THE WAY

WOOD WORKS
Everything you wanted to know about wood
but didn't know what to ask.
By Nick Engler

W
ood is a cantankerous substance; there's no two ways about it. It's virtues, of course are
legendary. It's attractive, abundant, and easy to work. Pound for pound, it's stronger than steel.
If properly finished and cared for it will last indefinitely. But none of that makes up for the fact
that it's a complex — and often perplexing — building material.
Unlike metals and plastics, whose properties are fairly consistent, wood is wholly inconsistent. It
expands and contracts in all directions, but not at the same rate. It's stronger in one direction than it is in
another. Its appearance changes not only from species to species, but from log to log — sometimes board
to board.
That being so, how can you possibly use this stuff to make a fine piece of furniture? Or a fine
birdhouse, for that matter? To work wood — and have it work for you — you must understand three
unique properties of wood that affect everything you make:
• Wood has grain.
• Wood moves more across the grain than along it.
• Wood has more strength along the grain than across it.
Sounds trite, I know. These are “everyone-knows-that” garden-variety facts. But there is more grist
here for your woodworking mill than might first appear.

Wood has grain

As a tree grows, most of the wood cells align themselves with the axis of the trunk, limb, or root. These
cells are composed of long, thin bundles of fibers, about 100 times longer than they are wide. This is what
gives wood its grain direction. Additionally, a
tree grows in concentric layers, producing
Plain-sawn
annual rings. You must pay close attention to
lumber
these two characteristics − grain direction and Flat grain
annual rings − the way a sailor watches the
wind. Ignore them and they’ll bite you big
time.
Sawyers commonly use two methods to cut
trees into boards, each revealing a different Rift grain
type of grain.
• Plain-sawn boards are cut tangent to the
annual rings. The sawyer “cuts around” the
log, turning it for each series of cuts so the Quarter
faces of the boards will show mostly flat grain grain
(also called tangential or plain grain).
Quartersawn
• Quartersawn boards are cut through the lumber
radius of the growth rings. The sawyer cuts the

Nick Engler has been writing about woodworking for three decades and is the author of 53 books on the subject.
He’s also a Contributing Editor for Popular Woodworking magazine, in which this article first appeared.
The Way Wood Works, Page 2

logs into quarters or bolts, and then saws each gallon jugs.) The rule of thumb is that the
bolt so the boards show quarter grain (or radial moisture content of wood changes 1 per cent for
grain) on their faces. every 4 to 5 per cent change in the relative
Lumber doesn’t always show a single type humidity.
of grain on its face. Plain-sawn boards in The more moisture a board absorbs or
particular may show mixed grain − flat grain in releases, the more it swells or shrinks. However,
one area and quarter grain in another. The grain the surface of a board moves differently
between the two, where the surface is cut at a 30 depending on the grain direction and type of
to 60 degree angle to the annual rings, displays grain. Wood movement along the grain is almost
rift grain. negligible. From 0 to 28 percent moisture
Each type of grain has a distinct pattern, content, a typical board will move only 0.01
depending on the wood species. You can use percent of its length. However, it will move
these grain patterns to enhance the design of about 8 per cent across flat grain and 4 per cent
your furniture or your birdhouses. More across quarter grain. This is why woodworkers
importantly, if you know how to “read” the consider quartersawn lumber more “stable” that
patterns, you can predict which way the wood plain sawn. It’s also why boards with mixed
will move and how much. grain (and mixed expansion rates) tend to cup as
they move.
Wood moves more across the grain that
You heard wrong Advertisements for popular
along it
finishing products create the impression that a
Because of its unique structure, wood is
finish seals the wood, preventing it from
constantly expanding and contracting. And you
absorbing moisture and putting a stop to wood
must cope with this movement in everything you
movement. As much as I wish it were true, this
build.
just isn’t. Wood finishes are semi-permeable.
Wood moves as its moisture content
They permit moisture to pass through, but
changes. After the tree is felled and the sap has
slowly. The wood still moves as much as it ever
evaporated, the wood fibers continue to absorb
did, but at a reduced rate.
and release water like a blotter. How much water
they hold depends on the relative humidity of the So how do you predict how much a board
surrounding environment. The more humid it is, will move and it what direction? That depends
the more moisture the fibers soak up. This on the grain direction, type of grain, and time of
moisture content is the ratio of water to wood. In year. In most areas, the relative humidity climbs
extremely humid conditions, as much as 28 per as the weather turns warmer. This causes the
cent of the total weight of a board may be water wood to expand. The rule is to allow for 1/4 inch
− 28 parts water, 72 parts wood. (The moisture of movement across 12 inches of plain grain and
content of a board never climbs above 28 per 1/8 inch across the same amount of quarter
cent. If it did, you’d be able to buy lumber in grain. If you’re working in the summer, the

