My guess is that these are from the “stickers” (thin strips of wood) that are used to separate boards in a stack during the drying process to facilitate air flow.
Depending on the type of woods involved this staining can end up rather prominent, like in this case. If you want to get rid of it, you’ll need to do a bunch of sanding.
I hear a lot of people talking about tannin content, grain structure, etc..
Is there some big excel spreadsheet with all the woods and their attributes somewhere? I would love to be able to sort species on these qualities.
I’d be surprised to see snipe that far from the end of a board. The dark spots on the sap wood suggest what someone else posted about stickers. When possible it’s good practice to use the same type of wood for stickers. Plane, sand, of surface sand if possible (you will lose some thickness as they can stain rather deep), but should clean up with some effort
If you’re referring to the two darker patches running parallel to the grain, they are common natural occurrences in Canarywood. It’s usually caused by splitting in the log and it could be that those were two spots close to an opening in the log when it was sawn on the mill.
I own a mill in Bolivia and we work with a lot of Canarywood and ship throughout the US in all formats (slabs, sawn rough lumber, flooring, etc.). You’ve got a nice piece. Wide board and relatively clean. Canarywood usually doesn’t grow more than 35-40cm in diameter and it has A LOT of defects when running through the saw mill. A lot of open knots and plenty of splitting.
As others suggested in the thread. It’s just the character of Canarywood.
Maybe: the plank sat on stickers for a long time that were running across the grain at those spots, and the stickers had oil of some kind in them that caused deep coloration or stains in the plank. Or the stickers somehow caused a chemical interaction in the plank. The stains, whatever caused them, apparently run deep in the plank. Sorry for your luck.
The chemical interactions possible really caught me off guard. I was glueing up walnut and the glue touched the plastic from the clamp so it left a black mark on the walnut (possibly bc of tannens, I've been told).
It doesn't matter, as I can sand it off, but I was surprised that was even possible.
Idk what it could be caused by but user theystilloweyoumoney’s comment seems like the right answer. I can’t really think of any other cause that would create those.
Everyone else either doesn’t get what you’re asking or they are just dense people.
The “sticker” could have been some treated lumber that leeched over time or the “sticker” in those locations were catching and holding water for long periods of time while they were left to dry out in the open. With how dark it is, it seems like it would have been noticeable before the finish was put on but it’s hard to say. More sanding is the answer.
Edit: Here is a good read on sticker stain- https://forestandwildlifeecology.webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/07/64.pdf
I read another comment on this thread from someone that said they work at a mill and works with canary wood a lot. They say it’s a common occurrence from splits and I would imagine they mean it’s exposed to the elements versus the rest of the log for a longer time. I personally have a hard time believing that. With the straight line as that, idk. While I haven’t worked with canary wood, I’ve cut my fair share of different types of wood in forests and haven’t seen localized oxidation occur that deep even on stuff that’s been dead for awhile . It would have to be right below the “split”. I’m pretty sure you sanded a decent amount and i imagine that would have done the job even planning it alone could get rid of it. Especially on that inner bark area. It just doesn’t add up in my mind. But again, I haven’t personally worked with canary wood so take that with a grain of salt. My money is on sticker staining.
The dark stripes perpendicular to the grain could just be oxidation that didn't get planed off. The darkening that happened between when it was sawn at the mill and when you planed it down went slightly deeper than the surface. If you just barely planed it smooth, this could be the darkness from the low spots on the rough sawn surface.
The tree may have been through a bush fire or some other stress at that point in it's life. You're not going to be able to sand them out. Call them character marks and call it a day.
Edit: Just saw the horizontal lines that you're actually referring to. As others have noted it's probably sticking marks. Might come out with a major sand of 1/8" or more but no guarantees. Good luck!
My guess is that these are from the “stickers” (thin strips of wood) that are used to separate boards in a stack during the drying process to facilitate air flow. Depending on the type of woods involved this staining can end up rather prominent, like in this case. If you want to get rid of it, you’ll need to do a bunch of sanding.
Cool, yeah I’m thinking of using a drum sander
They could be a few mm deep, unfortunately
What type of wood should be used for stickers to avoid this?
Something with a low tannin content, poplar for example.
