One of the things I feel sets a craftsman apart from a woodworker is the continued attention to higher quality and detail. A very important detail that you should always think about is grain continuity. This is one of those things that the average onlooker has a hard time putting their finger on. If you could place two nearly identical boxes in front of them, one with continuous grain and one without, they would most likely prefer the look of the continuous grain version and not necessarily know why. Continuous grain imparts a sense of harmony to the piece that discontinuous grain disrupts. That’s not to say that the other box can’t be beautiful and well-constructed. Its just that it would lack that one little extra detail that would turn a home run into a grand slam!
Here are a couple of real-life examples from our good friend Google. These two boxes both have disrupted grain patterns. As a result, they fall a little short of their potential. Let’s take a closer look at the box on the left. The grain is not only disrupted where the front meets the side, but also where the lid meets the rest of the box. These are two very important areas for box-makers to focus on. 
Looking at the box on the right, we can see the front to side joint is disrupted. But this person was careful to make sure the lid was matched to the rest of the box. In all likelihood, the box wax constructed as a closed cube and the lid was sliced off, similar to the process used in this video.
Now I don’t mean to disparage the woodworkers who created these beautiful boxes. Clearly a lot of effort was put into their construction, and not everyone cares this much about continuous grain. But when I see a box as finely crafted as the box on the right, with its awesome burl inlay and fine lacquer finish, I almost expect to see that beautiful grain flow wrapping around the front.
Here’s a box from West End Woodworks that makes excellent use of grain. It is so well done that its almost difficult to see where the lid starts, and the grain from the front just wraps right around to the side. It produces the illusion that a board was just bent to a 90 degree angle! Very cool!
One other thing to keep in mind here is your choice of wood species. The more pronounced the grain, the more important it is that you pay attention to it. If you are using a wood with a relatively muted grain like the mahogany (below on the left), it probably won’t be nearly as noticeable if the grain isn’t continuous. But something like walnut (below on the right), would be incredibly noticeable.
What inspired this article was an email I received from Guild member Brandon who asked about creating a continuous grain drawer front for his poker storage box. I happen to have a few pictures of this process from several years ago when I was building a hall table and I thought it would be a great time to share this information with you.
It all starts with a board that is slightly wider and longer than you actually need (by about 1/4″). We are essentially going to cut the drawer front out of the middle of the board, and we need that extra material to make up for what we lose to the blade kerf. I like to use the thinnest blade in my collection and I start by ripping the top and bottom (lets call them “rails”). This leaves us with a wider center piece that needs to have its ends trimmed off in order to release the actual drawer front. So two quick cross cuts at the mitersaw or tablesaw will yield a drawer front and two side frame pieces. Its critical that you keep everything straight so label all of your parts and use chalk to draw reference lines if you need to. Now put the drawer front aside for later and glue the frame back together. If you are careful about it, the frame will look like one continuous piece and you won’t even see the new joints. And your drawer face will be perfectly matched to the wood around it. If you have a well-tuned bandsaw, consider using it for this operation so you can take advantage of the super thin kerf.
So do you guys have some great examples of grain flow that you can share? Post a link to the images right here in the comments area. To post a link, just copy and paste the URL into your comment.
**Gratuitous plug** – So if you like the look of the hall table pictured above, consider taking my class at the William Ng School in January.
22 Responses to “Go with the Flow – Continuous Grain”
I find that anytime I have a “defect” or sapwood in my stock that I like to highlight it by wrapping it around a corner or across two parts like drawer fronts. Here is a little box I made and did just that with this cool spalting mark.
http://rogersfinewoodworking.com/blog/?p=178
Oh very nice trick! Kind of reminds me of the Dali melting clock effect.
Wow – i whish i could make a box like that.
Can anyone show me ?
There is a video on the wood magazine’s website that shows you how to make the pagoda top to one of those boxes.
Thanks demowan
not to blow my own horn, but I did a video on continuous grain pattern for a box. you can find it here http://blip.tv/dashboard/episode/953879. or I think you can still download it from iTunes. Just search for my name and you’ll find it. It’s called “grain flow”
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I get a you’re not authorised to view error.
Sad to say I forgot about that video Kaleo. Thanks for the link brother!
Kaleo lives! :) good to see you posting
That works for wrapping around one corner, but what about the third dimension (the top)? Do match the top to the front/back or to the ends? Do you cut the pieces out of a board like this -> http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/4143/layouton.png
That’s certainly one option. It really depends on the type of top you want. If its a frame and panel, you can just cut the box top off like in the video I posted. But if you want the lid to be a single piece of solid wood, I think you have the best option in your drawing.
Great information on how to be one with the wood and go with the flow. I’m tellin’ ya, woodworking is a spiritual endeavor.
Continuous grain seems easy enough with “boxes” since the lid is cut off and the grain follows.
What can you do if you are not working with a single piece of wood? Hunt through the wood stash or hunt for the perfect piece.
Sounds like a good place to us a matched veneer too.
That’s the challenge. I have built many a piece that did NOT have grain continuity simply because I didn’t have the right boards. I like to think of it more like something to shoot for, as opposed to an absolute requirement.
That method of making draw fronts works really nicely. I’ve done the same with a hall table I built (as part of a course).
Draw pieces cut:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....893644448/
All in place:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....893644448/
Really great article once again Marc.
when i get lumber i normaly grab a few boards in 10 and 12′ lengths and it makes life much easier to match grain when it does come from one board
Here’s one of mine, with an example of ray fleck flow across adjacent door stiles: http://www.coyotecreekranch.co...../Front.JPG
Even non-woodworkers notice it. ;) Here they are being laid out:
http://www.coyotecreekranch.co.....Stiles.JPG
Great job on those panel frames. It really pulls the piece together across the front.
I appreciated the tip regarding grain alignment. I have this one question. I have enjoyed the podcast and am slowly working my way current as I have recently discovered this forum. Anyway, how would you match grainlines on both the sides and the top of the box. As someone mentioned earlier, it would have to be the perfect piece, or an extra wide/long board cut with a thin blade like a bandsaw. That would be the ultimate in creating a box like those examples.
Well that’s the bottom line really. You just need the widest and longest boards you can possibly find. But, you also have to be realistic. You won’t be able to do this on every project but just do it when you can. And when you have to grab another board, you have to do your best to match up the best possible color and grain patterns.
Doug Stowe explains a great method for grain continuation right round a box in his book, dvd and there’s a clip of it on the FWW.com site.
Great post Marc.
I do well matching grain on three corners and the top – about all you can do with a single board of the thickness required for the piece you are building.
Is there a preferred corner for non-grain match – Rear-Left or Right-Rear? I usually match Left-Front, Front-Right, Right-Rear and let the non match fall at the Rear-Left corner.
I don’t have a bandsaw and thus usually buy my stock in the thickness required. I’d love to be able to do a complete wrap, but until such a time as I get a bandsaw and planer, guess that isn’t an option.
JimC