CURLY MAPLE ASK THE EXPERTS Get It Straight on Curly Wood Q: We all love curly wood tions of the wood grain. One of the most inter- cells give it a esting features of this grain is three-dimensional the light-to-dark shift of color appearance. when the direction of lighting Now, to answer changes. I usually associate the part of your this effect with grain that is question specific to distorted, like the grain around Lyptus: Lyptus is a knots. I recently discovered trademarked hybrid that the lighter shades of species of Eucalyptus Lyptus will do this when fin- grandis and Eucalyptus ished, even though the grain is urophylla developed straight and undistorted. What by Aracruz Wood causes this effect, and is there Products in Bahia, an official name for it? Brazil and distributed in North America by Udo Schmidt responds: Weyerhaeuser. These Curly figured grain is a rare trees reach heights of 140' abnormal growth pattern of a tree. and a diameter of 2'-3' This growth occurs in a wavy or cor- in 15 to 18 years. Lyptus rugated rather than a straight pat- lumber has the density of tern. It can happen with any species, hickory and the surface CURLY CHERRY but maple, ash, birch and walnut are appearance of mahogany. the more prone to this irregular growth. Curly grain can occur in Lyptus The curly grained wood is not visi- in two ways. First, it can occur like ble on the outside of a living tree – maple with a corrugated growth pat- growth there are no bulges, flutes, or other tern, in which the waves or curls run rings bark irregularities. perpendicular to the grain. Second, on the CURLY OAK The changes from dark to light it can occur parallel to the grain. endgrain wood result from differential light Tropical woods do not have annual surface range from 60-90 degrees. reflections. The darker bands have growth rings like native woods, but Because Lyptus is a very fast-growing higher light absorption from the some species produce a clear growth wood, these bands are unusually wide, wood fiber ends, and the lighter ring due to seasonal changes in cli- and the lighter early wood reflects bands are the reflections from the mate, such as rainy or drought sea- the light differently from each angle. cell walls. Because cell walls are sons. This causes the growing tree Wavy or curly appearance in this curved, either concave or convex, to produce a band of fast-growing instance runs parallel to the grain. the light reflection shifts from dif- early wood and then a slower, dens- Udo Schmidt spent 12 years in the ferent view angles. Even though the er band of late wood. Any log cut lumber export industry kiln drying surface of curly wood is flat and into lumber produces a small num- wood before starting his own cabinet smooth, the different light reflec- ber of quartersawn boards, meaning shop. He is the author of “Building Kitchen Cabinets.” 12 WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE | 07.05 ASK THE EXPERTS The Straight Story On Tapered Boards Q: I’m getting a slight taper on every board I run through my 6" jointer. I’ve been flipping the board end-for-end to correct the taper on subsequent passes, but would prefer a permanent fix. A.J. Hamler responds: Unintentional tapering of a workpiece is one of two problems that occur when the height of the outfeed table of a jointer needs adjustment. Here’s what’s happening in your case: As you run the edge of the board across the cutter- head, there comes a point when the majority of the board is resting on the outfeed table. At this point, the trailing edge of the board begins to lift from the infeed side, actually raising the board above the cutting arc of the knives in the cutterhead. (You may have noticed that as you joint the edge of a board, the cutterhead makes more noise on the front portion of the board than the rear portion.) The end result is that by the time you’ve passed the whole board over the cutterhead, it may not be cutting the rear portion of the board at all. The other cutting error is snipe at the end of the board, which occurs when the outfeed table is too low. When the end of the board is no longer supported by the infeed table and the outfeed side is lower than the cutting arc of the knives in the cutterhead, your board suddenly drops into the cutterhead, creating a gouge called snipe. Fortunately, one fix cures both problems – simply adjust the outfeed table so it is level with the top of the cut- ting arc of the cutterhead knives. Unplug the jointer, rotate the cutterhead by hand (use a piece of scrap wood – the knives are very sharp), and stop it with one of the knives at the top of its cutting arc. Lay a reliable straightedge on the outfeed table and adjust the outfeed table height until the straightedge just kisses the edge of the knife. Lock down the table and you should be good to go. A.J. Hamler is Editor-in-Chief of Woodcraft Magazine. Straight Up on Matching Stains Q: We stripped the paint from the balusters of our staircase with the intention of staining them to match the light mahogany color of the handrail. To our dismay, the thin balusters are pine and the thicker ones are redwood. We can’t find a way to get an approximate match between the various woods. Mac Simmons responds: One way of doing this is to seal the woods before staining. For a sealer, you can use clear shellac or the same coating that you will eventually use over the stain. (Be sure the sealer is thoroughly dry before you apply the stain.) A sealer will prevent the stain from completely penetrating the wood, and give you more control of the final color. Then buy a stain that’s as close as possible to the color you’re trying to match. You’ll need to do some testing by reducing the color strength with the proper solvent to get the closest match you can. You can ask the salesperson or look at the label on the can to find out what solvent the manufacturer suggests you use for cleanup. Use that same solvent to dilute the color. It’s best to do your testing on scrap material of the same species – in your case pine and redwood – but if that’s not possible then test in an out-of-the-way spot on one of the balusters. Once you’ve achieved the mix that matches best, resand the balusters you used for testing (don’t forget to reseal them if necessary), and then do all your staining at once. Mac Simmons is a 45-year veteran of the furniture finishing, refinishing and res- toration trades, and writes for several woodworking magazines. 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