Are the knots and worm holes in your wood rejects to cut around or do you consider them to be part of the inherent beauty of the wood?
Are the knots and worm holes in your wood rejects to cut around or do you consider them to be part of the inherent beauty of the wood?
CW Miller
Whispering Wood Creations
I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
Winston Churchill
I voted "If stable, it is beauty", but the caveat is that it works with your design. If you are going for a classic piece to be finished with mirror like French polish, I don't know if it would work. On the other hand, if it enhances the piece overall, go for it. I've made some rustic furniture that utilizes live edges and knot holes to very satisfying success.
Maurice
I think you need to add "Only if it works with the overall design" to the poll choices. Otherwise it's junk.
Agreed, It has to work with the piece. I am finishing some shelves made from tiger maple and I went our of my way to use pieces that had some interesting bark inclusions in them. But that works in the contemporary style the shelves are in. Though I would not call blemished pieces junk, it would just be saved for a later project where it can be used appropriately.
-Gary
And what about wormy chestnut? Certainly nobody would pitch it into the fire simply for the holes.
Maurice
Always pretty...even if unstable. That said, if it is unstable, I don't know that I would use it...
I drink, therefore I am.
As others have eluded to....BOTH. Just depends on what your doing.
JeffD
Usually beautiful, I have seen some defects that looked like garbage to me. I would not toss out the wood but using it depends on the design allowing it. You wouldn't want a knotty piece of wood on the front of a Newport Bonnet-Top Highboy but there are plenty of designs where it works.
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
The best example I have of this is a bookshelf I built utilizing the solid knot hole patterns in some boards to give the ends of the shelves a "face" like appearance. Everyone really likes the look, although I can see that it may not be for everyone. I typically like to include some character in my pieces, it helps with the "hand-build" appearance that is lacking in todays furniture.
Depends: size, shape, etc. I've seen some that add to the overall look and some that wouldn't. One blemish in an otherwise perfect board would be a distraction. A pattern of them might be attractive. i.e. birdseye maple
I voted always beautiful with the same caveat as others have mentioned. Unstable knot holes can be stabilized with epoxy.
It depends. If it keeps the eye away from my shoddy joinery, then they're beautiful!!!
In the first photo on the end frames you can see some natural defects that have been filled with epoxy and with this piece it is a nice detail that adds to the whole as David has suggested.Img_7281.jpgKit And Janels Mantle.jpg
On the second photo, a piece like this would demand that the wood be pristeen with nothing to distract us from the natural beauty of the grain and all of the detail in the piece itself.
So I agree with most that it is dependant on what you are doing. woodworking is an art, but even art has boundries so you just have do do what you believe is right and hope that the rest of the world shares your viewpoint. Or, in my case, my customers viewpoint......
Are you familiar with Hank Gilpin's work? His take on wood usage is very refreshing, I've had similar ideas for a long time; there is no bad wood:
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/...merican-forest
-Paul