Thread: Grain direction

Grab a straw broom, the old millet style.

Think of the straws as the fibre of the grain in the timber.

Run your hand down the broom, works fine.

Now, starting from below the bottom, try to run you hand up the broom, mess.

Now, have a think about how you would go about cutting that broom with a sharp blade, which way would you angle the blade?

Look at your piece of timber as if it was a bundle of straw.

Hope that helps.

But when you look at a piece of wood how do you know which way the broom goes? I know why I get tear out but i can’t seem to predict witch way I will get it before i try...

I have also watched that episode of the woodwright's shop good show

You need to look at the edge of the board to know which way to plane the face. Usually the grain direction is pointed out by tiny little lines that are the rays of the wood.

THe easiest way is to run your finger *lightly* over the surface of the wood you're planing, Andreas.

One way, your finger will slides easily. The other way, it will catch a bit. If you push too hard, you get a splinter

Push the plane in the same direction as the way your finger slides easily.

Cheers,

eddie

Originally Posted by Andreas87

Hi all.
I'm having some trouble sorting out the grain direction on a piece off wood I’m handplaining,
Thanks!

Hi Andreas,

the wikipedia article on planes has some good diagrams:
File:With-grain.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Against-grain.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So looking from the side of the piece you're planing should show you which way the grain is emerging.

Sometimes you can't win - the grain direction can change along the length of the board, so you may have to plane from different directions to accommodate that. And around knots and other kinds of features, well, all bets are off, as the grain goes every which way. The usual suggestion I've seen to cope with that situation is to use a scraper for those bits (or a higher-angled plane). I find that a really sharp blade, set for a light cut, can usually cope with some grain reversals without tearing out.

If you can manage it, you might find it handy to have several smoothing planes (hey, any excuse, right?) so you can leave one set for regular work, and another set really really fine, so you can alternate depending on the wood you're faced with.

Hope this helps.

Philip.

Andreas.

All the advice given is really good.
I would also suggest, if you cannot determine grain direction. Set your plane blade very shallow. Don't try to take off too much wood.
You will very quickly see how the grain is running and hopefully you will not have torn the surface of the timber.

Paul.

Looking from the side edge of the board ...

Plane in this direction >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

where grain goes ////////////////////////// (OK, this is meant to represent the grain angling upwards)


<<<<<<<<<< Plane in this direction

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ where grain is like this.


As Philip notes, the grain can reverse in a board. The rule still applies.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I knew I had a decent diagram somewhere showing how to deal with a reversing grain. This comes from "Planecraft: A Woodworker's Handbook" by John Sainsbury, page 144 of the 1984 edition.

Attachment 182985

Hope this helps.

Philip.

Ahhh, now I get it Thanks for making it clear!!! Hopefully my boards will be tear out free from now on