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Is there any way to read the grain of spruce (or any other quartered wood) in order to be sure you have bookmatched correctly? If there is a bit of color, I can make the grain pattern symmetrical, but I know that one of my sides might be "flipped." Does this matter? If so, how do I get it right? Thanks for your help!

bring the two faces together like closing a book
examine the end grain ... do they match up as consecutive slices ?
if not , flip one board. length wise. does it match now? Do the growth lines line up?

simple eh

if the still don't match up you may have removed to much from the inside surface which will be the top side of the top or they were not consecutive cuts.

ususally you can align the two book faces by the band saw marks left from when they were first ripped or sliced open. This is the time to "index" or witness mark the edges of waste areas befor you start surfacing the plates.


blessings
the
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Got it; 5 sets all matched up! Thanks so much for your help.

Peter

One thing that will always tell if book matched or not is to lay the two plates side by side. If book matched one side will appear ever so slightly darker than the other. The reason for this is; if book matched you will be looking down grain on one plate and into the grain on the other. The plate you see as slightly darker you will be looking into the grain run-out and the one that is lighter, the run-out is running away from you.

This is an important thing to know when doing a repair that requires a bridge replacement. You always want to insert you heated spatula from the down grain side to eliminate or reduce fiber tear-out.

Thanks for the reply, Michael.

Peter

I do the same thing as Padma on those few really uniform and straight grained tops...

Then I mark the end grain with magic marker so they stay together....

I think the saw cuts on the end grain and on the sides of the top are easiest to match back up.... the face grain can be deceiving...

Thanks

John