The wood grain in the legs of this pedestal table runs

parallel to the longest dimension, making the legs as
RIGHT! strong as possible. Were the grain to run parallel or
perpendicular to the pedestal, the legs would be weak
at their narrowest point, the ankles.
The Way Wood Works, Page 3

wood shrinks as winter approaches. When

building in the winter, count on the wood
Glue steps: At last, a practical solution
expanding when summer comes. (Thus the old to an age-old dilemma!
saw, “Work tight in summer, loose in winter.”) Want to see a practical application of this
And if you’re working in southern California, information? With what you now know about wood
the whole question is hypothetical because the grain and movement, you can solve a persistent
relative humidity never changes. problem that has dogged too many woodworkers
for too long − glue steps. These are tiny changes in
Astound your friends Want to predict the surface level from one board to another at glue
exactly how much a given board will move in a joints. They are especially unattractive in table tops
year’s time? Look up the specific movement rate where boards are joined edge to edge.
for the wood species in the Wood Handbook. The common misconception is that these are
Then call the National Oceanic and Atmospheric caused by improper gluing technique. A talented
Administration to find how much the relative and experienced craftsman once spent hours trying
humidity in your area changes from summer to to convince me that glue steps are caused by the
winter. Multiply the change in humidity (as a adhesive “out-gassing.” (In my shop, the adhesives
decimal) times the movement rate (another are better behaved.) Despite his ardor, glue steps
decimal) times the width of the board. Of course, are the result of uneven wood movement.
this level of precision is completely unnecessary, Sometimes a woodworker fails to “shop dry”
but the chicks dig it. his lumber − let it rest in the shop long enough for
all the boards to reach the same moisture content.
Wood has more strength along the grain When parts with dissimilar moisture contents are
than across it joined, the moister part moves more than the drier
The wood cells are made for long, tough one. Or, a craftsman glues flat grain to quarter
cellulose fibers, bound together by a glue-like grain, joining two surfaces that move at different
substance, lignin. The cellulose is a lot tougher rates even when they have the same moisture
than the lignin. Consequently, it’s much easier to content. In both cases, a step results.
split a board along the grain (separating the To avoid glue steps, shop dry your lumber for a
lignin) than it is to break it across the grain week or more before using it so the moisture
(snapping the cellulose fibers). content of the wood has reaches an equilibrium
This botanical trivia plays an enormous role with the relative humidity in your shop. When
in wood working design. Can you imagine what gluing boards edge to edge, always glue flat grain
might happen if you cut mortise-and-tenon joints to flat grain and quarter grain to quarter grain.
in which the grain ran across the tenons? They’d
snap if you just looked at them sideways. Yet When two boards
tenons cut parallel to the grain will far out last of uneven moisture
content are joined
the woodworkers who cut them, as Egyptian edge to edge…
archeology proves.
But wait, there’s more − when strength is …the board with the
paramount, grain direction may not be your only higher moisture
consideration. Some species of woods are content shrinks more
and a glue step
naturally stronger than others. Windsor develops
chairmakers, for example, typically use hard
maple, birch, and hickory for legs, rungs, and A similar thing
happens when you
spindles. Because these parts are fairly slender, join boards with a
weaker woods won’t do. different grain
A good indicator of a wood’s strength is its
density – the weight of a given volume of a The plain-sawn
substance. Wood density is measured by board changes
thickness less than
calculating its specific gravity − the weight of a the quartersawn,
volume of wood compared to the same volume and a glue step
of water. Generally, the higher the ratio, the appears.
denser − and stronger − the wood
The Way Wood Works, Page 4

