This does not hurt the wood
Short blog entry today to try to clear up a common question I get on my videos. When I pour water on the slabs it is only for you, the viewer to see the grain/color of the timber as it might look in the future when a craftsman applies finish to it. When I am not producing a video while sawing I rarely do this practice. A question I get a lot when I do this on a video is "does it hurt the wood?" And the answer to this is no. The moisture content of the wood is high when it is harvested on the sawmill. The introduction of more water on the surface of the slab does not change this nor harm the timber. Most of the water either drips off or evaporates shortly after the application. So just to clear things up the flashing of water over a freshly sawed surface is done only as a treat for the viewer and in no way compromises the timber in any way.
