How to Read Wood Grain | Paul Sellers 

Dear Paul, I know there is a great possibility you won't see my tiny text in the huge list of comments and thanks you'll receive (as each time you publish anything, the community is so unequivocally happy and grateful), but I just wanted to tell you that each time I'm listening to your videos, I feel so warm inside like when I was listening to my grand-pa telling me the story of each board he kept in his workshop, near Orleans, in France. Each time I hear your quiet and nice ton of voice, it's so much more than just education for me. It's like a free trip to the nicest little moments of my childhood (and I'm 54' !).

I was thinking to myself today that I needed to get a better understanding of how to read the grain to improve my woodworking, and tonight, here's a brilliant and concise video. Thank you so much!

i think i wanna cry... i read a books and saw plenty videos about understanding grain and took nothing. And then boom you upload this video, and explain very briefly and clear. feels like i want to grab my wood now but it's midnight here. Thank you Mr. Sellers,

Thank you! Brilliant and easy to understand.

I found the answer to my problem with different grain directions in your video. I feel deprived not having been taught these skills earlier in my life. Thank you all the more.

A treat for all to have this man share his knowledge with us

Thanks Paul. You remind me of my Dad. He trained as a joiner in Liverpool in the fourties. He’s not with us anymore but you remind me a lot of him. We’ve been in Canada for almost 51 years now.

As someone who's now starting to use hand tools for small projects, this is the most helpful video I've watched and explains the source of my frustrations. Thank you for making this.

Ladies and gentleman witness a true teacher in action. Awesome Paul, been a huge fan for years. There are a handful of videos that make it clear how passionate you feel about this craft, this is one of those videos.

Thank you for sharing your expertise with us Paul. You are a true gentleman.

As a novice woodworker I struggle with this all the time. Great explanation! Love the scraper tip too

I love the way you explain things with such clarity and simplicity.

Mr Seller, just one word: Awesome! Thank you for giving me more insight.

I have watched many videos trying to better understand how to read the grain and how to deal with it. This is a great video! Thank you Paul!

A true master of his craft. Beautiful explanations!

Thank your Paul for this information. I am new to planing wood by hand. I knew not to go against the grain but not about dealing with knots or difficult grain. Thanks again.

Ty for helping me learn about direction of grain and tree growth. New to the hobby and learned more in this video than have in any other video I’ve watched so far. Your well spoken and an easy listen. Ty again

I yet say that "As the Grain Turns" is a great name for a woodworking channel/blog/whatever. I got this thought when I first started to understand grain and fine woodworking. Thanks Paul, I refer folks to your work all the time.

I’m starting in this beautiful work and with you I feel I understood how noble and pure is this material. Thank you, perfectly explained and very productive!

Paul, you are amazing. I am just getting into woodwork, restoring some basic tools inherited from my stepfather (an old Scotsman who spent decades in construction) and learning the very basics. Your style, your explanation of every step and the reasoning behind it, puts you as truly a Master. Not only of your craft, but of how to instruct others and pass along your skills. Thank you so very very much!!

Thank you, Paul! Great video! This is exactly the complete answer to the question I asked you under the video on making a workbench. The subject here is one of the most difficult issues for a beginner woodworker.

Paul I really enjoy and learn so much when you take the time to both show how to do something and the why you did it the way you did. I’m in my seventies and I appreciate the skill and knowledge you bring into your instruction. It truly shows a master of his craft and his desire to pass it on to other generations. Thank you for your gentile easy approach while you are doing processes and explaining. I understand you lived around the Kerrville, Texas area while I lived in Boerne, Texas I would have truly enjoyed sitting under your instruction as I do now.

Just getting into woodworking, and Paul you are a God send! Any topic I think of, you have it covered. I like your relaxed approach to your teachings and makes me feel confident in taking on woodworking. Thanks for these vids, I very much appreciate you parting your knowledge to others like myself.

