How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

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Nick Sorenson
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Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:53 pm

How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by Nick Sorenson »

I almost titled the thread "Why Knot?!?-Hidden Maple knots driving me nuts!" But that was a little bit cheesy and not descriptive enough. But I am pretty frustrated with the lack of predictability with Hard Maple. I'll have a piece that looks great. Cut it to shape and run a profile or two and find hidden under what looked to be a pretty piece of wood a tiny black line usually about 1/4" in length and about the diameter of a pencil lead buried in there. Other times I find something that looks more like an actual knot (brown in color) that runs long ways buried in a board. You can't see it at all from the outside but when you cut into the board, there it is but again, no clue that it was hiding under there (that I could see anyways). Are there any cues/clues to look for when working with Hard Maple to know this is coming or at least assume that they might be there somewhere (i.e. likelihood in a particular board or batch)? Pretty frustrating because sometimes I don't find the surprise until I'm just about done with a piece and cut or sand the last little bit of material off. Any clues to watch for?
Warren May
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Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:00 pm

Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by Warren May »

Good question, Nick. I had similar issues with some cherry boards that I was using for carved tops. The guys recommended finishing it and not worrying about it, so I did. At first, I worried about it but the cherry finished really nicely and I was very satisfied with it after putting it all together. But it would be nice to know how to predict the streaks before starting a carve.
John Sonksen
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Location: Portland, OR

Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by John Sonksen »

I don't think you can predict them. I've been building with maple for 16 years and haven't figured out a way. Usually the higher the grade of lumber the less inclusions, but even then it's a natural product and subject to variances.
David King
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Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by David King »

Are we talking about knots or mineral stains. Knots almost always show a trace on some face, mineral stains do not. You can try bleaching them or putty over them with shellac stick. They often have a hunk of sand embedded in the wood that makes a nick in planer/jointer knives -two bad surprises for the price of one.
John Sonksen
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Location: Portland, OR

Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by John Sonksen »

David King wrote:Are we talking about knots or mineral stains. Knots almost always show a trace on some face, mineral stains do not. You can try bleaching them or putty over them with shellac stick. They often have a hunk of sand embedded in the wood that makes a nick in planer/jointer knives -two bad surprises for the price of one.
I read it as mineral stains
Nick Sorenson
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Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:53 pm

Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by Nick Sorenson »

It's mostly mineral deposits/stains but it's also sometimes a brown worm looking brown colored section of wood. Thesee are usually around 3/8" to a few inches in length and often undetectible until cut into. They usually run with the grain. Those are what I'm not sure of as to what they are. The black mineral spots are more common and the bigger problem/surprise of the two.
David King
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Re: How do you avoid tiny Black Mineral Streak/Knot SURPRISES in Hard Maple?

Post by David King »

I'd say some trees have more mineral stains than others. If you come across a board that has one mineral stain somewhere it's likely to have other mineral stains. Mark it and don't use it in critical situations with customers who aren't sophisticated enough to understand that wood is not a man-made material.
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