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Thread: How to read grain direction?

  1. #1
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    How to read grain direction?

    What techniques do you guys use to determine grain direction before planing a board? I try to feel the "fuzz", kinda like petting a dog, for the way the grain lays down. But some boards are too smooth to be obvious. Getting it wrong can give you tearout, even with a sharp tool.

  2. #2
    We were taught to look at the direction of the little punctuation mark sized dashes ,but some woods don't have any. They are a much better indicator than the direction of the larger ring growth type grain. And,of course ,sometimes they both go
    in the same direction.

  3. #3
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    I don't know much, but I know a little bit.

    If I can see it, I typically look at the side of the board to see what angle the grain runs. This is a pretty good indicator most of the time. Sometimes, I can look at the cathedral shapes and tell the Direction, but I'm wrong often enough that I don't trust it. If the board has enough texture, I feel for what direction is smoothest and lastly, I take a fine cut with the plane and see that tells me. The sound from the plane is more telling that the look.

    Setting the chipbreaker very close (with a very sharp iron) eliminates tor minimizes tearout for me. So even if I do plane against the grain, the results are often just fine anyway.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Cullen View Post
    What techniques do you guys use to determine grain direction before planing a board? I try to feel the "fuzz", kinda like petting a dog, for the way the grain lays down. But some boards are too smooth to be obvious. Getting it wrong can give you tearout, even with a sharp tool.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  4. #4
    Dave,

    I look at the edges of the board, with magnification if necessary. I am looking for the lie of the tubes, relative to the adjacent surface. I mark these slopes with pencil.

    The tubes line up with the fibres. What I look at are tubes with their sides cut away. They look like scratches made with a pin. Low raking light makes this easier.

    Some timbers easy Black Walnut, some difficult Pear, Ebony.

    If all else fails The "suck it and see" method should work.

    I like to preserve planing directions to the end of the job.

    David Charlesworth

  5. #5
    I wish I were better at reading it with my eyes. I've made enough errors that I now 'read' it with a block plane on the non-show side first, and then plane the opposite way on the show side.

    For some reason, I tend to find boards that have switchy grain, which moots the question of grain direction and begs for a sharp blade.
    Last edited by Prashun Patel; 09-04-2014 at 11:46 AM.

  6. #6
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    This often depends on the condition and the piece of wood being worked.

    I was working some alder a few days ago and it looked like terrible tear out. Turned out to be very thin specks of medullary rays.

    The simple answer is to go with the rising grain.

    Plain direction >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    Grain rising ///////////////////////////////////

    Kind of a crude graphic, hope it works.

    There is also the situation with flat sawn having what are called 'cathedrals' on the surface. This is in flat sawn lumber. If you look at the end it will show a bit of a curve in the end grain.

    My way to remember how to go with this is if the end is a cup or 'smile' my plane goes with the 'cathedrals.' If the end is down or looks like a 'frown' my plane goes against the 'cathedrals' or mows them down. Go with the smiles mow down the frowns.

    Of course there is always some twisting grain in the wood pile. For these the plane is set to a very fine shaving. After the majority of smoothing is done the direction is reversed to remove the tear out. With a sharp blade and a fine setting this usually works for me.

    If you haven't already read about setting the chip breaker Google > setting a cap iron <. David Weaver posted an article at Wood central detailing the effects of setting the chip breaker as shown in a video from Japan.

    When I started to answer this there were no replies. When finished there were a bunch. One I do not understand:

    If all else fails The "suck it and see" method should work.
    David, could you shine a little enlightenment on this method?

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 09-04-2014 at 11:59 AM. Reason: alder & quote with question
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #7
    Jim,

    A slightly rude Yorkshire phrase! Translates to, try a thin shaving in both directions and see which is working better. This can be done by machine or by hand.

    Best wishes,
    David

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by david charlesworth View Post
    Jim,

    A slightly rude Yorkshire phrase! Translates to, try a thin shaving in both directions and see which is working better. This can be done by machine or by hand.

    Best wishes,
    David
    Thanks, the expression may mean something in Yorkshire, but I was clueless.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
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    On a relatively smooth board I can often use one of my thin card scrapers. By bending more than normal and trying to take a shaving, one direction will be more grabby and I'll start planing in the opposite direction.

    Brian
    The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

    The penalty for inaccuracy is more work

  10. #10
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    Jim,
    Thanks for pointing out David Weaver's article on setting the cap iron in Wood Central. It is well worth saving and studying and I hope he adds to this thread.
    How can I ever get my workbench finished when I read all the interesting posts onthis forum?
    Don

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    This often depends on the condition and the piece of wood being worked.

    I was working some alder a few days ago and it looked like terrible tear out. Turned out to be very thin specks of medullary rays.

    The simple answer is to go with the rising grain.

    Plain direction >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    Grain rising ///////////////////////////////////

    Kind of a crude graphic, hope it works.

    There is also the situation with flat sawn having what are called 'cathedrals' on the surface. This is in flat sawn lumber. If you look at the end it will show a bit of a curve in the end grain.

    My way to remember how to go with this is if the end is a cup or 'smile' my plane goes with the 'cathedrals.' If the end is down or looks like a 'frown' my plane goes against the 'cathedrals' or mows them down. Go with the smiles mow down the frowns.

    Of course there is always some twisting grain in the wood pile. For these the plane is set to a very fine shaving. After the majority of smoothing is done the direction is reversed to remove the tear out. With a sharp blade and a fine setting this usually works for me.

    If you haven't already read about setting the chip breaker Google > setting a cap iron <. David Weaver posted an article at Wood central detailing the effects of setting the chip breaker as shown in a video from Japan.

    When I started to answer this there were no replies. When finished there were a bunch. One I do not understand:



    David, could you shine a little enlightenment on this method?

    jtk

  11. #11
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    The most useful technique I use that has not been described here is to take an old nylon stocking (or microfiber cloth) and rub it on the board. You'll soon tell which way is which. Obviously does not work with rough sawn but there is more room for error with rough.

  12. #12
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    My wife and kids are going to wonder why I have stocking in the shop

    This is a great tip for stock that's tough to read visually!

    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Putnam View Post
    The most useful technique I use that has not been described here is to take an old nylon stocking (or microfiber cloth) and rub it on the board. You'll soon tell which way is which. Obviously does not work with rough sawn but there is more room for error with rough.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  13. #13
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    I have one of these tacked on the wall

    grain-direction.jpg
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  14. #14
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    I'm need to print this out (larger) and hang it on my wall. I know the cathedral grain can indicate the right direction but I can never remember which way relative to the edge ring pattern.
    Quote Originally Posted by glenn bradley View Post
    I have one of these tacked on the wall
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  15. #15
    This comes from Chris Schwarz: With the bark side up, the cathedrals are "barking". That is, they look like open dog mouths and you plane in the direction of the barking sound.
    That's how I remember it. But you can't use this trick too often. Mostly I just plane the board and look in which direction I get the best results. Then using the chipbreaker of course to improve the results in areas where you are still planing against the grain (often quite unavoidable).

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