# anyone seen this weird "indented grain" before ?



## phinds (May 23, 2016)

Processing a wood sample of pin oak recently I noticed that it has "indented grain" of a form I've not seen before and I was wondering if anyone here had run across anything like it.

This is what normal indented grain looks like in Ponderosa pine:


 

And this is the pin oak piece:


 

Now, I've seen the kind of grain-line shift shown in area 2 before, with a small shift at a ray so I guess it shouldn't be so surprising that it could happen twice in nearby areas and create the "indented grain" in area 1, but that's what I've never seen before. 

Maybe part of what makes it look weird is that area 2 is like what I've seen before; a SMALL shift in grain-line that is barely noticeable whereas both sides of the double shift in area 1 are larger shifts.

Anyway ...


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## JR Custom Calls (May 23, 2016)

That's pretty neat. I've seen similar to your first pic several times in 2x lumber from Lowes or HD, but never seen anything like that second one


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## ripjack13 (May 23, 2016)

Do you have other pix of pin oak?

Just an uneducated guess...
Is that possibly the "pin" from the pin oak?


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## phinds (May 23, 2016)

ripjack13 said:


> Do you have other pix of pin oak?
> 
> Just an uneducated guess...
> Is that possibly the "pin" from the pin oak?


Interesting thought and not one that had occurred to me, but yeah I have a whole web page with several samples of pin oak and there's no hint of this kind of thing.

I think I used to know why pin oak is called "pin" oak, but if I did I've forgotten. I'll bet Mark (@Mr. Peet) knows (and if he doesn't, he'll just make something up )

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## barry richardson (May 23, 2016)

Looks like some sort of seismic event occurred lol...

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 1


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## Mr. Peet (May 24, 2016)

Paul,

I have seen that pattern in oak many times. A grader told me they called it "jump" in growth rings and was a weak spot and down graded. I never heard the term when taking my grading classes, nor have I seen it in the text. I do recall it being covered and that it often returns to normal growth by the time it reaches grade. That within the heart area often goes for cant, tie, dunage or pallet, where such inconsistencies are not of issue.

As for the name, not sure. I have been told two reasons for the name. The first is that "Pin oak" is very apically dominant, similar to many conifers like spruce and fir, with that strong central stem. This "mast" like appearance is a giant inverted pin. The term pin and nail were interchangeable at times in history.

The other story I heard was of it having very straight branching, the branches would be cut and used as tendons in beam construction, thus pinning things together.

Reactions: Like 2


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## phinds (May 24, 2016)

Mr. Peet said:


> Paul,
> 
> I have seen that pattern in oak many times. A grader told me they called it "jump" in growth rings and was a weak spot and down graded. I never heard the term when taking my grading classes, nor have I seen it in the text. I do recall it being covered and that it often returns to normal growth by the time it reaches grade. That within the heart area often goes for cant, tie, dunage or pallet, where such inconsistencies are not of issue.
> 
> ...


Interesting. Thanks.


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