Cross-grain layouts may also lead to problems (e.g. He continues to blog and publish woodworking books at Lost Art Press. It may sound crazy but pantyhose can help you determine grain direction in difficult-to-read woods. A more in depth discussion of grain direction in wood. This whole process also works if you want to know the direction that the grain runs on the edge of a board. Green lumber shrinks as much as 8 percent in this direction. The way I like to remember this is: When planing the inside of the tree, plane inside the cathedrals. Laying your hardwood flooring horizontally is a … Then, each quarter log has to be sawn perpendicular to the growth rings. Therefore, knowing the grain direction and how it will affect the layout of your project makes a big difference in the quality of your finished piece. If the grain on the edge is straight, you sometimes can work the board’s face in either direction with good results. When faced with this situation in my shop, I used to just guess at the grain direction. Worth the Effort wood grain direction. If your room is narrower than long, it can end up feeling closed in. It may have no distinct pattern of pores on the surface of the wood, like pine, poplar or maple. Grain, Texture and Figure Some confusion surrounds what is meant by grain, texture and figure when used to describe the wood surface. Try light cutting in one direction to see how the wood behaves. If you want to know the grain direction of the edge of a board, take a look at the face. It’s the same for wood. A normal uphill putt will have to be hit harder to get to the hole. Stroke the cat (or board) the wrong way, however, and the cat will bite you, and your board will be as smooth as rotgut bourbon. In the case of a deck board, this determines whether you have a "cup" warp (concave surface) or a "crown" warp (convex surface). grain. Faux wood grain is typically painted onto medium-density fiberboard (MDF), although it can also be applied to drywall. ovals and lines made by. He divides his time between Boston and Maine. Can you hear the barking sound? On the contrary, the cell tissues that grow in We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. No Universal Solution Reverse the direction of your cut. If you want to know more about the way wood works, consider the following tips for analyzing grain and fiber direction: Inspect the surface: When looking at a cut plank, you need to consider the direction of the fibers on the top as well as the sides. Some of the material I have seen is contradictory and is not that helpful when you have a piece of wood at hand. The width of the stock should also affect your settings — use a slower feed and shallower cut for wide stock. Grain direction is most commonly heard in phrases such as “going against the grain”, which results in what is called tear-out, when the wood fibers have been lifted up causing a rough surface (Gochnour 2004). Of course, some species of woods are more stable, and others are more likely to warp. Most boards cup on the bark side. Where rays and growth rings run the same direction, you’ll read the grain correctly for sure. Chris is the former editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine. 4. The nearly horizontal stripes on the edge... 3. Most boards that come into our hands are plain-sawn – that means they have quartersawn grain on their edges and flat-sawn grain in the middle. Demonstrating grain dynamics To find the grain direction of a piece of wood, carve a small shaving off the block. I often tell people that the grain direction in a board is like the fur on a cat. And, it’s easy to see why. If you saw small logs so growth rings run parallel to the board face it’s called flatsawn. The fact that trees are slightly cone shaped can be used to your advantage when reading grain direction. Hello, I would like to be able to control wood direction on a curved body to make it look like steam bent wood. Stroke the cat (or board) the wrong way, however, and the cat will bite you, and your board will be as smooth as rotgut bourbon. Apply liberally with a clean cloth in the direction of the wood grain, let sit for 20 minutes, remove excess, and buff to a satiny finish. If it shaves easily, you are carving with the grain. When looking at the heart side of a board, the grain direction generally goes the same direction as the cathedrals – think of the cathedrals as arrows that point the way that your handplane should travel or that the cutterhead should intersect the wood. Other woods have more open, prominent pores in the grain, according to the Minwax website. These cells are composed of long, thin bundles of fibers, about 100 times longer than they are wide. Planing or jointing operations work best when the knives cut in the same direction as the grain. Definition and meanings. It’s called spiral grain. Some Troubles With This Method Technically, the word grain refers to the orientation of wood-cell fibers. The plane in the picture on the left is going against the grain while the plane on the right is going with the grain. Ian Kirby examines the end grain of a piece of lumber with a 10x magnifier, the grain of the wood is shown on the right. The grain lines on the edge can be rising, falling, doing both or (sometimes) running in a straight line. the clues to fiber direction are on the surface of the wood. Because the wood in