OK. I think I've finally figured out my new software, so posting pictures of some of my ideas should be easier.

Instead of 1000 words (and I have been known to write that long) you can get some pictures!

For the sake of clarity ( I hope) I've drawn a few renditions of trees and shown how boards cut from them will have various grain patterns. Check the link below.

For those coming in late: There has been some discussion of ''evil'' wood strips that were difficult to sand. in the course of that discussion I mentioned my preference for using these so called ''evil'' strips, and people questioned me on this. I went back to my sources, and through copious research have discovered that just about no one agrees with me on the virtues of using strips cut in this fashion. No body said flat grain strips were bad, but they did have some knocks for being hard to sand in three references I checked. Ted Moores had some comment on them that gave a bit of support to my view -- or at least he slammed them less than anybody else.

I should point out that while I actually try to cut my strips so they will be flat grain, I get many that are not. The radii of the growth rings changes along the width of the board, so even if I get a few flat grain strips from a board, I am practically guaranteed that I will also get other grain patterns in many of my strips. I think this randomness is pretty.

Since the wood that will eventually give me these flat grain strips tends to be the piece that the sawmill cuts right through the very center of the tree, or close to that, I am likely to see fewer knots in the middle of the boards that I cut. The board edges that were closest to the outside of the tree are more likely to have some knots, but the 'inside' edge of these boards is usually pretty clear.

If you follow the link below -- and if it works right -- you'll also see a discussion of how I intended to make some lumber from logs that have been drying in my yard for a year. Since I don't have a sawmill I'm going to be doing most of the cutting on a table saw, which should be rather interesting! I'll let you know how it goes. It probably won't be as originally planned.

My intuition and past experience leads me to believe that flat grain strips will bend more under than strips with the grain running 90 degrees from that. If people are making test panels with glass cloth and wood strips, I'd be interested in seeing if the grain direction of the strips is a significant strength factor.

Paul G. Jacobson