? about 1/4 sawn white oak

[Brian Runau]

i was at the lumber yard today looking for a couple pieces of 5/4 1/4 sawn white oak. Pile of lumber was maybe 2 ft tall 4 ft wide. I picked through the majority of this stuff and it was very rough stuff. split ends, knots, etc.. Some of this is normal, but it seemed like a lot were that way. Thing that concerned me most is that the majority of the lumber had little to no flaking which in my mind makes it riff sawn. I assume you will get some riff sawn in 1/4 saw lumber, but I would say almost 85% of this pile was riff sawn.

I assume this is not normal.

Thanks.

Brian

[John TenEyck]

Is there a question in there? The problem is that there is no absolute definition of what quarter sawn means. Some say it's anything with the grain running 45 - 90 deg to the face, others 60 - 90, and others 70 - 90 degrees. Rift sawn is often said to be when the grain runs 30 - 60 degrees to the face. Clearly, there is overlap in some of the definitions.

The problem with white oak is you aren't likely to see much ray fleck unless the grain is at least 70 degrees to the face, with better character the closer you get to 90 degrees. So unless the supplier uses the 70 - 90 degree definition, you are stuck with having to sort through it in hopes of finding what you need. Whether or not that is normal will depend upon the supplier.

John

[Christopher Herzog]

My first thought in reading was you probably got to the pile too late. All the choice pieces were gone and you got the leftovers.

[Brian Runau]

My first thought in reading was you probably got to the pile too late. All the choice pieces were gone and you got the leftovers.
Thanks Christopher. Just a reality check for me. I guess I need to go once a week and pick some from the new piles for future needs. Brian