How to read grain direction?

[Dave Cullen]

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.

[Mel Fulks]

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.

[Daniel Rode]

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.

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.

[david charlesworth]

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

[Winton Applegate]

"suck it and see

ha, ha, ha, aaah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, aaah, ha, ha, ha,
ah ha, aaaaa . . .
I hadn't heard that one before. That was funny

try a thin shaving in both directions

Oh now you tell me. ( I went back and finished reading the thread.)
Can some body tell me the best way to get these purple heart splinters out of my lips ?

[Derek Cohen]

To read grain direction, as others have mentioned, look at the side of the board. The aim is always (where possible) to plane "down hill", that is, with the grain running away from the plane. This holds whether one is planing the face or the edge.

In the example below, the arrows indicate the direction that the grain is running, as well as the direction the plane will run when planing the edge.



To plane the face grain, simply imagine the board edge here as being the face, and vice versa.

The grain at the top edge is straight forward since it runs consistently in one direction. However the grain at the lower edge reverses (as shown by the two arrows). One could turn the plane around here, or use tearout-resisting methods (chip breaker or high cutting angle) and plane though it all.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kees Heiden]

Derek, just to confuse matters: I would say at the top arrow you are planing uphill, not downhill. When the grain represents the hill, you are walking the plane upwards.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Kees

You are probably correct. I deliberated on calling it up hill and down hill. I get spatially challenged in such situations. But you all know what I meant ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kees Heiden]

Good

That's my primairy indication of grain direction too. Then comes the direction of the cathedrals. And finally a testshaving with the capiron close, but not superclose yet.

[Doug Hobkirk]

Dave,

....

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

David Charlesworth

Am i correct in thinking:

• grain direction varies, and the "best" direction is often somewhat arbitrary
• but that once you've chosen a direction, you continue in that direction

Once you've planed the board and moved on to other boards, some assembly, etc., do you often need to plane that board again? And if so, do you mark the direction you had chosen originally?

[Daniel Rode]

There are many here more knowledgeable than I but here's my take.

The best grain direction is not arbitrary so much as often changes. One must read the direction and the make decision about how to plane it. Sometimes, I can work in a single direction and get acceptable results despite the grain switching, some times it's better to plane different parts in different directions, sometimes no planing direction seems to work, so I reach for a scraper or sandpaper. Occasionally, I reach for a different piece of wood.

This is the nature of working with wood, especially when using hand tools. I take what the wood gives me and respond as best I can.

Am i correct in thinking:

• grain direction varies, and the "best" direction is often somewhat arbitrary
• but that once you've chosen a direction, you continue in that direction

Once you've planed the board and moved on to other boards, some assembly, etc., do you often need to plane that board again? And if so, do you mark the direction you had chosen originally?

[david charlesworth]

Yes, I am careful to preserve the planing direction of Face Side and Face edge.

You may plane again for a number of reasons.

1. Joining planks.
2. Flushing joints such as door frames. Leg to rail joints etc.
3. Perhaps the most important, when you want to clean a panel or component before glue up or final finishing.
4. Fitting doors and drawers. I'm sure there are many more!

David Charlesworth

[Prashun Patel]

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.

[Shawn Pixley]

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.

Prashun, Like you, I seem to get wood where the grain reverses. I also test with a block plane first. Still, sharp with a close cap iron is indispensable.

[Mike Holbrook]

What helped me more than anything was taking a class on making windsor chairs. Try working a glued up shield seat blank with drawknife and spokeshave. With all the curves and multiple boards, the grain often changes abruptly while working a given edge. Not seeing one of those transitions can result in major tear out when using a drawknife. I started to see the areas where these transitions would likely occur, even if I could not see or feel an obvious visual or tactile change. Even with a drawknife one can make very small test cuts in those areas to feel out exactly where those abrupt changes occur.

Green woodworking in general is a case study in working with grain. The whole process is geared towards making wood objects with grain running very straight through the entire object.