Wood Grain HELP!

[Cooper P.]

Woodcarving Illustrated Members,

Can anyone explain wood grain to me because after spending hours on the internet I still can't grasp it! Any links to articles or a plain explanation would be helpful!

Thanks

[TreeWizard]

Take a bunch of straws and hold them in your hand so that one end hangs out the top and the other hangs out of the bottom. The celluar structure of a tree is a lot like straws.

Cut along the length of the straw and you are going with the grain.

Cut across the straws and you are trying to cut through the end grain.

I hope that helps you understand grain.

[Mitchell]

Another comparison is broom straws.

[carvingbarn]

If you look at a picture of the mussels fiber in an arm or leg. You will see there are long threads of mussel tissue that looks like a lot of strings rapped together to hold everything together. And it raps in different direction but fallows the shape of the limb. That is kind of what you have with wood grain.

[Claude]

Here's another try...
Go get a board; put it on the table in front of you. Let's suppose it's a piece of 2 x 4 about 2 feet long. The grain (annual growth rings) runs the length of the board.

Look at the end of the board. If you carve on this surface, you're carving end grain.

Look at the 4 inch wide side. If you carve from one edge to the other, you're carving cross grain.

Look at the 4 inch wide side again. if you carve from one end to the other along the 2 foot length, you're carving with the grain.

Imagine you take the board and stand it on it's 2 inch wide side and cut a wedge shape from it, so you end up with a piece of wood that is 2 by 4 inches at the end, and the 4 inch wide side slopes down to nothing 6 inches or so away. Looks like a wide doorstop, in other words. If you carve from the end that is 2 x 4 towards the "sharp" end, you're also carving with the grain. If you carve from the thin "sharp" end towards the 2 x 4 end (carving uphill), you're carving against the grain (and the wood will split and do all sorts of nasty things.

Claude

[Cooper P.]

Thanks the responses help, but I'm still having trouble with the whole concept of grain and how you cut with it or against it. Any response will be appreciated thanks!

[HbgBill]

I think the discussion is pretty right on.. Claude pretty much nailed it, but I think he left out one important point. When you carve the length of the board, the grain structure pretty much runs the length of the board.. but within that length, the grain direction does change to the point that sometimes your knife/gauge will dig in rather than slice. I've carved a lot of critters and Santas where I had to turn the carving around because I was carving "uphill" rather than "downhill" or is it the other way around.. grin.

When I taught classes, I always used the broom or paint brush. when you start "carving" on the side of the bristles.. from the handle end toward the bristle ends.. you are carving "WITH" the grain. However, if you start at the bristle ends and carve toward the handle, you knife will catch in the bristles (wood fibers) and that is carving against the grain.

You certainly want to try to always carve with the grain as the cuts are cleaner.

Finally, GOOGLE "Wood Grain". There are a bunch of good pictures and descriptive articles on the subject.

[Donsexton]

You can feel it after you sand the wood smooth use your fingers over the wood if it feels silky smooth in one direction that is with the grain. You should feel a slight friction on your finger tips and a slight grabbing the other way. That is how I used to do it but now I find it with a gouge. Good luck and keep at it you will get it.

[Ezzylearner]

Cooper, the article "Demystifying Wood Grain - A Wood Carving Primer - by Brandant Robinson" (you can google search) gives clear explanation with photos. If you cannot find it on google please send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you the article in PDF format.

Happy and safe carving to you.

Ezzy

[Whittled Thumb]

If you are new you will learn when you are cutting against grain. Cutting against the grain or across it is also a good test to see how sharp you knife is. If its sharp enough to cut across the grain it can certainly cut thru the grain!