is exposed end grain ever acceptable?

[scott vroom]

I'm building a natural teak wood vanity table that will have a surrounding splash made from 1x4 teak (4" tall boards). I'm not sure what to do about the exposed end grain on the side splash panels. I'm thinking that I should somehow cap them but not sure how without ending up with exposed end grain on the side or top of the splash. Any thoughts on this? Should I not worry about the end grain and just apply a qtr rounded edge to the edge faces?

[doug faist]

Scott - I haven't done it with teak, but I have done projects of walnut and cherry with exposed end grain. After a real good sanding and finish, these are some of the nicest places on the piece to touch. Because the end grain is typically harder than face grain it sands and polishes to an incredibly smooth surface.

Have fun with your project.

Doug

[Eiji Fuller]

I happen to like seeing endgrain. If you hide it all, why use solid wood at all?

[Cody Colston]

I think hiding the end-grain was initiated by those 18th century masters...they went to great lengths to not let it show.

So, unless you are building a period piece, I see no reason not to let end grain show if it suits you.

I do recommend sanding the end grain to a couple of grits finer than the other surfaces so that it doesn't darken too much when finish is applied. It will absorb a lot of finish unless fine sanded or sealed.

[David DeCristoforo]

Visible end grain is totally acceptable in "modern" style work. If it really bothers you, you can miter a return on the ends of the splash pieces.

[Robert Chapman]

I think that visible end grain can be just fine on a lot of pieces. But sometimes I don't care for the little stripy effect you get with nicely finished plywood end grain.

[Joe Jensen]

I like visible end grain, but I do think that is makes piece much more casual and "home made" looking. When I do what I consider "fine furniture" I don't expose end grain.

[Jeff Willard]

Look at Krenov's work. It's all over the place.

[scott vroom]

I decided to hide the end grain by putting a 4 degree mitre corner on the facing edge. Attached is a picture showing how I solved it (this is a test piece using oak, glued but not sanded). I figured I'm spending $20 bd/ft on teak, may as well dress it up as best I can by hiding the end grain. The job is for a friend and she didn't like the look of the end grain.

Thanks for all your responses.

[glenn bradley]

Depends on the style and the client (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=47175&d=1158638732).

[Joe Shinall]

I happen to like seeing endgrain. If you hide it all, why use solid wood at all?

+1 on that. I do whatever I can sometimes to not let my work end up looking like store bought laminated MDF. At least that's my excuse when I screw something up....:D

[Frank Drew]

End grain has always been visible in some furniture; think of all the ends of the boards on dining tables, side tables, dresser tops, not to mention bed posts, chair arms and so on. If it's smooth enough, there's no reason to hide it.

All those p.i.t.a. little mitered returns in house trim were because the hand saws of the time left a rough cut and no one wanted to spend a lot of time rasping and sanding the end grain smooth enough for clear finish or paint.

[David Cefai]

I don't think that one can follow a hard and fast rule about end grain. We are using wood and end grain is a feature of wood.

Sometimes it adds interest to a piece, other times it jars.

[William Duffer]

I would have kept the end grain and thrown a Roman Ogee. a light 45 deg, or other detail on the piece, sanded and called it good. The return is mostly used on trim work. In this case I would think the end grain would look better than seeing the miter cut for the return.

[Mike Cruz]

Is it acceptable? Certainly. Do you like the look of it? THAT is the question. If you are okay with it, there is no reason to hide it. IF you want to hide it, there are a number of ways to do so, all usually needing to account for wood movement.

I sometimes use a method that doesn't need to allow for movement. It works best on smaller pieces, but I have used it on a piece that was about 14" wide.

The best way to describe it is to explain it with base board molding in mind. Take the baseboard molding to your miter saw. With the majority of the board to the left of the saw. Cut a 45 degree angle (blade pointed left) on the end of the board leaving a small piece that you will use to glue on to wrap around the end grain. Next, cut a 45 degree angle on the remaining board in the opposite direction (blade pointed right). Use that little cutoff from the first piece to wrap around the cut you just made.

That probably won't make sense the first time you read it, unless you've done this before. I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to explain it... If you can do this in one try, the grain should match up pretty nicely (you've only removed about a 1/4" of continuous stock).

Try it on some test pieces and get the hang of it before trying to do it on your actual project. Good luck!

[John Thompson]

For period pieces.... no. I do mainly A & C and almost every piece I've done in the last 10 years since I started doing it is going to have exposed end grain. As stated you do need to do some extra work to smooth it. When cutting a top for instance where my end grain is exposed I pull out my Infinity Super General to do it. It has a 30* degree ATB with side grind as the Freud Fusion. It's the only time I use that blade as it will basically burnish the end grain. Little if any sanding required.

And if you do expose it and are going to use say gel stain.. hit the end grain with a coat of de-waxed shellac to avoid it sucking in more stain. This is not a critical with gel stain as it is with oil stain but.. still critical. I double coat the end grain when I used to use oil stain.

Good luck...

[johnny means]

I decided to hide the end grain by putting a 4 degree mitre corner on the facing edge. Attached is a picture showing how I solved it (this is a test piece using oak, glued but not sanded). I figured I'm spending $20 bd/ft on teak, may as well dress it up as best I can by hiding the end grain. The job is for a friend and she didn't like the look of the end grain.

Thanks for all your responses.

IMHO, your treatment looks like you were trying to hide the end of edge banded plywood.

[scott vroom]

Johnny, I went back and looked at the mitre cut and I tend to agree with you that the return piece looks like it is intended to hide the edge of plywood!. Below is a picture of the teak with sanded end grain and qtr round edges (and oiled). The end grain actually looks attractive...I've change my mind and am going this route.

Thanks again.

[Howard Acheson]

I'm not sure I fully understand your construction. Is the vanity made up of solid teak top panel? If so, putting a board across the grain of the panel--as your picture shows--will be creating a cross grain situation. A solid wood panel will want to expand and contract with changes in relative humidity and exposure to moisture. A cross grain piece of wood will inhibit this movement and something will ultimately have to warp, crack or otherwise become damaged.

[Mike Cruz]

Duh, sorry, Scott, somehow I missed your post showing the picture of exactly what I was trying to describe. Yup, that is it. As someone else says, it does make it look like you are trying to hide plywood edges, but if you hate endgrain, it is, in my opinion, the best way to hide it.

[scott vroom]

Howard, below are updated project pics. In the first pic the rear splash is shown in place. The second pic shows the right side splash sitting in place; note the exposed sanded end grain and rounded edges. The confusion was that the earlier pic was just a sample board that I photographed sitting on my kitchen table.

All 3 splash pieces will sit on the vanity top unattached and will be attached to the wall studs and backer board we installed behind the drywall.

Thanks

[Foras Noir]

Try a no. 4 Veritas smoothing plane. Bevel up. Use three different iron angles. Make sure they are as sharp as you can get them. Compare the results.

If you are a little more skilled, try the Lie-Nielsen bevel up smoother.

You will not believe the results on end grain. I actually design it in now that I can use hand tools.

[Lee Koepke]

Johnny, I went back and looked at the mitre cut and I tend to agree with you that the return piece looks like it is intended to hide the edge of plywood!. Below is a picture of the teak with sanded end grain and qtr round edges (and oiled). The end grain actually looks attractive...I've change my mind and am going this route.

Thanks again.
Personally, this is a good choice. Sanding the cut end and easing the edge (in general) can make the grain appear to bend around the corner, and that does make a nice look. At times, it actually has more interest than the face grain.

Looks pretty good so far!