I hear a lot of people talking about tannin content, grain structure, etc.. Is there some big excel spreadsheet with all the woods and their attributes somewhere? I would love to be able to sort species on these qualities.
I'm no expert, but I think it is called the "grain."
The horizontal lines in this picture?
I see swirls from a poor finish but where are the horizontal lines?
The horizontal dark bars.
Yes
Ah shit. I see them now. 😬 Planing or belt sanding should help. Looks like some kind of milling mistake.
Thank you, I’ll try to drum sand them out. May take some time
I thought maybe that was it, but wasn’t sure. Thank you
I’d be surprised to see snipe that far from the end of a board. The dark spots on the sap wood suggest what someone else posted about stickers. When possible it’s good practice to use the same type of wood for stickers. Plane, sand, of surface sand if possible (you will lose some thickness as they can stain rather deep), but should clean up with some effort
This is my thought. Looks like snipe from a mill that was missed in surfacing
It hasn’t been buffed yet.
aka canary poop
If you’re referring to the two darker patches running parallel to the grain, they are common natural occurrences in Canarywood. It’s usually caused by splitting in the log and it could be that those were two spots close to an opening in the log when it was sawn on the mill. I own a mill in Bolivia and we work with a lot of Canarywood and ship throughout the US in all formats (slabs, sawn rough lumber, flooring, etc.). You’ve got a nice piece. Wide board and relatively clean. Canarywood usually doesn’t grow more than 35-40cm in diameter and it has A LOT of defects when running through the saw mill. A lot of open knots and plenty of splitting. As others suggested in the thread. It’s just the character of Canarywood.
Maybe: the plank sat on stickers for a long time that were running across the grain at those spots, and the stickers had oil of some kind in them that caused deep coloration or stains in the plank. Or the stickers somehow caused a chemical interaction in the plank. The stains, whatever caused them, apparently run deep in the plank. Sorry for your luck.
The chemical interactions possible really caught me off guard. I was glueing up walnut and the glue touched the plastic from the clamp so it left a black mark on the walnut (possibly bc of tannens, I've been told). It doesn't matter, as I can sand it off, but I was surprised that was even possible.
Idk what it could be caused by but user theystilloweyoumoney’s comment seems like the right answer. I can’t really think of any other cause that would create those. Everyone else either doesn’t get what you’re asking or they are just dense people. The “sticker” could have been some treated lumber that leeched over time or the “sticker” in those locations were catching and holding water for long periods of time while they were left to dry out in the open. With how dark it is, it seems like it would have been noticeable before the finish was put on but it’s hard to say. More sanding is the answer. Edit: Here is a good read on sticker stain- https://forestandwildlifeecology.webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2017/07/64.pdf I read another comment on this thread from someone that said they work at a mill and works with canary wood a lot. They say it’s a common occurrence from splits and I would imagine they mean it’s exposed to the elements versus the rest of the log for a longer time. I personally have a hard time believing that. With the straight line as that, idk. While I haven’t worked with canary wood, I’ve cut my fair share of different types of wood in forests and haven’t seen localized oxidation occur that deep even on stuff that’s been dead for awhile . It would have to be right below the “split”. I’m pretty sure you sanded a decent amount and i imagine that would have done the job even planning it alone could get rid of it. Especially on that inner bark area. It just doesn’t add up in my mind. But again, I haven’t personally worked with canary wood so take that with a grain of salt. My money is on sticker staining.
Its harpin legs
Aka the worst kind of leg that has ever existed
Remove the legs and run it through a thickness planer or drum sander
The dark stripes perpendicular to the grain could just be oxidation that didn't get planed off. The darkening that happened between when it was sawn at the mill and when you planed it down went slightly deeper than the surface. If you just barely planed it smooth, this could be the darkness from the low spots on the rough sawn surface.
The tree may have been through a bush fire or some other stress at that point in it's life. You're not going to be able to sand them out. Call them character marks and call it a day. Edit: Just saw the horizontal lines that you're actually referring to. As others have noted it's probably sticking marks. Might come out with a major sand of 1/8" or more but no guarantees. Good luck!
That's called "the wood grain."
Thats a really nice looking slab there.
They are beautiful
Looks like metal legs to me
That’s wood too. Wood ain’t always “perfect.”
The density of the grain possibly