INSTRUMENTS FOR RAPIDLY 

MEASURING SLOPE OF 

GRAIN IN LUMBER 

Information Reviewed and Reaffirmed 

April 1955 

INFORMATION REVIEWED 

AND REAFFIRMED 

1960 

No. 1592 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

FOREST SERVICE 

FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY 

Madison 5, Wisconsin 

In Cooperation with the University of Wisconsin 
INSTRUMENTS FOR RAPIDLY MEASURING 

SLOPE OF GRAIN IN LUMBER1, 2 

By 

ERIC A. ANDERSON, Technologist 

ARTHUR KOEHLER, Chief 

Division of Silvicultural Relations 

and 

ROBERT H. KRONE, Engineer 

A piece of lumber is said to have slope of grain when the fibers do not 

run parallel to its main axis. Excessive slope of grain reduces strength, 

makes surfacing more difficult, and may cause warping with change in moisture content. 

Slope of grain is commonly referred to as cross grain. It includes spiral, diagonal, wavy, interlocked, and curly grain and any other deviation 

of the grain that may be present in a piece of wood. 

Slope of grain on a tangential (plain-sawed or flat-grain) surface is usually referred to as spiral grain, and slope of grain on a radial (quartersawed or edge grain) surface, as indicated by the annual rings when they 

are distinct, is referred to as diagonal grain. When the grain slopes on 

both surfaces a combination of the two gives the true slope of grain within a piece. Similarly, a combination of the slope of grain on adjacent 

portions of any two surfaces at right angles to each other, even though 

they are not tangential and radial surfaces, gives the true slope of grain 

within a piece near both surfaces. 

1 

Results here reported were obtained during 1945. 

2 

A more detailed discussion of methods of detecting and measuring slope of 

grain in lumber and veneer may be found in Forest Products Laboratory 

Report No. 1585, "Guide to Determining Slope of Grain in Lumber and 

Veneer, " Sept. 1943. 

Report No. 1592 -1- Agriculture-Madison 
Since many pieces of lumber do not have radial and tangential surfaces adjacent to and near each other, further references to spiral grain and diagonal grain will be omitted and reference will be made only to slope of 

grain on adjacent surfaces and their combination within the piece. 

Determining Direction of Grain in Wood 

One of the best ways of determining how the grain runs in a piece of wood 

is to split it, but since that mutilates the piece it will not be discussed 

further except to say that it usually is best to split the wood radially 

and tangentially since it splits best in those planes, although wood with 

interlocked grain cannot be split satisfactorily in the radial direction. 

The direction the grain takes on any surface may be determined by a scribe, 

free flowing ink, magnification, or in some woods, by observation of resin 

ducts and large pores, and on tangential and on radial surfaces by observation of the direction of seasoning checks and annual rings, respectively. 

In using a scribe of the type illustrated in figure 1, light pressure must 

be applied so that the point will enter the wood slightly while it is 

pulled in the direction in which the grain appears to run. It is desirable to make a trial run followed by a check run in which the scribe is 

pulled in the direction of the mark made during the trial run, unless it 

obviously did not follow the grain the first time. 

In woods in which summerwood is much harder than springwood, the scribe 

may follow the springwood rather than follow the direction of the grain. 

It then becomes necessary to make a series of short lines in the springwood. In that case the slope of grain must be measured parallel to the 

individual lines and not parallel to a general line connecting them. 

A free flowing ink, such as fountain pen ink, applied by drawing a rather 

broad pen point or an eye dropper across the grain, will show the direction in which the grain runs by fine ink lines extending from both sides 

of the ink mark. A little alcohol mixed with the ink helps it to spread 

more rapidly. A straightedge may then be placed parallel with these fine 

ink lines and the slope determined. 

A hand lens having a magnifying power of about 7 to 15 diameters offers a 

means of observing the fibers and placing a straightedge parallel with 

them so that their slope may be measured. Resin ducts, present in some 

softwoods, and pores in those hardwoods in which they can be seen as fine 

grooves on longitudinal surfaces, indicate direction of grain on the surface without requiring magnification. These features are particularly 

Report No. 1592 -2-
useful for inspecting finished parts on which the use of a scribe or ink 

is not permissible. 

Seasoning checks indicate the true direction of grain only on surfaces 

that are tangential, and the annual rings indicate the true direction of 

grain only on surfaces that are radial. 

It is frequently confusing to the inspector to note that a line representing the direction of the grain (fibers) on a surface may cross the annual 

rings as indicated on the top surface in figure 2. This effect is to be 

expected whenever spiral or diagonal grain or both are present in pieces 

whose surfaces are not radial or tangential. 

Measuring Slope of Grain 

Slope of grain is usually expressed as the relation between the unit deviation and the length of a base line from which the deviation occurs. Frequently a longitudinal corner is used for the measurement of the length 

but any line that is parallel to the long axis may be used. For example, 

if in figure 2, the line indicating; the slope of grain on the face, namely, 

bo, departs 1 inch, as ab, in 12 inches from a longitudinal corner, as ao, 

the slope of grain on that face is 1 in 12. 

Also, in the same figure, if a line representing the slope of grain on the 

edge, as co, departs 1/2 inch, as ac , for every 12 inches from the same 

longitudinal corner, the slope of grain on the edge is 1/2 in 12, which is 

equivalent to 1 in 24. The line do, represents the combined, or true, 

slope of grain within the piece because it is at the intersection of a 

vertical and a horizontal plane, both of which are parallel to the grain 

on the surfaces and cut the corner at the same point, o. The ratio of the 

line ad to ao is a measure of the combined, or true, slope of grain. 