most workshops exists primarily as lumber, purchased dimensioned and planed, it’s easy to forget that each piece originally came from some part of … Save up to 68% on 7 issues of woodworking projects and tricks. Observe the wood grain. Turn the block around and carve in the other direction. Stroke the cat (or board) one way and the cat will purr, and your tool will produce a nice sur- face. Try light cutting in one direction to see how the wood behaves. Here you can see the cathedrals, even in the rough. Knowing both techniques will speed your work. A good guide is that grain refers to the wood fibers relative to the length of the tree on the faces and edges of a piece of timber. Pick out a prominent grain line near one end of the piece of wood and set the blade to that line. Roberts takes different approaches with different woods, combining clues he gathers from … Here I’m planing the heart side of this board. And this will help you get the wood surfaced quickly with less guessing and less tear-out. Subscribe ». How To Fill Wood Grain. Read on to learn how! Wooden deck boards typically come in three different cuts, or … Nothing is more difficult to work with hand tools and basic machine tools. Oct 6, 2020 - Understanding tree anatomy, wood grain and movement in wood, i.e., being able to read the end, edge or surface grain of a board; the growth rings of a stump; and the ways in which wood is naturally inclined to shrink or move are all skills worth learning. And the cathedrals are the barking noise coming from its mouth. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality. The idea of making sure that the grain runs in the same direction when gluing boards together is certainly sound. To understand this, it may help to think of the word direction following the word grain. Knowing this trick won’t save you from the agony of spiral or interlocked grain, but it will help you work boards that are in the rough. Photo courtesy of Armstrong Flooring. R. Bruce Hoadley wrote that grain is a "confusingly versatile term" with numerous different uses, including the direction of the wood cells (e.g., straight grain, spiral grain), surface appearance or figure, growth-ring placement (e.g., vertical grain), plane of the cut (e.g., end grain), rate of growth (e.g., narrow grain), and relative cell size (e.g., open grain). The idea of making sure that the grain runs in the same direction when gluing boards together is certainly sound. Buy your copy today! As much class and sophistication wood flooring can bring to a home, the truth is that this is not an easy to maintain material. Subscribe ». Ok, so you have your cabinet doors, and you’re ready to fill the wood grain! The plane is following the cathedrals and the wood is behaving nicely. In that case, read both rays and growth rings on both faces and edges. You plane into the tips of the cathedrals. Make sure to push the tape down really well so paint doesn't bleed underneath. Trees crook and twist, branches and knots intervene, and grain sometimes changes direction along the length of a board. When jointing one face and the bark side is on the table, the cathedrals usually should point to the cutterhead. Glue may penetrate along the grain direction from the spine inside the book block. We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. Faux wood grain is typically painted onto medium-density fiberboard (MDF), although it can also be applied to drywall. This is usually foolproof, unless the edge runs through the middle of a cathedral. Joint one face. Wavy grain is produced when the direction of the fibers alternate so that a board's surface looks like a washboard, as with the figure pattern of curly maple. We have mostly slab foundations in this area and with engineered floors you have more flexibility. Texture map control doesn't give me the option to make the grain direction follow a path really. Planes are used to "shave" thin, uniform strips from a piece of wood, creating a smooth, level surface by removing "high spots." Beautiful grain that makes wood so appealing to the eye can also make it difficult to work. And one-third of the grain runs the other way. When this occurs, you can have a plain-sawn board with grain running one direction up the middle of the board and along one edge, and then grain running the opposite way on the other edge. (You can determine this easily by looking at the end grain.). He's a hand-tool enthusiast (though he uses power tools, too). When planing the bark side of a board, the grain is reversed. The Edges Explain the Faces What gives? Once a woodworker understands how grain direction works, milling wood—be it with modern machinery or a trusty old handplane—will become a breeze. R. Bruce Hoadley wrote that grain is a "confusingly versatile term" with numerous different uses, including the direction of the wood cells (e.g., straight grain, spiral grain), surface appearance or figure, growth-ring placement (e.g., vertical grain), plane of the cut (e.g., end grain), rate of growth (e.g., narrow grain), and relative cell size (e.g., open grain). Recommended Posts. Plane the opposite way and the cutter will act like a wedge and lift up the fibers ahead of your cutter (like rubbing an animal the wrong way). But sweeping shop floors only goes so far toward learning woodworking. It means doing something the wrong way.When you’re talking