What does it mean when it says that a board is 100% sap wood on each face? Is this good or is this bad?
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Chris
"The first key to wisdom is constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth." -Pierre Abelard 11th Century philosopher. -
I bet it says sapwood free. Sapwood free would be good for cherry, walnut, etc.
Sapwood is newer tree growth that is white v. the heartwood which is the color of the lumber you are looking for (ie red for cherry or brown for walnut). Most folks want at least one side to be void of sap wood for a consistent color.
A little more technical :
If we saw the trunk of a tree, of any considerable size, squarely in two, we find three forms which differ in solidity, rigidity, and appearance; namely, the heart-wood, sap-wood, and bark. The heart-wood is the firm, solid wood surrounding the center of the tree, the sap-wood is the softer wood outside the heart-wood, while the bark forms the skin or outer covering for the whole.
Trees grow from the center outward, hence the present sap-wood will in time become heart-wood and be covered by a new layer of sap-wood, and the present heart-wood is simply sap-wood which has become solidified by the deposit within its tissues of resinous and other matter secreted by the tree.
Visual :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SapwoodLast edited by Jeffrey Schronce; 11-29-2006, 09:04 PM. -
Thank you, Jeffrey!Chris
"The first key to wisdom is constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth." -Pierre Abelard 11th Century philosopher.Comment
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I'm going to argue with this statement Jeffery....
"Sapwood free would be good for cherry, walnut, etc."
I personally like the mix for some applications. Turnings for instance.
It's all about what look you want.Keith Z. Leonard
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Here's some walnut currently on eBay that shows clearly the sapwood on the outer layers and the darker heartwood in the middle. You can see why for most projects you'd want 100% sapwood-free lumber, at least on the good face.
Loring in Katy, TX USA
If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
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Thanks guys!! Reason I asked is because I saw some curly tiger maple on ebay from a seller that is 30 miles away from me and he has some that are 100% sap wood on each faces and some that have one face sap and other face heart.
I was planning on resawing the current board that I have to ensure that I have enough for the tables I am building but have decided to put an inch thick boards for the tops of the tables I am making instead of messing around with resawing since I have not got a drum sander.Chris
"The first key to wisdom is constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth." -Pierre Abelard 11th Century philosopher.Comment
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From your description Sahadowfox, the seller has had it flat sawn (the norm anymore as you get more lumber from the original cut. The pieces that are all sapwood (earlywood) were near the outer perimeter of tree. The pieces that are one side sap and one side heart were cut closer to the center heartwood.
If you are going to look at this personally, be sure to check the end of the stocl to determine if the the grain is flat or diagonal. The diagonal is much more stable for a table-top. When a log is quarter-sawn, all grain will run diagonal at approximately 45* degrees. But.. quartersawn will cost extra because more wood is salvaged from flat sawing so it is hard to get as $$ dictate to the supplier.
When flat sawn, the closer to the center or heart-wood the grain will run at a more diagonal pitch because of geometry which is known as riff-cut. If you cannot get quarter-sawn (which is much more expensive) the riff cut is the better choice for stability on a table-top IMO..
Regards...Comment
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Because the sap wood wraps around the log on the outer portion, it's hard to believe unless the boards are skinny or the tree is really huge that you cah have 100% sap wood on one face. Does that strike anyone else as weird?
Because the sapwood forms a cylinder usually the sapwood forms makes streaks and sections in riftsawn, quartersawn and flatsawn boards cut from the outer portions of such a log.
And since maple wood is almost white, can anyone actually tell the difference between maple heartwood and sapwood?Loring in Katy, TX USA
If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
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And you have a very valid point, Loring. The maple will have somewhat more cathederal grain at the very center, but nowhere near as pronounced as with most other species.
100% sapwood!! hmmmmm..... If true the seller would have to be the feller to know for fact that it was that large a tree and if truly sapwood, IMO. Maybe so in soft maple but curly maple triggers doubt as to having all sapwood as I can't say I've ever seen curly come from a tree that large.
Unfortunately the person I would go to for the answer (Jon Arno who was a regular on FWW Knots) passed away a couple of years ago. I suppose I can only continue to scratch my head and mutter hmmm.... ha.. ha...
Regards...Comment
LCHIEN
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