[TomC]

I saw a post the other day questioning why an individual used face grain and not side grain. Is there really a difference in the grain. If I have a one inch board and cut a strip off an inch wide can you tell by looKing only at only that piece which is face and which is side grain. It looks to me if the log had been turned 90 degrees prior to cutting the side grain would now be face grain. I make a lot of side grain boards. The only reason I do this is typically I am working with planed boards that are 1" or less in thickness and I usually like my cutting boards to 1 1/4" thick or greater.
Also, I just bought 212 board feet of hard maple. I got a few pieces that are less than 15" in length. I have not made any board where I laminate the boards by its width. Has anyone done this and how do they look? I would like to use these shorter boards that way.
Tom

 

[Dave Paine]

In some woods the face grain has a different appearance than the side grain, but it is dependant on the wood species, and how the tree was milled.

My bloodwood boards have very different grain between face and side. Same for purpleheart.

I have a made several boards with hard maple, where I preferred the look of the side grain to the face grain since it had more character. Also as you mention many boards are not as thick as desired, so side grain orientation allows to get whatever thickness you desire.

This is an example of using side grain for a board.

I have also laminated boards to achieve the desired thickness.

This is the cutting side - and this board has been used on a daily basis since it was given to the recipient.

This is the decorative side.

 

[rrich]

First ever. Mostly scrap or left overs.

I would upload a picture but the "upload" button just sits there like a , , , , well...

 

[DaveTTC]

I really like that top board Dave

 

[ed_h]

I believe that unless you are talking about something close to a quartersawn board, the distinction between face grain and side grain is artificial.

The face grain of a flatsawn board would be edge grain if the log had been rotated 90 degrees before flatsawing.

 

[TomC]

that the same point I made in my post on this subject.
Tom

 

[ed_h]

Yes, I was supporting what you said. I should have referred more directly to your post.

 

[BKBuilds]

If you are having issues with photos, upload them to Photobucket and then use the IMG tags on the right side of the screen to imbed your photos.