about wood, you always want to go with… Tear-out from planing, or splintery saw cuts, for instance, will spoil the look of any project. One way to help decipher subtle grain angles is to use a combination square. Understanding the proper orientation and what direction to plane the wood board is very important. It’ll make it easier to plane up and avoid nasty tear out and such. The result is a smooth surface. It’ll make it easier to plane up and avoid nasty tear out and such. Wood has grain As a tree grows, most of the wood cells align themselves with the axis of the trunk, limb, or root. A good analogy for grain direction is the fur on my black Lab’s back. The cathedrals on a board can point the way that the grain is running once you know if you are looking at the heart side of the board or the bark side of a board. Dan apprenticed and worked in two professional shops during the years after college. The grain of teak is used to identify the real teak as the grain is often the result of the cutting method used for these. The harder the wood, the slower the feed rate and the shallower the cut should be. However, this does not impact our recommendations. 1. Wood is fairly stable along its longitudinal direction, parallel to the grain. Read on to learn how! Normally. Well, the truth is that wood-look ceramic tiles have become increasingly popular in recent years. In that case, read both rays and growth rings on both faces and edges. Also, remember that trees are bigger at the ground than they are at the top of their trunks. Each layer of fiber is therefore slightly cone shaped. 3. 2. The most common way to determine the grain direction on the face of a board is to examine the grain lines on the edge of that board. And when the grain spirals one direction one year (clockwise) and the other direction the next year (counterclockwise), that is called interlocked grain. In this short video, Fine Woodworking executive art director Michael Pekovich demystifies grain direction. Cathedrals, Hearts and Barking Mutts https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/popwood_logos-01.png, https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/Grain-direction-opener-113x113.jpg, Shaker Storage & Shelving Shop Resources Collection, © 2020 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved, A Local’s Recommendations for Woodworking in America, Chris Schwarz Blog, Woodworking Blogs, Woodworking In America, Flexner on Finishing Blog, Woodworking Blogs, Free Woodworking Downloads From Lee Valley, I Can Do That! Wood may have different types of pores. If wood is not refinished regularly, it tends to scratch and gets an ugly wear pattern. These types of wood are called closed grain and do not require filling of pores to achieve a smooth finish. Run a plane with the grain and you will experience a smooth cut, free of tear-out. Take off all the hardware, make sure everything is CLEAN. Set the feed rate and the depth of cut according to the wood species. Take the board to the planer and insert it into the machine (bark-side-down again) with the cathedrals pointing away from the machine’s cutterhead. How to Plane Wood. Wood is Constantly Moving. Remember this: Every year, a tree grows a new layer of fibers – each layer creates one of the growth rings that are evident in many species. Wood is different due to its annual-ring-and-grain structure. And that is why they invented wide belt sanders. Set the feed rate and the depth of cut according to the wood species. Then, slide the square along the wood to see if that grain line rises or falls along the length. I use my grandmother’s old knee highs. Instead, the fibers wrap around the trunk in a spiral. (And Vice Versa) If you understand that trees are cones, you can use this to your advantage. Understanding Wood. Russell Jokela, a woodworker living in Japan. Adding wood grain to laminate wood furniture, tabletops, or walls will give them the appearance of expensive, high-quality oak. Feature panels: horizontal grain Incorporating woodgrain feature panels into your kitchen colour scheme is a sure set way to add warmth to a space. Though you might not be able to see every grain line on a rough board, you can usually pick out the cathedrals. I. often tell people that the grain direction in a board is like the fur on a cat. Wipe in the direction of the grain. Want to know how to plane or joint this edge? Look at the wide face of the 1-by-6 board and note the light and dark stripes that progress from one end to the other. While my dog seems to enjoy the attention either way, one direction is clearly against the grain. If you’re in a hurry and aren’t worried about grain direction, one click on a component (or group) applies the image to all the front faces of the component. While that seems simple enough, the thing I sometimes neglect to mention is that boards (like cats) can behave unpredictably. This methodology is important not just with handplanes, but also power tools. In true quartersawn wood, the log must be sawn lengthwise into quarters. You can access the full supply list and watch the video tutorial by clicking HERE! It is just one of many tips and techniques in his brand-new 190-page book, “Hybrid Woodworking.” What a great read. What is typical with these miscreants is that you end up with a board that’s separated into thirds: Two-thirds of the board has grain in one direction. This is another common floor pattern. Thanks! Vertical-grained wood has fine, straight and regular lines on the surface of the board, and it’s one of my favourite grain patterns. The width of the stock should also affect your settings — use a slower feed and shallower cut for wide stock. However, this does not impact our recommendations. As woodworkers, it’s important for us to learn how to read the grain. Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. Grain patterns on the face of boards can be deceiving. We show you two ways to read grain direction (even in rough stock) that will help you get tear-out-free surfaces. This is usually foolproof, unless the edge runs through the middle of a cathedral. As a general rule, if you are planing the top, use the side as your guide and visa-versa. Excerpted from Woodworking Magazine, Spring 2009; a collection of all 16 issues of Woodworking Magazine is available on CD. Trees are Cones Learn how to read wood grain so that you can make nice smooth cuts with the grain instead of against the grain. If you want to know the grain direction on the face of a board, simply look at the side grain. Explore. – Simple Woodworking Projects, a collection of all 16 issues of Woodworking Magazine is available on CD. After sharpening the bowl gouge, nothing contributes to the reduction of grain tear out more than cutting in the proper direction with supported cuts. Worth the Effort Run it against the grain, and you’ll deal with excessive plane chatter and tear-out. Although a quartersawn board has the same planes, its end-, face-, and edge-grain views will look different from a flatsawn board. If I pet him from head to tail, my hand passes smoothly along his fur with no friction. Simply bunch the hose up into a ball and run it across the surface of the board in both directions. To judge the grain direction on the edge, look at the face. Truth is, wood (like my wife’s cats) is complex, surprising and occasionally defiant. 2. Wood moves much more across the grain, tangent to the growth rings. You should notice that in one direction the material slides freely (with the grain), but in the other direction it catches on seemingly invisible fibers (against the grain). All the lines in the wood will point in the same direction. These two techniques work well with domestic hardwoods and softwoods, but they aren’t foolproof when it comes to exotic woods with interlocked grain, such as mahogany. we call patterns of. You can usually bend and snap a small, dead, tree branch with your bare hands, but you'll find it almost impossible to stretch or compress the same branch if you try pulling or pushing it in the opposite direction. The clues to look for are on the edge adjacent to the surface you’ll plane.To plane the top (1), look at the side (2).To plane the side, look at the top. In these situations, I employ the pantyhose trick. Additionally, a tree grows in concentric layers, producing annual rings. Taking time to read and understand the grain of a board before you start making project parts from it … That article changed the way I look at boards when I take them to the jointer, planer or workbench. Definition and meanings. Types of Edge Grain in Deck Boards. To judge the grain direction on the edge, look at the face. The first time I ever saw this idea explained so simply and brilliantly was in an article by By crosscutter55, June 7, 2017 in Q&A. Check the board for cupping. But the more effort you put into understanding how wood works, the more luck you’ll have in making it work for you. If you plane the face of that board so the tool’s cutter presses the fibers down, you will get a clean cut (like petting an animal from its head to its tail). The cell tissues that grow in spring and summer are relatively soft. 3. This is what gives wood its grain direction. Sometimes the edges can offer confusing or contradictory information, especially with plain-sawn boards that have quartersawn grain along the edges. And some wood with twisted grain will never be stable, but all things being equal, I believe the better the quartering, the more stable the wood. You will be able to tell at a glance what direction the grain likely runs in almost any board, even if that board is rough-sawn and the grain lines are almost impossible to see. “grain” of the wood.We.… DIY Projects .. The Way Wood Works: Reading Grain Direction | Popular Woodworking Magazine By Tom Caspar “Going against the grain” is a familiar phrase. Where they run in opposite directions, you're really just flipping a coin. If the grain on the edge is straight, you sometimes can work the board’s face in either direction with good results. If you are uncertain of the grain direction, there are techniques you can use to determine the direction in papers. As a result, he knows reliable ways to read the grain and avoid tearout on all types of wood. I have some ten inch wide spruce and cedar guitar top wood that is only 1/8″ thick, but is perfectly quartered. Green lumber shrinks only 0.01 percent of its length as it dries. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality. Check the face of the board for the direction the cathedrals are pointing. If the grain reverses and goes up and down on the edge, sometimes you have to work in two directions, or you have to sand or scrape out the resulting tear-out. Simply read the grain lines on the face of a board to determine how to plane or joint the board’s edge. Read the grain direction on its adjacent face. 