the most important part of the wood as it determines the strength and texture of the wood. As you can see, the contrast and clarity is now roughly the same as the original planed board. I want to use Ebony as the spacer. Beautiful grain that makes wood so appealing to the eye can also make it difficult to work. Grain rarely runs straight through a board, parallel to its surfaces. Print. But, at the same time, all professional axe users know that the handle is merely a means of holding, aiming, and controlling the axe head. It is the texture seen on the cut surface of a piece of wood. Whenever you’re sawing or planing the end grain of the wood, the sides of the cells tear and collapse, unless the blade is very sharp. In fact, some boards are hard to plane cleanly in any direction. This is called the grain slope. If you go against the grain, your blade wants to chatter and dig, taking much more material than you can push. RAMON MORENO; ART DIRECTION: VERN JOHNSON If … There is usually a slight angle between the grain direction and the face or edge. Solid Works continues to automatoically assign the Grain direction in any which way 'she' seems to feel approriate.... And it is sometimes random and arbitrary. A board that is correctly installed right side up (or bark side down) will form a crown and allow water to run off the edges. In this case, a very sharp and finely-set blade is required. I have reservations about running something damp through my planer and having to tear it down and dry it out after doing so, but if you have no other way. If this stock were made from solid wood, you could certainly have some latitude about grain direction. So I wanted to plane them together and match up the thicknesses. Trees crook and twist, branches and knots intervene, and grain sometimes changes direction along the length of a board. Tests like this are by no means totally conclusive and only serve as small set of data points in a sea of potential variables. So I thought we’d cover this in a little bit of detail. I removed all finish and all traces of sanding by hand planing the surface down to bare wood and re-applied finish. Some of the articles I have read from some of the “big name” woodworking magazines recommend wetting the wood before planing of you have to plane a piece of burl or highly figured wood where you have varying grain direction. The Way Wood Works: Reading Grain Direction | Popular Woodworking Magazine. It tears the wall of the cells and presses them into the cells beneath them instead of cutting them off cleanly. Planing with Grain: the Right Direction. The only secret – if you can call it that – to planing end grain is a sharp blade. There are many ways to cut a piece of wood, these are a few of the different methods. Thanks! This creates tension and this is shown as warping. The proper adjustment will help prevent tearing out the grain. Eng. Sign Up. Although tearout can be etreme when planing boards, due to dense, evershifting grain direction due to the compact, spindly growth of these tiny trunks over centuries, I find ascoring plane solves the problem. Some tearout is inevitable. Grain direction can also refer to The direction in which the greater number of fibers are oriented in paper or board. Not all woodgrain with wood is created equally and that is what helps to make your hardwood floor unique and beautiful. Once a woodworker understands how grain direction works, milling wood—be it with modern machinery or a trusty old handplane—will become a breeze. Which way would you plane this wood? If a board has been cut so as to show a tremendous amount of grain, then that will affect how that board dries and absorbs finishing stains. I am worried that a cross grain piece that small will crack. To be clear, most people know and think that preferred wood grain in wood handled tools should run generally parallel with the direction of the handle. (Wood) In wood, grain direction refers to the longitudinal, or vertical, axis of the trunk, along which the structural cells are elongated (Cronyn 1990). Grain line moves opposite to cutting direction With care, you can move the grain to create a pattern you like or to make it coincide with other features. I figured I would make a planing sled that accommodates one large slab. They were good queries, pondering over grain direction and alternating growth rings. Get woodworking tips, expert advice and special offers in your inbox . Taking time to read and understand the grain of a board before you start making project … – Try to ensure the grain runs in the same direction throughout a glued board (for ease of planing). Don't plane against it. In fact, in many cases, you would need to orient the grain to minimize the chance of breakage at the narrow point of the stock. Mark the grain direction on the board's end so you know to "start the cut here" on the nearest face.