Leg patterns and grain orientation...

[Roy Wall]

I continue with the basics.....sorry to be such a bore:confused:

Take the 8/4 cherry board below:

If I cut a 1-1/2" tapered leg from it (say sofa or end table application), is it "taboo" to show the face grain? Should the edge grain show at the front of the piece or face grain be in front.

Or is all of this blasphemy and one should only use straight grained woods (paduak shown) or mahogany, etc.....(see photo)

If the legs considerably shorter, say 3-5" for the base of a bedroom dresser (and had a pattern cut via bandsaw), do you use primarily face grain on both front and sides with a 45* miter at the joint?

[Jim Becker]

No, it's not "taboo" to show face grain, but some folks find it more pleasing when the grain runs diagonal to the cross section so that all four faces appear "the same". Purely a personal preference. Of course, if you do the face grain thing...mark and measure carefully so that you have said face grain on the same surface orientations for the three or four legs in your project!!! DAMHIKT!!

BTW, my personal preference is not do do face grain on legs at this point. I just plain like the even "rift" look on all the surfaces. If you cut those blanks from the edge of a wider board, that leaves the plain-sawn material closer to the middle of the log available for resawing into panel stock for bookmatching or for use as secondary wood as appropriate. There is a great article in the September/October 1999 issue (#138) of Fine Woodworking by Will Neptune (also on the CDROM) on sideboard strategies that illustrates this technique really well.

[Alan Turner]

Roy,

Rift grain is generally appropriate for use in leg stock, even if you have to buy extra to get it. And, if you have to buy 8/4 to get your 1 1/2" leg top, you can cheat a bit, and resquare the stock to make it rift, sometimes. In other words, take an angle cut from thicker stock and square from this side to get it to be rift. If I could post a sketch, this would be easy to understand. It is explained in one of the early issues of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Journal.

Note that if you are doing a cabriole leg, the orientation of the rift will affect the grain pettern. If the grain is side to side, you get a bullseye at the knee,but if you run the grain the other way (my preference generally) you will get the grain generally following the flow of the leg shape.

Leg Stock, esp. at 12/4, is cut correctly by a good sawyer who understands leg grain orientation. Not much wood is cut at 12/4 and 16/4, and it is oft for leg stock.

[Roy Wall]

Roy,

Rift grain is generally appropriate for use in leg stock, even if you have to buy extra to get it. And, if you have to buy 8/4 to get your 1 1/2" leg top, you can cheat a bit, and resquare the stock to make it rift, sometimes. In other words, take an angle cut from thicker stock and square from this side to get it to be rift. If I could post a sketch, this would be easy to understand. It is explained in one of the early issues of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Journal.

Note that if you are doing a cabriole leg, the orientation of the rift will affect the grain pettern. If the grain is side to side, you get a bullseye at the knee,but if you run the grain the other way (my preference generally) you will get the grain generally following the flow of the leg shape.

Leg Stock, esp. at 12/4, is cut correctly by a good sawyer who understands leg grain orientation. Not much wood is cut at 12/4 and 16/4, and it is oft for leg stock.

Alan,

Are you saying:

take a 8/4 board and square it, say 8/4 by 8/4......

then imagine a square "diamond" inside this board and cut the angles out....
like rotating the edges 45*???

[Tim Sproul]

Yeah, that is the idea...though rarely will it be at 45 degrees.

Rift is often found on the edges of plainsawn boards......kinda like the cherry to the left of the padouk. The left half of that board appears to be riftsawn.

Another option is to bookmatch. I will sometimes take 4/4 boards, rip to 4 1/4 inches and then rip into halves...glue into 2x2 stock and orient so the bookmatch faces front.

[Mark Singer]

I would not miter a leg to show the same grain on both sides...that would look unnatural. Just select the nicer grain for the more exposed view and let the wood show its natural character allowing the grain to change.

Roy,
The sofa I made from Paduk shows how the grain is allowed to be natural as it makes the coner..notice how the stretchers do the same.
The small table I found in Bali ...it is teak and is really cut from a log...The grain just is what it is! Just pick the best for the front.