Knotty Questions Starting a Walnut Live Edge Table

When sharp tools don’t work to calm multidirectional grain. I sand a bit, then go back to the card scraper. If it feels rough, and is as swirled as that second pic shows, that would be my plan.

As for that knot, it is a high impact visual interest. I would clean it up, and use it to it’s best advantage. You have 2 of them, in that bed of swirled grain. I see an Owl, and I don’t do visions. It would be a shame to take the Owl away. If you add the entire swath of heartwood going away from that it becomes a Loon. Leave the eyes at all cost. Mother Nature took a few years to get them right.

-- Think safe, be safe

On highly figured wood, I use helical cutterheads and sanders. Seems every hand tool, no matter how sharp, will mess up your project, because the grain changes directions. A big belt sander will smooth up that piece. Usually I try to glue knots back to the piece, and they will usually blow out about the time I get the piece to thickness, so then I either carve a piece to fit in the hole, or use bondo to fill it in, and then color the bondo with a marker usually black or dark brown, as many knots are those colors.

Seems every hand tool, no matter how sharp, will mess up your project, because the grain changes directions.
- farmfromkansas

The problem with tear out is you don’t know until its too late.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

I’ve had some quilted maple that gave me the same problems, even a freshly sharpened card scraper would cause tear out. I resorted to sanding as the only method that wouldn’t cause tear out of some sort.

-- Bondo Gaposis