reactionary quarter sawn white oak

[Scott T Smith]

Thanks Scott, Very much appreciate your insights. It’s been my experience lately that runout on the side grain is near impossible to avoid. However I’ve recently sourced quarter sawn material from a very experienced operator so I will keep an eye on it and see how it behaves.

What you describe is exactly my ideal, thst is the holy grail of material I am constantly searching for. I’m glad to know that it does exist and that people such as yourself are cutting with those considerations in mind.

Brian, glad to help.

You're not that far from Sam Talarico, and he and his son have an exceptional product. He doesn't have climate controlled storage, but definitely knows how to properly quartersaw.

[Brian Holcombe]

Much appreciated, I will start sourcing from them as well.

I prefer most of the material I work with to be quartered. Easy to slip match and easier to cut joinery in. Also nice to have a finished product which moves less across the grain compared to big flat sawn sections.

Eliminating or greatly reducing the bowing of anything I resaw would increase my yield which would be nice. Currently I saw at finished thickness +50% to 75%.

The ash I just bought locally is nice stuff but he mentioned that he doesn’t produce much quartersawn except in rare cases. The stuff he did produce is nice I’m looking forward to milling it.

[Dale Murray]

Not sure if this has been mentioned.

Several years ago I read about pre-stressing wood in an attempt to release some of the internal stresses.

I have actually done this a few times by leaning a board against the wall or bench at an angle and pushing in the middle. At first I'd hear loads of creaks and pops then a couple more pushes and nothing. Flip it over an do it again. Do both sides a couple times.

The idea is the blade releases those stresses when the wood is cut and thus misery. This is an attempt to release those stresses before it meets the saw.

[John K Jordan]

Several years ago I read about pre-stressing wood in an attempt to release some of the internal stresses.

I have actually done this a few times by leaning a board against the wall or bench at an angle and pushing in the middle. At first I'd hear loads of creaks and pops then a couple more pushes and nothing. Flip it over an do it again. Do both sides a couple times.

That's an interesting concept. Never heard of it. Too bad it probably wouldn't work with thick woodturning blanks! I had one 8/4 piece about 10" square cut from the center of a short kiln-dried 8/4 maple board. I bandsawed to shape and used a disk sander to smooth the edges before mounting it on the lathe. I walked away to sharpen a tool and heard a loud "CRACK" across the room! The blank had split, not from any defect but from internal stresses. As I cut away the crack the wood split again. On close examination I noticed the rings in that area were oddly shaped and apparently introduced stress as the tree grew.

JKJ