Using a Mirror to Reveal Bookmatch Patterns in Your Stock

When you resaw a piece correctly, you can create a bookmatch in that piece. Here's an example of one that I've already got done. This is some walnut. So, resawing means this started as one piece, and it was cut through the thickness, and then opened up like a book, and look at the beautiful pattern matches we have. Perfect mirror images of each other.

Mirror image, that takes me to what I wanna show ya here. Sometimes, when you look at the outside of a board, you wonder, "If I resaw it and I bookmatch it, what am I gonna have?" The mirror is a great way to see where you're goin'. You can take the board, place it on a mirror, and then look at the reflection. And this is gonna give you a really, really good idea of what your bookmatch is gonna look like when you're done. Here's a piece of red oak, that cathedral pattern that shows up here, courses in the mating piece, and that's gonna be our bookmatch across that piece.

Here's another piece of walnut. Same thing, I can get a really good idea. Look at that beautiful sapwood and how that's gonna be reflected in the mirror image that we get after we resaw this and create the bookmatch. So the mirror is a nice shortcut just to help you visualize exactly what that piece will be looking like after the bookmatch is complete.