Chips ‘n Tips 9 Choosing the Best Grain

I get a lot of questions along the line of “why doesn’t my furniture look as good as…”. Even with flawless execution and even attention to form a piece can fall short without attention paid to the wood grain. Imagine a frame and panel door with cathedral patterns in the rails and stiles and a non centered glue line on the panel with contrasting grain patterns and you will quickly see what I mean. Selecting the right grain for the statement you want to make takes time and definitely takes more wood and more work, but ideally it will turn your good piece into a masterpiece.

Today’s Chips ‘n Tips Winner

I drew Mickey Jones’ name from the hat and he has a pair of No 12 Hollows and Rounds on his way to him. I’ve fettle these planes and did some initial grinding and lapping of the blades. He’ll just need to do a final hone and will be making curly shavings in minutes. If you haven’t registered for your chance to win prizes, just visit the Chips ‘n Tips page to do so.

Congratulations to Mickey and thanks to everyone for the great feedback on this series. Lots more stuff to give away with new things being added daily.