wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,

I'm new to woodworking and I have been purchasing red oak "shorts" from
a local mill. This is kiln dried rough lumber and I don't have a
planer/jointer so I have to get the mill to do this for me. The
problem I am having is that the wood looks fine before planing, but
after it is full of splits, cracks, knots, etc. I find it very
difficult to determine if wood has defects in its rough state. Is this
normal? Is it caused by the planing operation? Is it because "shorts"
are actually rejects? I would really like to know as I am wasting alot
of money.

Thanks for your help.

Jack

I use System 1 Epoxy to fill voids in a piece of wood I want to save. This
is a common practice with mesquite.
I've used it with mesquite, cherry and white oak.
Use clear shipping tape if the split goes through the wood to dam up the
epoxy. Then you come back the next day and plane or scrape the wood.
You never know where a wind check will show up in oak, and sometimes you
have enough time and money in a piece, your justified in filling the void.

Maybe that's what woodworkers do, work the wood. :-)

A $20 Ebay #4 Bailey hand plane, all tuned up will make short work fixing
the blemish.