. Specific gravity, unfortunately, doesn’t Gotta have it All this information is in the
predict when a wooden board will break, sag, or Wood Handbook: Wood As An Engineering
dent. For this, there are other measurements of Material. This woodworking classic was written
strength. by the Forest Products Laboratory, an arm of
• Compressive strength tells you how much the US Department of Agriculture. Much of it
load a wood species will support parallel to the reads like an income tax form, but you won’t
grain. If an especially corpulent friend or find a more complete reference. Write the
relative sits on that chair, will the legs buckle? Government Printing Office, Superintendent of
• Bending strength (also called modulus of Documents, Washington, DC, 20402-9325.
rupture) shows the load wood can withstand
A parting thought
perpendicular to the grain. How many kids can
Too often, we approach our craft as if it were a
stand on that chair rung before it’s firewood?
collection of recipes. Take two boards, chop
• The stiffness or modulus of elasticity
them up on a table saw, add a dash of glue and −
indicates how much the wood will deflect when
presto! − a birdhouse. Or a Chippendale
loaded perpendicular to the grain. How far will
Highboy, depending on how many boards and
those shelves sag if your client uses them to
how finely you chop. But woodworking is more
display his collection of antique cannonballs?
than knowing how to use a tool or follow a plan.
• The hardness reveals how resistant the
It’s the accumulated insights and inspirations of
surface is to abuse. How hard can you pound
5000 years of craftsmanship. And at the heart of
when taking your frustrations out on your
this craft is a surprising material that has yet to
workbench?
reveal all of its mysteries.

Wood Properties
This chart shows some important properties for 18 common species of wood. Tangential and radial
movements are given as a percentage (%) of a board's measurement across the grain as it dries. To find
compressive strength, engineers load a block of wood parallel to the grain until it breaks. They find
bending strength by loading a block perpendicular to the grain. Both are measured in pounds per square
inch (psi). Stiffness is determined by applying a load perpendicular to a beam until it deflects a certain
distance, and is measured in millions of pounds per square inch (Mpsi). For hardness, a metal ball is
driven halfway into a wood surface. The force required to do this is recorded in pounds (lbs).
Wood Specific Tangential Radial Compressive Bending Stiffness Hardness
Species Gravity Movement Movement Strength Strength (Mpsi) (lbs)
(%) (%) (psi) (psi)
Alder, Red 0.41 7.3 4.4 5,820 9,800 1.38 590
Ash 0.60 7.8 4.9 7,410 15,000 1.74 1,320
Basswood 0.37 9.3 6.7 4,730 8,700 1.46 410
Birch, Yellow 0.62 8.1 3.6 8,170 16,600 2.01 1,260
Cedar, Red 0.32 5.0 2.4 4,560 7,500 1.11 350
Cherry 0.50 7.1 3.7 7,110 12,300 1.49 950
Fir, Douglas 0.49 7.3 4.5 7,230 12,40 1.95 710
Mahogany, Honduras 0.45 4.1 3.0 6,780 11,500 1.50 800
Maple, Hard 0.63 9.9 4.8 7,830 15,800 1.83 1,450
Oak, Red 0.63 8.9 4.2 6,760 14,300 1.82 1,290
Oak, White 0.68 10.5 5.6 7,440 15,200 1.78 1,360
Pine, White 0.35 7.4 4.1 4,800 8,600 1.24 380
Pine, Yellow 0.59 6.1 2.1 8,470 14,500 1.98 870
Poplar 0.42 8.2 4.6 5,540 10.100 1.58 540
Redwood 0.35 4.9 2.2 5,220 7,900 1.10 420
Spruce, Sitka 0.40 7.5 4.3 5,610 10,200 1.57 510
Teak 0.55 5.8 2.5 8,410 14,600 1.55 1,000
Walnut 0.55 7.8 5.5 7,580 14,600 1.68 1,010