Reading the Grain / Track 02
Moisture & Movement
What the board does once it is yours: moisture content, movement, shrinkage and swelling, and how to design around all of it.
Contents
Episodes in this track
- 01 Moisture Content Explained You can choose the right species, read the grain perfectly and cut accurately, and still watch a tabletop cup six weeks later — because the timber was at the wrong moisture content for the room it ended up in. It's the least visible thing in woodworking and the most consequential, and it's measurable. 6 min read →
- 02 Equilibrium Moisture Content Timber doesn't hold a moisture content — it arrives at one. Given a steady environment it settles at a level where it's in balance with the air around it: neither taking on moisture nor giving it up. That's equilibrium moisture content, and it's the number your project will actually live at. 6 min read →
- 03 Why Wood Moves By now you know what moisture content is and where timber settles. What's still missing is the bit that ruins projects: what's physically happening inside a board when that number changes, and why it damages some pieces and not others. 6 min read →
- 04 Tangential vs Radial Movement The last guide gave you the three directions and the ratio between them. This one is the practical half: telling which way a board was cut, and using that when you're choosing timber rather than just understanding it. 6 min read →
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05 Longitudinal Movement (and Why It’s Small) Three guides ago you learned wood moves. Two guides ago you learned which direction moves most. This one covers the direction that barely moves at all — why that's true, and when the rule breaks. Publishes 3 Nov
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06 Forthcoming
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07 Forthcoming
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08 Forthcoming
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09 Forthcoming
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10 Forthcoming