# Is this natural or artificial?



## Micahm (Aug 28, 2013)

On a Facebook group page for woodworking, some one posted this tea light holder. I noticed the streaks through it and was wondering if they were natural or if they made the streaks through it. If natural what kind of wood? If not, how did they make it?


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## hoss12992 (Mar 20, 2013)

Those are saw marks from when the wood was milled out.


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## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

This board is basically what is called skip dressed, basically you remove enough material to have a "flat" side, but you aren't really trying to completely smooth it. It is real, but umm not fully finished.


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## marcuscraft (Nov 14, 2012)

+1 to Hoss, its just rough sawn lumber










It looks like they sent it through the planer to take off the high spots.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Definitely looks deliberate to me as the saw marks are too deep for a decently tuned saw blade.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Definitely deliberate. None of the rough lumber I buy has those.


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

Definitely looks deliberate to me as the saw marks are too deep for a decently tuned saw blade.

I have seen marks that deep in rough mahogany. I swear they are using sharp rocks tied to a wagon wheel to mill it. 

"skip dressed" as TCC says it would look just like that. Could as easily be faked with a grinder. I am personally on the fence if I like it. It think it is one of those things that people would like, but as a woodworker it just kinda pulls at me in a negative way…. like, "I need to fix that" Designers vs. Carpenters I guess.


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## nuttree (Apr 19, 2009)

It's just rough sawn lumber that has been partially smoothed as others have said. If that is the look the maker is going for then it is, in fact, finished just right. Some love the rustic look that this yields.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

It was sawed at a mill with a circular blade rather than a modern mill with large band saw.


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## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

Saw marks from circular mill saw and and partially planed. I do this occasionally:


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## jordanp (Feb 1, 2013)

I can create marks that look a lot like that with a butane torch or my wood burner. it really looks good if you have the saw marks and then going over them with a large flat tip on a wood burning tool.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

I agree with several of the above posts; the project originated as rough-sawn stock. If you'd like to repeat the effect, Micahm, it means starting with milled lumber. Then it looks like a ROS or similar tool was used to soften the edges, corners and face to get the final 'not fully finished' look (as TCC aptly noted).


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Very "ROUGH" sawn lumber! Compared to what I cut on my band sawmill, my stuff looks like it is already planed…..


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