Wrap Around Grain

Feb 17

Miter joints are one of the most beautiful woodworking joints you can use. It’s always awesome to see wood grain wrap about completely around a box, with it crossing over all four miter joints. It’s easy to take a board, cut it into miters and wrap the wood grain across three miters. But the fourth doesn’t wrap. Most people put that corner in the back of the box so it’s not seen. Wouldn’t it be better if all four counters wrapped and you didn’t have to hide your joinery? You spend a lot of time and skill to make those miters. Might as well show those babies off! Here’s how to do it.

I cut my board to the length of the box’s long side and short side, plus the width of my table saw blade. If I’m making a wood box that’s 9” long and 6” wide, then I’ll cut a board 15” long, plus 1/8” (the thickness of my blade.

Then I resawed the board into two pieces. I cut it right down the middle using a bandsaw. You can use the table saw, but the kerf is wider and that may slightly impact how the grain looks. After the boards are split, I had to remove the saw marks. You can use a planer or sander to do this. But don’t remove too much material. The more material you remove the less the grain will match. If the boards are not the perfect thickness, remove the extra material from the outside face of the board.

I put my boards end to end and marked them in the following order: Long side, Short side, Long side, Short side. I set a stop block on my miter gauge at 9” and cut the two boards. Now my pieces are exactly 9” and 6”.

To cut the miters, I set my blade at 45 degrees and use my miter gauge to cut each one. I’m careful with my cuts. I sneak up on my cut until the blade just kisses the outside edge of the board. Do that on all four boards and you will have perfect miters with wood grain that wraps completely around your box.

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