what does good wood look like?
if you can find wood that looks like that on the edge grain and it meets all the other tests for lack of brashness, suppleness, lack of brittle failure and you can prove it glues well you just about have it made.
the timber in the sample above was sold as swimming pool decking would you believe.
do I need to tell you the species. not really because this is about selecting suitable timbers from what is around you.
if you flip the piece over...
you'll see a bloody big knot in it, but notice the grain away from the knot. it is possible to cut from this timber near perfect pieces of strip wood just by cutting away from the knot.
right time for a break.
I should really have been making aluminium spacers.
anyone any questions other than what was the wood? alaskan yellow cedar btw.