quarter sawn vs. regular sawn

[Karl Card]

I feel kind of embarrased to ask this question as I assume most people have a clue on this subject....

here awhile back I was given some red oak. Well a friend of mine got some of it also because there was just to much of it. He looked at it and said wow...this is expensive wood. I replied why do you say that, he said it was quarter sawn.

OK... how does quarter sawn look compared to a regular board?

We only looked at a few pieces of his that we cut into.... all of mine still has the aging grey stuff on it on the outside so I still have no idea what I am looking for. I do however know what quarter sawn means and understand HOW they cut it I just dont know how different it makes the wood look... Secondly does a quarter sawn piece of wood make a difference in how a pen would look? I am fixing to have a gang load of red oak pen blanks for sale.

HELP>>>>

[Neil Strong]

I just dont know how different it makes the wood look... Secondly does a quarter sawn piece of wood make a difference in how a pen would look? I am fixing to have a gang load of red oak pen blanks for sale.



Will make no difference on spindle work.... two faces will always present the quarter sawn features, if any, no matter how the source boards were sawn. Like this Bull Oak.

156492

Faceplate bowl will benefit if mounted in the optimum orientation.

Wood with medullary rays are shown to their optimum when quarter sawn. I'm not familiar with your red oak but expect that this will be the case with it.

.....

[Michelle Rich]

Qtrsawn wood is cut to have the grain straight up and down when you look at the end of your board. This wood will move less and be more stable. Red oak will make very quiet pens..nothing very interesting..Qtrsawn will not make a difference when spindle turning... have fun

[Dave MacArthur]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=60075

Best thread ever on QS, rift sawn, plain/flat sawn. Shows all types in frame/panel configurations, mixed and matched to show what they look like together. Probably my #1 favorite SMC thread ever.

[Roger Chandler]

I feel kind of embarrased to ask this question as I assume most people have a clue on this subject....

here awhile back I was given some red oak. Well a friend of mine got some of it also because there was just to much of it. He looked at it and said wow...this is expensive wood. I replied why do you say that, he said it was quarter sawn.

OK... how does quarter sawn look compared to a regular board?

We only looked at a few pieces of his that we cut into.... all of mine still has the aging grey stuff on it on the outside so I still have no idea what I am looking for. I do however know what quarter sawn means and understand HOW they cut it I just dont know how different it makes the wood look... Secondly does a quarter sawn piece of wood make a difference in how a pen would look? I am fixing to have a gang load of red oak pen blanks for sale.

HELP>>>>

Karl,

Quarter-sawn is the most desired and stable way to cut a board. When looking at the end of the board, the grain will be running from top to bottom, and will not have side to side grain [cathedral grain pattern] which cups and has more movement.

When milled quartersawn will yeild less boards from a log, which raises the price. It also takes more steps to mill quartersawn than any other grain configuration which also raises the price a bit as well.

Grain orientation makes little difference in spindle turnings, especially something as small as a pen. hope this helps

[Paul Douglass]

Karl, thanks for asking and great answers. The thread reference Dave posted is a great help also. Thanks all making it so easy to understand.

[Karl Card]

Thanks for the info and looks like I had quite a bit of qs red oak... I did make a couple of pens for the people that gave it to me and they actually looked pretty nice. Not due to the qs however.

Unfortunatley this wood came from an old boat that was dismantled and had way to many nails in it to do much flat work.

[George Clark]

Just for further clarification, relative to the width of the board, if the growth rings are:

60 to 90 degrees - quarter sawn
30 to 60 degrees - rift sawn
0 to 30 degrees - flat sawn

At least according to some book I read. Thus, any quarter sawn board will be flat sawn on the adjacent faces and a rift sawn board will be rift sawn on all four faces.

[Karl Card]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=60075

Best thread ever on QS, rift sawn, plain/flat sawn. Shows all types in frame/panel configurations, mixed and matched to show what they look like together. Probably my #1 favorite SMC thread ever.



I have to agree that was very to the point and just absolutely good information... thanks