Faults in the wood

[TerryMcK]

Don't you just hate it when you cut into some thick stock to find it has a crack inside? I've just been milling some 12/4 white oak for a project I'm doing.

I thicknessed a few pieces on the planer to around 3" no problem.

Jointed their faces no problem.

Cut them all to width of 4" strong no problem .... until I got to the last piece.

Oh crap it had a split inside that couldn't be seen anywhere else. Dried too quickly or taken from too close to the core of the tree (the annular rings on that piece look around 14" diameter)? - probably - on both counts. It doesn't have any knots or flaws in it (at least from the outsides!)

So I thought I would just rip some more off with the table saw a little at a time (1/8" bites). 5/8" and a pile of sawdust later I managed to get to "almost" good stock again. I've ended up gluing one of the 2" wide x 3" thick pieces I took off one of the other pieces (that I know is stable) back on with some epoxy. Tomorrow I will cut this piece to width again.

I'm going for a beer .

[Coop]

That is dis-hearting to start with a slab that large and end up having to laminate it. At least you had cutoffs to fall back on

[RichardA]

Don't you just hate it when you cut into some thick stock to find it has a crack inside? I've just been milling some 12/4 white oak for a project I'm doing.

I thicknessed a few pieces on the planer to around 3" no problem.

Jointed their faces no problem.

Cut them all to width of 4" strong no problem .... until I got to the last piece.

Oh crap it had a split inside that couldn't be seen anywhere else. Dried too quickly or taken from too close to the core of the tree (the annular rings on that piece look around 14" diameter) - probably - on both counts. It doesn't have any knots or flaws in it (at least from the sides!)

So I thought I would just rip some more off with the table saw a little at a time (1/8" bites). 5/8" and a pile of sawdust later I managed to get to "almost" good stock again. I've ended up gluing one of the 2" wide x 3" thick pieces I took off one of the other pieces (that I know is stable) back on with some epoxy. Tomorrow I will cut this piece to width again.

I'm going for a beer .

Hate when that happens...... The beer idea works for me!

[Eric.]

White oak is notoriously difficult to kiln dry because it's so prone to case hardening...probably what you're dealing with.  I always inspect the ends of the boards for checking when I'm buying white oak...it's not foolproof but you can avoid some bad sticks that way.

[TerryMcK]

White oak is notoriously difficult to kiln dry because it's so prone to case hardening...probably what you're dealing with.  I always inspect the ends of the boards for checking when I'm buying white oak...it's not foolproof but you can avoid some bad sticks that way.

This is the first time I've used white oak Eric as I normally use European oak. Definitely will inspect next time though.

[TerryMcK]

Glue up successful. Ripping tomorrow though as tonight is BBQ grill night with some more alcoholic beverages.

[Byrdie]

I can't say I've never done this but I'm more likely to pick through a nice pile to grab the sticks I want and not see the really obvious fault right in plain view until I get home.  Flipping a board over and looking at both sides while still at the mill is so over rated.