Composing with Grain Putting the best face on your work

By Peter Tischler

Perhaps the most creative Fortunately, the tricks behind your own creativity. Keep in aspect of woodworking happens creating a stunning-looking mind that, although there is no when we choose which pieces project boil down to a few simple particular “correct” approach to of wood to use for a project. suggestions, combined with the composing grain for a project, Much like painting a picture willingness to look and learn. the eye is generally more pleased or composing a musical score, In this article I’ll show you by balance, symmetry, and selecting the best grain pattern some of the principles of “reading” lines that complement form. for various project parts can a board, laying out stock, and So pony up for some nice greatly enhance the overall cutting parts with respect to the lumber, and be prepared to harmony and balance of a grain of the wood. I’ll give you add a new visual dimension piece. Conversely, haphazard some basic design guidelines to your next project. I think grain can create a hodge-podge here based on those principles, of lines that compromise the but don’t feel restricted by them. time and material it costs Use them as a springboard for youyou’ll pays find big that dividends. the bit of extra

50flow woodcraftmagazine.comand finesse of a design. A ug/Sept 2011 Selecti ng lumber I search for the cleanest and Figure 1: Type of Cut Selecting lumber for a project is challenging because Wide, plainsawn stock yields the hardwoods are sold in random best,most mosthighly visually figured interesting boards. Rift sawn secti ons Plainsawn lengths and widths, so cutting material for these parts, with the board diagrams are seldom helpful. annular rings at 30° or less to the Before visiting the lumber face of the board (Figure 1). yard, prepare a rough drawing On plainsawn boards, the face of your project, as well as a grain near the edges is often cutting list to get a rough idea fairly straight, with the pattern of the quantity and dimensions in the middle displaying what Quarter- of boards you’ll need. sawn board At the yard, pick the boards edge-joining full-width boards that best suit the part sizes, likeI call this “landscape to create figure.” wider panels, When factoring in an additional 30% or the joint in the straight-grained so to account for knots, checks, areas is often rendered nearly and other defects that will need invisible. The downside of wide, to be removed. On top of that (if plainsawn boards is that they are Figure 2: Straightening Grain the budget allows), buy an extra not always the most stable, which board or two to allow greater is why I favor straighter grain 1 Rip parallel to stock for legs, rails, and stiles, grain with bandsaw grain pattern. This extra material which I get from riftsawn or isflexibility also insurance in choosing in case a desired you need quartersawn sections of a board. to remake a part due to a mistake. To ensure the best color, “Straightening” grain texture, and grain match for your Oftentimes a board may have the straight grain that you need boards from the same tree. Better for a particular piece, but it millsproject, will try often to find arrange matching lumber doesn’t run parallel to the edge from the same logs in the same of the board. You can “correct” 2 Rip parallel to fi rst stack. You may also be able to this by simply ripping the board cut to yield board with straight grain. to your desired width, sawing lumberyards, and even in home parallel to the straight grain centers,find board by matchesinspecting in smallerthe ends of (Figure 2). Mark out the width Figure 3: Bookmatching the boards (if the stock is rough of the board, then make the sawn), or by matching up knots or other distinctive grain patterns. jointing the cut square, rip the When selecting boards for oppositefirst cut on edge the on bandsaw. your tablesaw. After prominent parts like door panels, drawer fronts, and tabletops, Bookmatching Bookmatching is the process of resawing a board (slicing About Our Author it through its thickness), then Peter Tischler makes chairs, splaying the two pieces apart cabinets, and other furniture as you would open a book at his shop in Washington, (Figure 3). This results in a New Jersey. He specializes in near mirror image displayed incorporati ng the techniques on the faces. There’s no better of straw marquetry in his way to achieve visual balance work. To see more of his work, and symmetry for paired door A resawn board opened like a book visit www.peterti schler.com. panels, stiles, drawer fronts, displays a near mirror image for and other prominent parts. creati ng symmetrical doors or panels.

Photos: Peter Jacobs; Illustrati ons: Charles Lockhart Aug/Sept 2011 woodcraftmagazine.com 51 Legs Diagonal Annular rings annular rings parallel to two faces.

Straight grain on both faces. Wild grain

Straight grain

Saw leg blanks from rift sawn material oft en found at the edges of plainsawn boards.

Typical furniture legs bear of the end grain run diagonally leading to a chaotic look and many grain composition sins. from corner to corner, as close to perhaps compromising strength Perhaps the most common 45° as possible. The best source in the process. For the best offense is that one face of a for leg blank material is rift- looking curved leg, lay it out leg displays wild grain, while sawn stock, often found at the on a section of a board that the grain on the adjacent face edges of a plainsawn board (as offers a complementary curve is straight and mild. This is shown in the drawing above.) to the grain. This also ensures not a complimentary state of It’s important to cut all your strength because it avoids affairs, especially since all four legs from the same board for creating “short grain” areas faces of a leg may be evident. grain and color consistency. that are prone to breakage. To avoid wild, inconsistent Curved legs often suffer from Cabriole legs deserve further grain on the faces of legs, cut consideration because of their them so that the annular rings with the shape of the leg itself, complex shape. As with most grain direction that conflicts 52 woodcraftmagazine.com Aug/Sept 2011 Aprons and Rails Rings parallel Diagonal rings oriented to two faces. front to back. Diagonal rings oriented side to side.

Wild grain on one face, straight grain on the other.

Bull’s-eye For arched leg rails, Wild grain at knee case rails, table aprons, at foot. Straight grain on both etc., lay out grain to faces appears to follow complement arch. contour of leg.

