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Damaged oak strips, possibly from machining?

DFFF

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Jun 30, 2025
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Hi,

I've recently had some oak boards machined and profiled to make frames. The lengths came from 4900 x 175 x 27mm boards.

Each profiled length is 4900 x 40 x 8mm. Some of the same oak boards were also planed and chopped to specified lengths, these boards are fine and the oak looks great.

However, the the profiled lengths looks somewhat damaged? Some areas are quite rough and some areas have a white powdery texture, perhaps compressed wood dust? Sadly, no amount of sanding seems to fix the issue.

Could somebody advise what has happened and if there is a solution? They are relatively thin strips taken from face grain so I wonder if the sawing process (or spindle moulder) damaged the oaks surface.

Best,
David

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My guess that the rough texture was due to tear-out?
It could happen that the machine's knives or cutters pulled wood fibers instead of cleanly slicing them.
If your boards had any moisture when you stored it or before machining, the white powdery substance might also be some type of a white rot fungus.
But since the other boards are fine, then maybe it's an issue related to machining like compressed wood dust.
I think if the problem is indeed tear-out or compressed dust deep in the grain, it can be very difficult to completely remedy without removing more material than you'd want.
 
This is what happens when you trust a machine shop to handle fine profiling without insisting on sharp tooling and proper feed rates. Most shops rush thin stock, and then blame the wood when they butcher your boards
 
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