# Your definition of "Book matched" scales, please



## TRfromMT (Jan 2, 2018)

All,

I have always understood "book matching" to mean that a block for scales (knife or pistol, no matter) is split in half and the sides that were facing each other are flipped out side to outside, and what was the outer faces of hte block are now pressed against the tang. This creates a mirror image, and I have always understood this as book matching.

More recently I have seen where the block is split but the slabs are put with the saw-kerf sides up to the tang. You can then see the continuous grain pattern across the tang. In more than one instance now I have heard this called book matching.

Which is correct - the first or the second description?


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## NYWoodturner (Jan 2, 2018)

Tony - you are correct in your understanding. 
I like to book match my knife scales. It is very easy to get turned around and mess up the book match in the drilling and assembling process. 
If you drill them wrong they have to go on wrong. Like you I have seen people buy book matched grains, assemble them wrong and still state that they are “bookmatched” - but your understanding is correct

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## ripjack13 (Jan 2, 2018)

You're correct. In a simpler visual, it's exactly like opening a book....
Hence the term...book matched...

Reactions: Agree 2


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## TRfromMT (Jan 2, 2018)

Well, that's what I thought. I've bookmatched veneer sheets all my life, so I though I had it right.

Cheers.


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## Mike1950 (Jan 2, 2018)

book match



 

brain fart

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 8 | Informative 1


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## TRfromMT (Jan 2, 2018)

Ha! That's awesome.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike1950 (Jan 2, 2018)

TRfromMT said:


> Ha! That's awesome.



It turned out alright but when I glued panel together and realized what I had done it was a *^$#[email protected]&^*^((*&&%$#$%^&&*^ moment.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 4


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## TRfromMT (Jan 2, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> It turned out alright but when I glued panel together and realized what I had done it was a *^$#[email protected]&^*^((*&&%$#$%^&&*^ moment.



I recently made two left sided grip scales for a high-end custom knife with about an $80 block of Koa. I had the same "SON OF A B!^@&!" moment and almost threw the pieces across the shop. In the end I was able to slice off the back side of the wrong one and scab on another slice of the same block of Koa. Managed to salvage it with only a thin glue line, but as my Dad used to say, it still looked like "a turd in a punch bowl" to me.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## gman2431 (Jan 2, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> book match
> 
> View attachment 139210
> 
> ...



The panel on the right looks like one mean dog!!

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 1


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## milkbaby (Jan 2, 2018)

I know there are some people who don't display the bookmatched sides of the scales outwards on a knife. There's two reasons I've heard for that: one was that the user spends more time looking at the handle from the top along the tang rather than the sides so it looks nice for the grain to match there, and two was that if you contour the scales then you often lose the matching bookmarked look. I contour my handles a LOT but I still keep the bookmatched sides outwards.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## JR Parks (Jan 2, 2018)

Kinda looks like the ying and yang on that walnut Mike. Not sure which is which tho-

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Jan 3, 2018)

JR Parks said:


> Kinda looks like the ying and yang on that walnut Mike. Not sure which is which tho-



They were perfect till I put the cove on..............


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## Foot Patrol (Jan 3, 2018)

I have done it both ways but lean more towards placing the book matched inward. I like the look of the scales being continuous on the spines. If you book match the scales, I have rarely had them truly match once I have grinded off what I did not want as a knife handle. Maybe some woods are better than others but I have not had any customers complaining about it.

If doing a mortised hidden tang handle you want the 2 scales to match up as close as possible.


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## Mr. Peet (Jan 4, 2018)

TRfromMT said:


> Well, that's what I thought. I've bookmatched veneer sheets all my life, so I though I had it right.
> 
> Cheers.



Sometimes Tony, it can be book matched, but additional wording might be needed to define how the match was made. Mike shows a beautiful book matched set, face to face, but they are not a mirrored book-match. Mirrored book match implies the image of one is exactly the same image as the other, as in a mirror. Newspapers used to often reverse the negative and print the mirror image, causes lots of talk. Often times the mere kerf of the saw is enough to outset a mirrored match to simply a match. You can have end-grain book matched, lots of folks show this in end-grain butcher blocks. Sometimes you see it in knife handles, but often it is not picked up quickly by site as is seen in other cut patterns.

Cutting something in half simplifies the theme book matched, however this in not always the case. On rare occasion such matches can be made with woods coming from different sources. These matches often lack complexity, simplifying the task. Sometimes a book match with 'Black cherry black knot burl' is made from different sources. Simpler sapwoods are matched and the observer fails to see the colored burling patterns to be different. This is more often accomplished in handles, were the supposed match is not directly observable (side by side) s it often is in cabinetry.

I think everyone's comments have been pretty helpful...

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Strider (Jan 6, 2018)

Wow at the figures! 

Agreed with the rest.


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## Jack "Pappy" Lewis (Jan 11, 2018)

I have seen some incredible examples of book matched woods...and always look to what image I can see in them....like these two ...I love the "BAT" image in the bottom pic and the face scares me!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

Tony's description of bookmatched is spot on, whether the wood is cut with a thin kerf blade or a chainsaw, the two pieces still fall into the category of bookmatched, as opposed to the erroneous use of the term when the same surface of a piece of wood is cut in half and those side-by-side pieces are then called bookmatched. As far as the look goes, I think it's a matter of opinion. I like both looks myself, whether the bookmatched surfaces are turned inward, so they appear "uncut", as on hidden tang knife, or outward, to show the bookmatching. However, if the halves are applied to show the bookmatching, they should line up fairly well. I've had no problems keeping the two halves lined up by using double-sided tape until I'm done drilling and shaping. One of the first knives I bought had a brass bolster and spacer near the center of the handle, and one side looks as though the pieces came from different blocks of wood. Every time I look at that knife I wonder what the heck the maker was thinking. Fortunately, the other side looks okay, so I can live with it, haha.


