Quarter Sawing

Quarter Sawn lumber is produced by first quartering the log lengthwise and then sawing each quarter lengthwise with parallel cuts, roughly perpendicular to the growth rings. It possess advantages over plain sawn lumber because of the orientation of the growth rings. Because the growth rings in quarter-sawn wood run uniformly parallel along the entire board the wood does not shrink and expand with seasonal variation in moisture as much as flat sawn wood. It is also less prone to twisting, cupping and in many cases rot because sap wood is easier to isolate in manufacturing process. Purchasing quarter-sawn wood often requires direct contact and contract with the sawyer.

Quarter sawn wood is often chosen for purely aesthetic reasons as this type of cutting can highlight medullary rays to give a distinctive "ray flake" figure. This figure was a key feature of the decorative style of the American Arts and Crafts movement, particularly the work of Gustav Stickley. Oak is the best known wood that exhibits this. Cheaper ash was often stained to resemble oak's similar figure and rings, but doesn't show this ray flake.

In acoustic guitars, quarter sawn wood is often used, especially for the sides which must be steam bent to produce compound curves. This is partly for structural reasons, but also for the aesthetics of highly figured maples being highlighted when sawn this way.

See also

*Rift Sawing
*Plain Sawing
*Riving
*Wood grain

External links

* [http://www.lumberpost.com/ArticleID-94.htm Quarter Sawn]
* [http://www.launstein.com/flooring/plane-and-quarter.html Plain sawn vs. Quarter sawn, patterns included]
* [http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-quartersawn-wood.htm Plain vs. Quarter vs. Rift Sawn]
* [http://www.bchardwood.com/glossary_sawn.html "True" Quarter-Sawn Lumber] This link offers another version of quarter-sawn lumber that requires more handling in the sawmilling process but the result is actually true quarter-sawn lumber. Since the purpose of quarter sawing is to produce lumber with the growth rings as close to perpendicular to the sawn faces as possible, the previously described versions, while likely producing good, stable lumber, are not de facto quarter-sawn - as you move out from the centre the result gets closer and closer to Plain-sawn.