To obtain a numerical value for the combined slope of grain, the two 

slopes, 1 in 12 and 1 in 24, are then referred to table 1 where the desired value may be obtained by reading downward under the column headed l 

in 12 and to the right on the line marked 1 in 24 until these two intersect. At this intersection, the combined slope of grain is shown as 1 in 

10.7. 

Lines representing grain slopes on the two faces need not be determined 

from exactly the same point on the longitudinal corner, nor need they extend to the ends of the piece. For example, in figure 2, the ratio of 

a'b' to a'o also represents the slope of grain on the face. However, 

since the direction of grain may vary a great deal along the length of a 

Report No. 1592 -3-
board, or across its width, it is necessary that the two values obtained 

as a basis for combined slope of grain be taken closely enough together 

to avoid errors due to these variations. The resultant value for combined 

slope then applies to the portion in which the measurements were made. 

Instruments for Measuring Slope of Grain 

The slope of grain may be measured with a number of different instruments. 

For quick determination and direct reading of slope of grain the Forest 

Products Laboratory has devised several pieces of equipment. One consists of a plate of clear glass, on which lines representing one or several slopes are placed to the right and left of a central line at right 

angles to one edge of the plate. With the aid of a square, this plate 

can be alined with its center line parallel to the edge of the board, and 

the slope of the grain, which preferably is first indicated with a pencil 

line, can be determined by paralleling it with the appropriate sloping 

line on the plate. (See fig, 3) , 

Another instrument for measuring slope of grain is shown in figure 4. It 

consists of a straightedge, a, pivoted on the end of a flat bar, b. On 

the bar is a slide, c, arranged so that the bar itself may be squared with 

the edge of a board and slid back or forth across the board. The whole 

instrument can, of course, be moved along the edge of the board so that 

the straightedge can be alined with the grain anywhere on the surface to 

be inspected. An indicating arm, d, is fastened rigidly at right angles 

to the straightedge, and the slope of grain is read directly on a scale 

fastened to the end of the bar, b. 

The slope of grain also can be measured directly by means of adjustable 

parallel bars about 20 inches long of which one bar is flat and graduated 

in inches and has a T-head extending for 1 inch at right angles to the bar 

on each side, as shown in figure 5. The other bar is L-shaped in cross 

section. By fitting the L-shaped bar along an edge of a board and bringing one end of the T-head on the other bar to a line indicating the direction of grain, as bo, the distance in which the grain deviates 1 inch from 

parallelism with an edge of the board can be read directly from the graduations on the bar, as 9.6 inches in figure 5. If the grain slopes in the 

other direction, the other end of the T-head must be used. The slope of 

grain can be measured over shorter distances by using a 1/2-inch graduation on the T-head and doubling the reading on the graduated bar. 

Another method for measuring directly the deviation of grain from a longitudinal corner or a line parallel to the corner is to use a divider or 

machinist's caliper about 8 inches long, preferably of the hermaphrodite 

type 

Report No. 1592 -4-
type, with wide flat legs of equal length and with the curved leg sharpened to a dull chisel point, The inner edges of both legs should be beveled toward each other like the blades of a pair of shears. If the same 

length of base line is always used, various slopes of grain corresponding 

to certain openings of the caliper can be indexed on the flat side of a 

leg (see figs. 6 and 7), to go with the particular length of base line 

used. Slopes for one length of base line, as 6 inches, may be masked on 

one leg and slopes for a base line of a different length, as 12 inches, 

may be marked on the other leg. For accurate calibration and subsequent 

reading, the calipers should be held to the light in order to determine 

the exact position of the apex of the V formed by the legs. Such a caliper can be used on any portion of the face of a board away from the edge 

if a base line parallel to the edge is drawn at a suitable place near 

where the grain is to be measured, as in figure 6. 

A major advantage in using the caliper is evident when the combined elope 

is to be determined, for it can be measured directly across a corner (fig. 

7) without making calculations or referring to table 1. This follows from 

the fact that the diagonal distance from b to c in the rectangle abdc in 

figure 2 is equal to the diagonal ad, which, as previously stated, indicates the deviation in slope of grain within the piece with respect to the 

line ao. It is not even necessary that the same portion of the base line 

be used (the same length of base line corresponding to the calibrations 

on the caliper must be used, however) since one or the other deviation can 

be extended parallel to the corner to the point where the measurement is 

to be made, as in figure 7. 

Report No. 1592 -5- .5-12 
Table 1.--Combined slope of grain1 

Z M 62428 F 

M 60821 F 

Figure 2.--Aboard, with neither radial nor tangential surfaces, showing 

slope of grain on the face, as bo, on the edge, as co, and the combined slope within, as do. 


Figure 5.--Adjustable parallel bars with T-head on one bar for measuring slope of 

any portion of the face of a board. The line bo shows direction of grain as det

by a scribe. 

Z M 63765 F 
Figure 6.--Direct measurement of slope of grain in the middle of a 

board by means of a graduated caliper. 

Z M 63766 F 
Figure 7.--Direct measurement of combined slope of grain by means of 

a graduated caliper using different base lines of the same length. 

Z M 63767 F