I’m making a crib for our soon-to-arrive grandchild. The crib slats will be maple – shaped from 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ boards cut to about 27″. I’ve created templates and jigs to get these 52 pieces to the same shape using a pattern bit on my router table. All pieces will have grain the same way so that I am always routing with the grain to minimize tearout.
Given the way the jigs work right now, the grain on all pieces will run up the slat when it’s in the finished piece, but with a bit of fiddling I could change the jigs so the grain runs down the board. So here’s the question: should the grain on the slats run up or down or does it matter? I’d appreciate any wisdom you can impart.
Jim
Replies
By "grain" I assume you mean the direction the wood grows, not the appearance of the growth rings. Mill with the grain and it cuts smoothly, mill the other way and you may get tear out. Some pieces have grain going in different directions along it's length. It's only a concern when milling. You do the best you can. If I glue up a few boards to make a panel, and intend to then surface that panel, I try to make sure the grain in each board is going the same way. Other than that, it doesn't matter how you place it in the work, except what looks good to you.
Although it probably doesn't have anything to do with your project, book matching is an example of how grain direction can cause a visibility issue. In book matching, you cut a board down it's length and open it like a book. The left side will often look different than the right even though the grain is going in the same direction. If you didn't open the board like a book and just placed the pieces side by side, the appearance won't be different. Of course, in book matching, you are trying to get the mirror effect of grain to grain. You have to open the board like a book for this effect.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Yes, I mean the grain direction as used in milling. All of the pieces will be oriented to be milled with the grain. In the piece the slats are wider at the top, narrower at the bottom so I need to decide on placement before they're milled.It is more of an aesthetic question. I know, for example, that when building a piece that has a frame, there is a school of thought that the pieces should be oriented so that the tighter/narrower grain should be on the outside of the frame pieces, with the wider spaced grain toward the inside. My question was along those lines - is there a rule of thumb for orientation of the milled pieces.Probably best to follow your advice to lay out the pieces and see which way looks better.Thanks for your help.Jim
The rule is to always mill so the blade enters into the downhill slope of the long grain.
i might (again) be wrong, but i think his question is more on the appearance of the finished product rather than how to mill it. i think he is asking if the appearance will differ if the vertical slats are placed so the top (up) is oriented as the tree grew, versus if they were upside down (opposite of how the tree grew) . . . .
Yes - that's exactly the question I was asking - thanks for the clarification.Jim
Jim, I am surprised you haven't got more responses. I am a rank beginner, so take this with a large grain of salt . . . . . .
When doing the raised panels for a vanity and kitchen cabinets, grain orientation was important because of the cathedrals and figure i was trying to show off. However, i also noticed that the light seemed to reflect off the raw wood slightly differently, making it look "better" or more natural to me when it was oriented as the tree grew. On the side stiles, i noticed that some of them looked better one direction rather than 180 degrees off . . . . but i can only assume it was the same growth thing . . . . this was with maple and cherry.
It is hard for me to articulate exactly what i was seeing, but it seems to me that one direction i was looking at the cut ends of more wood fibers (so less reflection or "life") whereas if it was tree top up i was looking along the shaft of more fibers and thus seeing a more pleasing sight.
What i don't know is how that will change when a finish is applied. I assume that the glossier the finish the less difference it may make . . .
If you have the choice, i think i would opt to have the grain run up ande down in its original orientation. Again, there are tons of people here that know a heck of alot more about this than me . . . . and i won't be offended if y'all pipe in here and further educate Jim and myself. Patrick
Edited 3/13/2009 11:15 am by stpatrick
How can you tell the top or bottom of a tree by looking at one board? The direction of grain runout is more due to how a tree was milled than how it grew. Do you really have a rule about planing from the bottom of a tree to the top, or the opposite? I must have misunderstood.Brian
Brian, it was my erroneous assumption; see post 9.
barry,
The rule of thumb in many shops is to orient panels, stiles, etc, so that the points of their cathedral grain are aimed towards the top of the panel. However this isn't a hard and fast rule; in some instances, when they are close side by side, for instance, it may be more pleasing to have them alternating up and down.
The orientation of cathedral or face grain has not a thing to do with the end of the board that was towards the treetop in the log. Rather it is due to the inclination of the grain (fibers of the wood) as may be seen at the edge of the board, and the curvature of the growth rings, as may be seen from the board's end. You can think of the resulting grain pattern exposed on the face of the board as like the contour lines of a valley, or a ridgeline, displayed on a topographical map. The grain around a knot may be compared to a topo map's hilltop or lake bottom, depending on whether it is the heart side or sap side of the board.
Ray
Ray, thank you for the education. That explanation makes sense. I think my assumption (erroneous as it is/was) must have come from the concept or mental image i have of a tree growing in a much more conical form.
Barry, as i said at the start, there are a lot of guys out there a heck of a lot smarter than me. Good luck with the crib.
Thanks to all for your insights. I've laid the 52 pieces out side to side with a common grain orientation and let the look of the material be the deciding factor. Given the narrow width of these maple pieces, it seems to me that the orientation makes much less difference than it would in a wider panel where the direction of the cathedrals would be compelling.I, too, have learned from the discussion and am grateful.Jim
One more update -- now that I've gotten through making about half a dozen of these, I find that with narrow boards (about 2 1/2") the grain on one edge is often opposite from the grain on the opposite edge - seems kind of obvious in retrospect, but then aren't a lot of things that way? After doing a few very careful climb cuts (using a pretty big jig that keeps my hands away from the bit), I realize that I'm courting disaster and so I'm going to make a new jig for the second cut on those boards that have the grain reversed edge to edge.
With things like tapered boards and circular work, you often need both a left and right hand set up. With simple edge treatments like a round over or chamfer, you may be able to run the piece up on edge to "go with the grain" properly. Climb cutting is a possibility but it can also be dangerous, either to you or your work. With a pattern bit, you can often set the fence on your router table to the opposite side of the bit.I'd rather feed against the rotation of the bit whenever possible.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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