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… I have been trying to educate myself regarding grain direction and how to read it. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/popwood_logos-01.png, https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/faceedge-150x150.jpg, Shaker Storage & Shelving Shop Resources Collection, © 2020 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved, What to Do in Cincinnati (Other than WIA, of Course), Shop Blog, Woodworking Blogs, Woodworking In America, Woodworking Shows, Free Woodworking Downloads From Lee Valley, I Can Do That! When planing the board, the heart-side cathedrals should point away from the cutterhead. It means doing something the wrong way.When youre talking about wood you always want to go with the graincutting or planing a board in a way that follows the natural structure of the tree (Photo 1). Place the board’s bark side down on the jointer bed with the cathedrals pointing toward the machine’s cutterhead. the growth rings the. Book may not open properly if it is bound with wrong grain direction. If you have time, open the components and apply the image to one face at a time. 3. Adding wood grain to laminate wood furniture, tabletops, or walls will give them the appearance of expensive, high-quality oak. Where they run in opposite directions, you're really just flipping a coin. Examine the long, narrow edge of the board that runs parallel to the face. You’ll get a wilder, more pronounced grain pattern, which suits some projects perfectly. Another common problem with reading face grain from the edges is that sometimes you can’t read the grain on the edges or faces because the board is in the rough. As you may know, trees grow more and faster in the spring and summer months than they do in the autumn and winter. In sawing operations, a cut across the grain… Of course, wood is an organic material, and not all boards can be planed cleanly in one direction. Fortunately, this is easy to do on most boards. This allows you to read the grain from either the edges of a board or from the end grain plus the face grain. Read the Tips. How to Read Grain Direction in Wood 1. And so, a mature tree is merely a series of cones stacked up on top of one another – I like to think of trees as a stack of ice cream cones. Graining wood is the process of creating a faux wood grain on a non-wood surface, usually for aesthetic reasons. The same holds when you're cutting wood. Here’s how I proceed with a powered jointer and planer: 1. As he explains, the cells that grow vertically in the tree, known as fiber, are the key to the whole puzzle. Reading the grain on the edges works about 75 percent of the time for me. Grain direction is very important and makes a huge difference as to how the paper will react when you attempt to fold, score and bind it. I spoke with an older woodworker at Half-Price books the other day and he said many trees are so different they don’t fit the rules about grain. If the knife digs into the wood, you are cutting against the grain. The dumb way I remember this is that when I’m working on the bark side of a board I think of my plane as a dog (what is it with me and animals?). Graining wood is the process of creating a faux wood grain on a non-wood surface, usually for aesthetic reasons. Pages may curl and flare, edges may become wavy. – Simple Woodworking Projects. A plane is an indispensable tool for smoothing and shaping wood. DIY and Crafts. covers have grain direction that is different to grain direction of paper). Yet another exception - if you have solid wood floors (not engineered) on a pier and beam foundation, then you don't have a lot of choice as far as which direction to run the flooring, It would best be run perpendicular to the joists. There are good reasons for reading the grain direction in wood. Supported wood grain. WW'nTip-of-Day #043: Reading Grain Understanding how grain goes is one of the most important lessons a beginning woodworker can master. Read the grain direction on its adjacent face. If I was wrong, I would turn the board around and hope I had enough material thickness remaining to remove the tear-out. If the wood is unfinished, then look at the texture of the grain. Well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. And sometimes you will get bit even when you think you are doing everything right. … can fool you. It’s a pretty cool trick for when all other methods fail. Inspect the lumber to find the grain direction … Run a plane with the grain and you will experience a smooth cut, free of tear-out. It’s this flat-sawn grain in the middle that creates the cathedrals (sometimes called peaks) on the face of a board. Note that I’m planing into the peaks of the cathedrals. Cutting “with the grain” is a confusing statement, as I detail in the article about making supported grain cuts. The plane in the picture on the left is going against the grain while the plane on the right is going with the grain. In order to be successful putting on Bermuda, read the greens as you normally would and take into account the elevation changes and slopes. And that is why I learned to read grain direction by looking at the faces and the end grain of boards. 