Medullary Rays and New Classes

First, some business, I have a new Turning class up on the website Sept 21-22 and space has opened in my August 25th Rocking chair class, enrollment now is open for these classes so feel free to sign up, by emailing info@petergalbert.com. . We’ve also added another Bowl Carving class with Dave Fisher, Oct 7-12. Registration for this class opens Wednesday, June 19th at 8:00am EST, email info@petergalbert.com at that time to enroll.

Now, on to the rays. Dave Sawyer first showed me to shave wood along the long fibers. It’s easy to read the results on the tangential plane (where you see the growth rings face on) because the arcs, or cathedrals change to stripes when you are following the fibers. There is a distinct color difference between the layers, which makes it a reliable way to read when shaving this orientation.

When it came time to shave the radial plane (the plane that follows a line from the outside of the tree to the center, like spokes on a wheel) it can be more difficult because the clues aren’t as obvious. The growth rings aren’t any help because they simply show up as thin stripes no matter how you shave the surface because the part you see is just the edges.

Dave explained how to check my work by observing the shape of the medullary rays. It was a baffling revelation. I recall returning to my lodging that night and drawing for hours to try to make sense of this structure and how the shape of the rays on the surface revealed the relationship of surface to the fibers. I’ve been explaining it a certain way to students for years now, and I figured it was time to make a 3-D version of my analogy. Here is a video of the model and explanation. Let me know if you find this helpful, it still blows my mind.