What is 'with the grain'?

Question

I grew-up in a family of women , so I'm fairly inept with DIY stuff. But I feel it's important I do the sanding and staining of a piece of furniture I got. I'm looking at the pieces of wood, and I really don't understand what is 'with the grain' and what is 'against the grain'. I have the variable grades of sanding paper, and I know that the sanding/stain is applied 'with the grain', but I need someone to explain to me what that is....2nd grade style. A site that pictures real wood with illustrations is a plus as well...preferred really.

Ways I know I'm doing it wrong would be nice as well.

It just looks like a bunch of lines to me...

The lines obviously go both directions....so the only thing I shouldn't do is go side to side (ie horizonital). I'm not quite understanding the first two answers.

I'm probably going to give Ro-bot the points. My confusion was more or less with how I would sand or stain the wood. I thought it must be done only in one direction of the grain...that only one way of 'with the grain' was correct or right.

Thanks for all the answers....hopefully it comes out well...

Answer 1

Imagine this is a picture of the lines on your piece of wood:
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The lines are the grain.
You can sand moving your paper back and forth, left and right, along the lines; this is "with the grain"
You do not want to sand across the lines (up and down, in this case) that is "across the grain" or "against the grain"

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Go in the direction of the lines, not in the opposite direction. Parallel to the lines is "with the grain".

The grain is the way the fibers of the wood have grown. If you sand against the grain, the wood will splinter.

Imagine petting your dog or cat in the opposite direction, from back to front or around the side....the fur gets ruffled and they hate it because it feels bad. Same thing with wood.

Answer 3

O.K. second grade 101, you know those lines that your looking at and the direction that they are going that is with the grain. The grain 100%of the time runs the lenght of the wood not the width. Just look at your wood and go with the way the lines are going, start out with fairly rough sandpaper and work your way to the smoother sandpaper, take your time and start out slow and easy and work your way up to being faster you'll get the hang of it.Good Luck

Answer 4

grain is the lines in the wood....picture a 1 x 4 x 8 of pine.....the wood is cut 99% of the time with the grain so when u look at the board the length is with the grain.....

Answer 5

if you look at a board you will see lines on it, they normally run the length of the board up and down it, the lines you see are the growth
rings the are generally harder than the softer part of the board.
when you have to sand a board, you rub the sandpaper following
the growth rings. say the board is a 2 by 4, and is 6 foot long,
you would sand this board, in a up and down motion from top to bottom. never side to side. hopes this helps.

Answer 6

With the grain would be following the lines, against the grain would be going across the lines.

Answer 7

go with the lines not against them that easy