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Re: Tenon cork replacement

Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2010-06-24 13:08

I think there is maybe some confusion here re what constitutes "grain" in cork.

There is not really any grain going up the tree or around the tree. There are holes travelling through most of the cork, along radii (thinking of the cork on the tree).

The large (say 3" x 6" or 12") sheets of cork that we buy has these holes travelling through the THICKNESS of sheet, from one side to the other. If this were timber then we would think of it as being cut "across the grain". Yet the small strips of "cross-grain"cork that we sometimes buy (not for tenons, but for key stops and for cutting cork pads) have these "grain" holes travelling parallel to the plane of the top and bottom of the strips. So 'Cross-grain" seems a bit of a misnomer. All very confusing

In practice, the SHEETS of cork we buy have the holes travelling THROUGH the sheet. On poor quality sheets these holes are not all round, but some are long thin ovals in cross section - effectively slits through the sheet.

This gives the impression of grain ALONG the sheet. These holes are possibly not the normal pores that go through the cork, but rather faults in the way the cork grew. For these sheets, it sure is best to have those slits travelling around the tenon rather than across it, and keep them well away from the edges of that cork strip.

Usually I just throw away bits of cork that have these slits. If I used them, then IMO that would be the most substandard aspect of my work.

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