Luthier's apprentice here ! Your channel is very helpful thank you so much for sharing knowledge

Very good video Paul, I always have trouble reading the grain, but the way you explained it makes so much more sense. Thanks

I wish I would have seen this video 25 years ago. It would have saved me a lot of hard lessons over the years. This is a great video that even after 35 years of woodworking gave me a couple of tips I had not learned or thought of yet. Thanks for the awesome teachings.

Thank you so very much for this video. As is the case with most of your videos, the learning experience is as clear as a bell. Through my own experience, I've learned a lot about this very topic, but have never heard it explained so well. Watching this also helps me to realize that I need to pay more attention to the wood when working a piece. I've made many mistakes, (tore up some really nice pieces of wood) and will make more, but with each learning curve rounded, I can only hope to make less and less mistakes. Always look forward to watching your videos and learning more each time.

AS always Paul Sellers instruction and presentation are as close to perfect as possible! He is a master of wood and instruction. I've learned much over the years from this man. Thank you from a student from Grapevine, Texas.

As always, a master at work and presented as world class craftsman to his apprentice.

You are brilliant and a genuine GIFT to the global woodworking community! Thanks very much for your continued teaching, as you bless us with your excellent woodworking wisdom.

if my woodshop teacher taught like this I may actually have been interested. Looking feeling understanding rather than just hammering pieces of wood together with nails.

A great presentation and explanation on how to read wood grain growth direction. Using the planes reinforced what you explained was well done. Absolutely look forward to checking out more of your videos. Love your easy way of speaking too. Definitely informative, thank you

Very useful...most useful I have seen on reading grain and how we can use that information to bring a smile...

Your videos are wonderfully relaxing and so completely motivating ...great way to exemplify woodworking

Fascinating thing about knots paul didnt realise the wood was still hard as it left the knot just started woodcarving as a hobby ,wood always surprises you lovely vids much appreciated

Wow, I am so amazed by your video. You have a way to bring out the true fundamentals of teaching about wood. You explained the most simplest element of wood working's DNA in a simple way. Thank you!

You Sir are a Brilliant teacher!I learned so much from this video alone Thank you for your time and effort in putting this video out!

Thank You for this insight! Was one of the things I struggled with understanding when building the workbench. Appreciate the tip on backing off on the plane depth when you encounter this.

love the videos you make I learn so much from you about wood and the passion you have for it.Thanks, paul and I hope you had an awesome birthday.

Paul, thank you for this wonderful lesson. You are such a Treasure.

Just spotted your vid after fighting a piece of oak, I did woodwork at school sixty years ago but wood was prepped, we are never too old to learn. Nice one.

Thank you for sharing with us. Your passion for wood and teaching show.

Mr. Paul your videos are a real class of Woodworking, with a simple, perfect didactics and without arrogant . Thank you very much for your teaching, in all of your videos I learn a lot from this sublime Woodworking Art. This subject is very interesting. I wish much success and health. A big hug from Brazil. Said Choucair

I'm a new woodworker, your videos are inspirational thank you.

I could listen to Paul talking about wood for hours and hours. Could you make this a series going forward? I love the tutorials too, but all the theory and knowledge, behind the materails and the tools, is really interesting as well. Thank you for sharing this!

Thank You Paul very educational enjoyed learning from you and your videos fairly new to hand tools but has changed the whole way of woodworking for me and I just want to say thank you.

I needed this video a week ago BEFORE I started carving a paddle... 😮😂 Thank you Paul!

The last part, its like ripples in a river. MY GOD what a great comparison. So simple and easy to understand. Thank you PS

Thank you for sharing, this is so useful knowledge.

Master Teacher thanks for sharing your knowledge Keep going Paul !

Brilliant explanation. Thank you! I have been wrestling with a piece of ash. Your explanation of looking at the layering along the sides that meant I could identify where the grain changed half way along the stock.

Somehow you make everything so easy to understand for anyone... Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all :)

really, really useful. I've spent a ridiculously large number of hours watching your videos over the last couple of weeks. I only found you because I was having trouble carving a flippin' spoon. I've spent 2 days sharpening my chisels, will sharpen my old planes tomorrow, and I plan to make your workbench as my first major project. Spoons? Pah.