2. Feb 23, 2019 - If you want the inside of your project to be as beautiful as the outside, velvety flocking just may be what you've been looking for. This results in tear-out. Whether the board is riftsawn, quartersawn, or flatsawn, reading the fiber direction and approaching it correctly is the key. Where rays and growth rings run the same direction, you’ll read the grain correctly for sure. Run it against the grain, and you’ll deal with excessive plane chatter and tear-out. It's important to paint in the direction of the wood grain so tape-off the horizontal (including mitered) edges of the trim. If I had the single secret to always knowing the grain direction on any board, I sure wouldn’t put it in a magazine that sells for just $5.99 (wink). There are many ways to cut a piece of wood, these are a few of the different methods. I’m really quite a dummy when it comes to understanding that wood is … Then factor in the direction the grass grows. Save up to 68% on 7 issues of woodworking projects and tricks. These days Dan is a former online editor for Popular Woodworking, and is learning new skills every day. She switched to ankle highs so she didn’t need the other one anymore. Every board has grain direction and it’s a natural feature of wood that woodworkers need to become intimately familiar with. Wood is a little more complex than just comparing it to a bundle of soda straws or the fur of a feline, but you can understand grain direction quite well if you think a little harder about how trees grow. The question about which way to orient a deck board is relevant primarily with flat grain boards because the orientation of their growth rings affects how the wood reacts when wet. But if I pet him from tail to head, my hand will catch in the hair making for a rougher feeling. The structural wood might be rougher than the flooring. The most predictable baseline to use when identifying wood is in a freshly sanded state. You can’t read fiber direction just by looking at the surface you want to plane, however. Stroke the cat (or board) one way and the cat will purr, and your tool will produce a nice surface. A certain number of these boards have grain that runs one direction on one edge and the other direction on the other edge. Inspect the lumber to find the grain direction … Cheese cloth works the same and you won’t get that funny look from the cashier when you ask where it is at. Clear coat Urethane, acrylic, or resin-curing-oil finishes provide superior protection against water, stains, and wear and are food-safe once fully cured. Oct 6, 2020 - Understanding tree anatomy, wood grain and movement in wood, i.e., being able to read the end, edge or surface grain of a board; the growth rings of a stump; and the ways in which wood is naturally inclined to shrink or move are all skills worth learning. Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. If the grain direction is strong enough, you can identify the direction by “feel.” Take the sheet of paper in your hands and gently curl/bow the paper towards the middle, first in one direction and then in the other direction. Today’s tip on how to read grain direction comes from none other than the Wood Whisperer, Marc Spagnuolo. Always practice on a primed/base-coated sample board. Observing the ideal direction to plane the board given the wood grain is crucial. Feb 26, 2020 - The Way Wood Works: Reading Grain Direction By Tom Caspar Going against the grain is a familiar phrase. An 8-foot-long board will move only 3/32 inch. The grain direction in any board can be read using at least two different methods. The filler and your primer will not stick if … Same goes for choosing the type of wood. Apr 9, 2017 - By Tom Caspar “Going against the grain” is a familiar phrase. The trouble is though, even in one board the grain’s going to come back at you at some point. Or, far easier, hire a professional cleaning company equipped to clean vaulted ceilings. This eliminates the chances of a stain or natural aging skewing the color diagnosis of the wood. When the knives work against the grain, they can chip, split or leave the cut fuzzy instead of smooth. Synopsis: Jason Roberts knows lumber (he sells it) and woodworking (he’s been making furniture for years). When performing a visual examination of archaeological wood, it is important to record the grain direction, along with other construction and technological details. Here I’m planing the bark side of a board. Inspect the wood and determine which way the grain lines are pointing. First let’s look at the way most people are taught to read the grain. This is when the fibers in a tree’s growth ring don’t run straight up and down in a tree. What’s interlocked grain? The trouble is though, even in one board the grain’s going to come back at you at some point. You can also use some clever tricks of the trade to give the illusion of more space in your kitchen with the use of woodgrain feature panels. On the contrary, putts that head in the direction with the grain will be much quicker. The harder the wood, the slower the feed rate and the shallower the cut should be. Is there a way to achieve this in any way? That's quite different from figure, which describes the distinctive pattern that frequently results from various grain orientations. Because grain lines aren’t always as evident as we’d like, some boards show little to no visual indicators of grain direction.