What do you call that side of a plank that you create if you cut it in two?

Question

In Russian, there is a special word for the side of a plank that you see after cutting it in two. The word is "торец", if it's of any help. This part is shown in the picture I am linking to.

A native speaker that I have contacted had no idea what it's called. Dictionaries don't give any variants that I could prove via Google. "Plank sides" returned images of planks from many different angles, though usually showing the side I need. I still want to make sure, so I'd like to know what you actually call this part of a plank in English.

Answer 1

Google translates the Russian term "торец" as "butt", which seems as if it might be a good word, but I can't find it used that way.

This site calls it simply the "end":

benchnote.com lumber dimensions

"Surfaces: The surfaces of a board are refered to as the end, face and edge."

Answer 2

I would call the part of the wood which has been cut with a saw: the sawn-off edge. This term might not be used by everybody, so I did a little searching and found a site called Fine Homebuilding

The easiest way to quickly assess different cuts of wood is to look at the end grain. A board with growth rings running roughly parallel—usually in arches—relative to the face of the board is called a plain-sawn (or flat-sawn) board. If the growth rings are at a steep angle relative to the face, the board is said to have quartersawn grain. If the growth rings run at a slightly lower angle, it’s called rift-sawn

Answer 3

the end of a plank

End of a plank of weathered rustic wood or timber on an outdoor frame in a close up selective focus view of the texture — Photo by elfgradost

Typically, one just says end of a board or plank.

The ends of the plank have been painted white. [Example]

Another example from a technical manual about planks:

and the ends of the planks are unfinished. Edge banded ends are available upon request. FSC®-certified options are available (SW-C0C -003601).

planks

If you cut a plank in two with a saw, you get two planks. Planks have ends and faces. The place where the cut was made for both, would be referred to as the "cut end of the plank". The sawn end or the cut-off end. Sawn sounds like a manual saw, for an electric saw: cut end of the plank.

This Old House, a very famous TV show in the States:

The cut end of the plank

cut end of a plank

Answer 4

Don't quote me but descriptions like

1. "the fresh face"
2. "the freshly cut face"
3. "the newly exposed side"
4. "the now exposed face"

may get the meaning across.

The "sawn off side" (from @Mari-Lou A's well reserched answer above) may be the most apt.

Answer 5

I have worked in furniture shops in the United States, and learned to call the exposed surface of a cross-sectional cut called endgrain, sometimes spelled with a space, "end grain":

Endgrain is exposed when timber is cut across the annual growth rings at 90 degrees rather than cutting a plank of wood along the length of the tree. This type of cut exposes the internal character and mechanics of a tree to reveal a highly attractive and durable surface. (endgrain.org.uk)

A wood-working technique has a direction relative to the wood grain; one of these directions can be described "end grain" (or "cross-grain"):

end grain (at right angles to the grain, for example trimming the end of a plank) (Wikipedia)

The first thing that I think of in relation to endgrain, because of many hours spent sanding and varnishing by hand, is the fact that it absorbs much more sealer, paint or varnish than the "side grain" when finishing it. Here is one way to reduce this difference:

Simply sand the end and edge grains to one higher grit than the side grain. So if you sand the side grain to 150, sand the end grain to 220; if the side is 220, the end and edge grains should be 320 and so forth. This makes the uniform roughness (which is really what sandpaper accomplishes) of the end grain smaller, where it soaks up less finish. (bobvila.com, emphasis added)