dik, I think weak and strong axis can be considered isotropic for the purposes of calculating shear stresses. In reality the shear strength in the tangential direction is typically higher than in the radial direction, but we don't know what part of the log the 2x8 was cut from, so my understanding is the published allowable shear stress values are based on the lower of the two directions.
lex pat, that's a good point and I'm probably missing something here, but to dig into it a bit, let's say the center of mjc's 2x8 is subject to 100psi tension and 100psi shear. At a 32 degree rotation, this transforms into 0 shear and 162psi tension (check my math, haven't done mohr's circles in a while). Worse yet, the tension is no longer oriented parallel to grain. As to the sand heap analogy, are you referring to the analogy first presented by Nadai at a meeting of the German Society of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics in Marburg, Germany in 1923? I agree torsion and bending interact, and can't be separated, from a mechanics of materials standpoint.
kootk, interesting hypothesis, does it apply to deep beams?