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If you have very uniform grain spacing you can hide runout by doing a slip match or flip match in some cases( but the runout is still there). Not something I would particularly consider doing as a hand builder, but with a factory running production.....
Nosed tops keep you honest

So I found another crack in the corner area which I've seen before in other tops that worked out fine.



Goes through at the same angle.

Nevertheless, the top works out ok.

It's not perfect, but it's not too bad...

Thanks John Arnold for the light trick.

Put a couple coats of shellac on it and see.

Yeah most of the nosed tops I have are Red Spruce too but also Carpathian. The cedar, Sitka, and Engelmann I have are all over 20 years old and nice and square. My guess is that it's due to larger trees versus maximizing yield on smaller trees.