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## sprucegum (Feb 3, 2018)

I have had boards that I milled that are truly bookmatched that because of warp or cup caused by drying needed a substantial amount of material removed to true them. Often the result is a pair of bookmatched boards that look a lot alike but not identical.


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## phinds (Feb 3, 2018)

I agree w/ @Mr. Peet. Highly figured wood cut with even a thin-kerf blade can fail to exhibit anything like what I would call a book-match because there can be little to no similarity in the patterns. This is most true with black-line spalted woods which can have the two sides of what one hoped would be a bookmatch only vaguely resemble each other.

This is my favorite bookmatched veneer piece. It's what many woodworkers look like when they see a large burl on the side of a tree and they just happen to have a chainsaw in their hand.




and here's an example of black-line spalting that is only very nominally book-matched. It's what Mark was pointing out as "matched" instead of "mirror matched". If the cut could have been made with a ZERO-kerf blade then it would be a mirror match.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

sprucegum said:


> I have had boards that I milled that are truly bookmatched that because of warp or cup caused by drying needed a substantial amount of material removed to true them. Often the result is a pair of bookmatched boards that look a lot alike but not identical.


 
Hi Dave. That's okay, technically they're still bookmatched. Even some wood made from thin kerf cuts don't look all that identical. I'm sure there's a grey area if too much wood is removed, and, if I were selling wood as such, I would certainly make sure the buyer understands. Also, I've seen the word sequential used for slabs, which may be a more appropriate term, especially when referring to more than two slabs from the same log.

Reactions: Like 1


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## sprucegum (Feb 3, 2018)

Digginestdog said:


> Hi Dave. That's okay, technically they're still bookmatched. Even some wood made from thin kerf cuts don't look all that identical. I'm sure there's a grey area if too much wood is removed, and, if I were selling wood as such, I would certainly make sure the buyer understands. Also, I've seen the word sequential used for slabs, which may be a more appropriate term, especially when referring to more than two slabs from the same log.



I don't sell much anyway but it is sometimes a little disappointing to me when I'm planning for a mirror image table top and end up with not quite identical twins.


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

phinds said:


> View attachment 141075
> 
> I agree w/ @Mr. Peet. Highly figured wood cut with even a thin-kerf blade can fail to exhibit anything like what I would call a book-match because there can be little to no similarity in the patterns. This is most true with black-line spalted woods which can have the two sides of what one hoped would be a bookmatch only vaguely resemble each other.
> 
> ...



Learn something new everyday. I didn't know there was such a thing as "mirror matched" wood. I'll bet there's a huge grey area there. Actually, if you look closely at the first set, you can see minor differences, so where does one draw the line? To me, both of those examples fit comfortably in the category of bookmatched.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

sprucegum said:


> I don't sell much anyway but it is sometimes a little disappointing to me when I'm planning for a mirror image table top and end up with not quite identical twins.



Ah, yes. Maybe that's why I never heard of the term mirror matched. I've never ventured into that realm of woodworking, haha

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

Digginestdog said:


> Ah, yes. Maybe that's why I never heard of the term mirror matched. I've never ventured into that realm of woodworking, haha





sprucegum said:


> I don't sell much anyway but it is sometimes a little disappointing to me when I'm planning for a mirror image table top and end up with not quite identical twins.



You mean like these?


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

sprucegum said:


> I don't sell much anyway but it is sometimes a little disappointing to me when I'm planning for a mirror image table top and end up with not quite identical twins.



Dave, where abouts in Vermont are you located? I've been up that way in New Hampshire quite a bit.


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## phinds (Feb 3, 2018)

Digginestdog said:


> Hi Dave. That's okay, technically they're still bookmatched.


Only by a meaningless adherence to a technical term. When people hear "bookmatched" they expect mirror matched and will probably be OK with some slight variations, but if the two pieces don't look anything like a mirror match, that's not going to be OK, regardless of any technical definition, so no, it's NOT OK.

You make the valid point in a later post that even mirror matched is not likely to really be fully mirror matched in exact detail, BUT ... if it's close enough that you REALLY have to look closely to see the differences then no one's going to care.


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## Digginestdog (Feb 3, 2018)

phinds said:


> Only by a meaningless adherence to a technical term. When people hear "bookmatched" they expect mirror matched and will probably be OK with some slight variations, but if the two pieces don't look anything like a mirror match, that's not going to be OK, regardless of any technical definition, so no, it's NOT OK.
> 
> You make the valid point in a later post that even mirror matched is not likely to really be fully mirror matched in exact detail, BUT ... if it's close enough that you REALLY have to look closely to see the differences then no one's going to care.



Hi Paul, maybe you and Dave and others are at a higher scrutiny level than myself and many others. In my opinion, it is fine as long as you can tell the two pieces were cut down the middle, but I understand for many applications, it is more important that they are "mirror" images of each other. For knife makers. the term is considerably loose, maybe because the matched surfaces end up on opposite sides of the knife, so differences aren't that noticeable. All this talk about bookmatched wood got me motivated, so I went out and cut a couple of slabs off of a bug riddled oak log. Hmm, pics too large for uploading.


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## phinds (Feb 3, 2018)

Digginestdog said:


> For knife makers. the term is considerably loose, maybe because the matched surfaces end up on opposite sides of the knife, so differences aren't that noticeable.


Yes, I agree that for knife/gun handles it is far less significant. I don't make either so tend to think more in terms of jewelry box tops, etc.


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## Mike1950 (Feb 3, 2018)

I find some things book quite easily and some do not. boards are going to be tougher than sliced veneer. below you can see variations but also see the pairing. spalted wood is difficult sawn to book- the black line comes and goes. but others are easier.


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