Thank you so much!! That was my first wood video to ever watch, and I found it so interesting and informative about the tree growth, the knots, the grain... I couldn't stop :). Aloha!

Excellent explanation as usual, clear and concise, many thanks for that.

Thank you.That was very informative. I like your analogy of water ripples and looking into the wood.

I have often had this problem and found no good explanation until now. Thank you Paul.

This is just from another world! Thanks for sharing this

Different grains even within the same lot of wood is what keeps life interesting! If it were all the same, I would wonder if we would be bored to tears ... or working with MDF? Thank you for posting this video, I never cease to learn something new watching Mr. Sellers.

Mr. Sellers is a great instructor.

You are a great teacher Paul. Thank you!

You are making me smarter about wood. Thank you.

Im having trouble planing right now and this explains why. Thank you!

Boom! All of a sudden I start to get it. Thank you.

Thanks, this will surely save me some time.

Really valuable knowledge thank you for sharing it with us.

Wood anatomy is a an interesting topic, and that's what we're dealing with when speaking of "grain," the gross anatomy of the tree's cellular structure when exposed on a planar surface, either roughly (sawn) or smoothly (planed). In general, the more bland the better the working properties, but so much of the beauty of wood is the endless variety of irregularities, all of which indicate something going on in the way the tree grew this material that we call "wood."

This was very well done. Thank you paul

Fabulous. Thank you so much for your incredible knowledge so wonderfully shared.

Excellent explanation and examples. Thanks for that!

So valuable! Gotta love this man. Thank you.

Fascinating presentation. Thank you.

A true Master teacher!!!! thank you!!

I wish I would’ve seen this video years ago. It summed up a lot of the mistakes I’ve been making with reading the grains.

A great and useful video as always. Thanks!

nice! i saw the sliding dovetail socket for the upcoming coat rack on that piece of pine. can't wait to do that project.

Great explanation from a great Master

Great explanation, I'm enjoying your Essential woodworking book that I got for Christmas 😁

Very informative video, thanks very much for helping me understand this.

Nice vídeo Paul!

wow.... I' have always never really understood wood grain. This video helps a lot.

This is something that any observant student of woodworking will understand after working a plane for the first time. It is simple to observe, and I have known these things for over 30 years, never gave it a second thought.

Marvelous ! I'm trying to learn about grain direction etc thanks for sharing

Fantastic and very educational/informative. My great grand parents were all carpenters and in 18/1700s they didn't have the tools we have and their items were masterpieces and known in their small town in Scotland. UK. I was a police officer now retired and repairing things at mums and having to learn all the things I should of paid attention to at school. Refurbishing a 100yr old Pew and wanted to know what my wood i am working with.

Excellent explanation. Thank you!

you make it so easy to understand Thank you!

Very instructive! Thank you!

Paul, vous êtes vraiment formidable ! Bravo.

Clear and brilliant! Bravo!

Great help for rookie woodworkers. Thanks!

I am just new into wood work and that was what i learned working on a piece of scrap pine. You are very generous for sharing your experience and knowledge :) i wish i had watched you before i chipped my planes blade :) lucky for me i started cheap but your video trully follows the Japanese adage.."you must first understand that wood comes from the forest and not the lumberyard" :)

Excellent. Thank you for advice...

This was the video that i needed. Thanks master

Very educational as usual. Thanks

brilliant Info! Watching your videos has helped me sleep better, thank you..None of this red bull woodworking...

Wonderful video! Thank you so much

Every day is a school day. I have always thought the small ring after the knot was the highest not the lowest. Thanks Paul.

Thank you very much for such an educational videos that you do! I wait for them eagerly every time they come out. Another nice feature is the caption on the button of the screen. But sometimes caption covers what you are showing in this video and it is not seen at all.

As always: this is great. Thanks a lot.

I'll have to watch a few times, lots of good stuff