The roughness of a machined wooden surface is affected by a number of factors such as cutting tool geometry, machine settings and wood structure. The influence of wood structure on wood surface quality is difficult to control since the surface roughness is dependent on the local combination of density, grain direction and moisture content (MC). The greater the variation in wood features, the more difficult it is to find a combination of tools and machine settings that will give a high surface quality. The purpose was to study the impact of a surface wetting treatment before planing in order to reduce torn grain in the wood surface near knots in sawn timber of low MC. The study was based on a total of 120 specimens of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). To maximize the variation in grain orientation and density, the specimens contained both clear wood and knots. The results showed that when the surface was moistened before planing, chipped and torn grain in areas of deviating grain close to knots decreased. The response to wetting was rapid, wetting less than 30 s before planing gave as good an improvement as treatment time of 30 min or more.