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A client in Tacoma asked me why I always plane a board from both ends toward the middle, and his question made me realize I'd never actually asked my old boss why he taught me that way.
He said, 'Doesn't that just take twice as long?', and I had to stop and really think about the grain direction and tear-out I was preventing on a tricky piece of walnut.
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ivan2113h ago
My buddy learned that "both ends toward the middle" trick the hard way after ruining a gorgeous maple slab.
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amy8581h ago
Oh man, that hurts just reading it. I've seen that exact thing happen with a walnut tabletop, just a brutal crack right down the middle. It's such a gut punch after all that work smoothing and finishing. You get one shot with a slab like that, and then it's firewood. Your buddy has my full sympathy, that's a tough lesson.
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