Timber selection

Content

The right orientation of annual rings
Who hasn't come across?
Example: Tapered Legs
Example: Curved legs

The right orientation of annual rings

Objects made in wood stand and fall with the right grain orientation. Is there anything more appealing, than symmetric grain structure in a piece of furniture. But how do you get a result which suits our sense of beauty? We would like to offer some practical tips to everyone who got puzzled over timber selection before.

Who hasn't come across the following:

You are looking at a plank of timber and wonder where to start so that after ripsawing the desired look results.

At first, ask yourself: what do I want to achieve?

Our first example shows a stool in two variations, one with tapered legs and one with curved legs.

Stool with tapered legs

Stool with curved legs

Tip:

Both stool are also provided within our DICTUM-Workshop program.
Have a look at our Woodworking courses.

Example: Tapered Legs

Starting with tapered legs, we are looking at the end grain of our plank.

On principle there are two varieties:

1. Plain-sawn board

2. Quarter-sawn board

Here we show you the two effects that are created with different direction of growth rings.

Wrong: With the use of standing growth rings (quarter-sawn) two sides of the leg will be wavy and two sides will be plain. Right: However, if the growth rings are diagonal the leg will be plain on all 4 sides. This effect is the same as straight legs, but is more apparent on tapered ones.

Example: Curved legs

With the growth rings diagonal all we have to decide is the direction of the curve.

Wrong: Here on the right, with diagonal growth rings, the picture of the grain runs against the curve. Right: With the growth rings running from the middle outwards, the grain picture follows the curve. For a harmonious curve, we chase this varition.