Dealing with wood defects

Introduction

In woodworkers' dreams, all wood looks like the boards we see in cutting diagrams: flat and straight, with parallel edges and not a single knot or inconsistency. In reality, though, wood is far from perfect. Even the best grades often suffer from one or more of these common defects.

The best way to deal with lumber defects is, of course, to avoid questionable boards in the first place. But if a board has great grain, is the only one available that suits your needs, or carries a bargain price, don't reject it just because of a few problems. Use the following tricks to get the most from less-than-perfect lumber.