Lay out curved legs along complementary curved grain.

legs, riftsawn stock is your best Table aprons, cabinet rails, chair rails, and other relatively choice. However, the orientation narrow structural components deserve careful consideration of the diagonal annular rings of the grain for both strength and beauty. In general, use produces two distinctly different straight-grained stock for straight parts to ensure strength. results. Orienting the rings Avoid extreme grain runout, which can weaken a piece. side-to-side yields a bull’s-eye Whenever possible, I lay out arched aprons and rails to pattern at the knee, which take advantage of complementary curved grain on a board, is more dramatic (although centering any unique grain pattern if possible to avoid visual not what I personally prefer.) imbalance. Aprons and rails provide a good opportunity On the other hand, annular to use up narrower rippings from previously sawn boards. rings that run front-to-back Partially for that reason, I tend be less concerned about result in grain that appears to the grain pattern than I am with other, more prominent follow the outline of the leg. furniture elements like doors and drawer fronts.

Aug/Sept 2011 woodcraftmagazine.com 53 Drawer fronts I always reserve some of my best looking stock Verti cal stack of drawers for drawer fronts, making sure to cut them from the same board to ensure color consistency. A good approach to making a horizontal run of drawer fronts is to crosscut them sequentially from across the row. If there is a particularly interesting focalthe same point board in the so grain, the grain consider flows centering uninterrupted it along the length of drawers. If you offset it, consider how that affects the balance of the piece. A horizontal row of drawer faces can also be resawn from a thick board and bookmatched Bookmatch fronts end to end for a more symmetrical continuity. A vertical stack of drawers calls for a different Rip individual fronts approach. Using a board long enough to yield all to locate widest area the fronts I need, I sometimes lay out my widest of grain in the center.

Fronts cut in sequence from Horizontal row board ensure grain conti nuity indrawer that front front (such first andas a letstrong that cathedraldictate the pattern), pattern. of drawers from drawer to drawer. IAfter rip each marking additional a center front line to of width, the dominant centering figure it on the fronts, which works particularly well if you havethe same an even figure. numbered Another stack approach of drawers. is to bookmatch Tabletops, case ends, and other panels When edge-gluing boards to make tabletops, case ends, and other panels, use the widest boards possible, since they usually offer up the most attractive grain pattern. Cut your selected boards a few inches oversized in length if you can afford the stock. That way, Good compositi on Matching grain you’ll be able to shift them a bit in relation to slope at joint each other to better match the adjacent grain. Straight grain to Whenever possible, glue straight grain to straight grain joint straight grain in order to better obscure the Poor compositi on Straight glue joint. Sometimes, trimming an edge back grain edges Wild grain on edge just a bit will create a nicer match. Check for this by overlapping the edge of one board onto another and comparing the adjacent grain. It can Wild grain to straight help aesthetically to organize the board widths grain joint symmetrically from the center outward, as shown Bull’s-eye enti rely in the drawing at right. Some woodworkers on board alternate the annular growth rings for each Board widths Crosscut adjacent board to reduce overall cupping, but I feel symmetrical from bull’s-eye that the most attractive face of a board should be center outward the “show” side regardless of grain orientation. Asymmetrical, 54 woodcraftmagazine.com Aug/Sept 2011 unbalanced board widths Doors Cabinet doors often serve as the focal point Paired doors on a piece of furniture. Keep in mind that a framed door isn’t unlike a painting in a frame. In this case, the frame shouldn’t detract from the “grain painting” within it. door panels. While it’s generally best to use a singleI often wide use board my most for a highly door panel, figured sometimes wood for you have to edge-join pieces to get the width resaw a thick board and edge-join the resulting you need. In that case, my first choice is often to pieces to create a book-matched panel. Slope grain complements Book-matched panels create When you’re making a wider panel from shape of curved rails. balanced symmetry. boards face to face and end to end, playing with the variouswhatever combinations boards you have until on you hand, decide flip what the looks best. Whenever possible, edge-join straight grain to straight grain to obscure the joint lines. If a panel includes cathedral grain, I usually orient the arch upwards to lighten the appearance of the cabinet. For aesthetics and proper operation, a door of the frame material. For the stiles, I generally selectmust remain straight flat, grained, which well-seasoned requires careful wood selection to ensure stability. It’s not visually necessary to use Book-matched inner sti les ensure straight-grained pieces, but if a stile has sloped Single doors symmetry and grain fl ow across gap. or tapered grain, I try to match it on the opposite stile for symmetry, either by bookmatching Chaoti c compositi on or just by careful selection of my pieces. As for rails, I’ll often rip both the top and bottom Errati c grain tends to visually rail from the same length of straight-grained distort frame, and may board so they’ll match well in grain pattern and indicate warp-prone wood. color. You can also resaw and bookmatch them Poorly composed edge-joined for symmetry. With arched rails, it’s attractive panel creates messy grain patt ern. to use stock with grain that’s complementary to the curve of the arch. Paired doors demand Balanced compositi on thoughtful grain composition to ensure balance and symmetry. For stability, it’s best to use straight-grained stock for the outermost (hinged) stiles. Because the innermost stiles are adjacent to each other, grain continuity or symmetry is particularly important. One trick is to rip both stiles sit side-by-side as they came from the board. Straight grain on sti les and Alternatively,pieces from a wideryou could board bookmatch so that the them. finished rails makes for an att racti vely The rails can be crosscut sequentially from framed, stable door. a longer board to ensure grain continuity, or Centered cathedral grain you can book-match them end-to-end to create with upward arch creates symmetry across the paired doors. I balanced, uplift ing feel.

Aug/Sept 2011 woodcraftmagazine.com 55