Quarter Sawing White Oak

[Traditional Toolworks]

Allen, try to find the book by Bruce Hoadly called Understanding Wood. A good book to help you understand why wood does the things it does and how it is made up.

Funny, I do have that book out in the garage in a box...time to dig it out...Kids bought it for me for my b-day a number of years ago...I will dig it out...thanks for mentioning it... :

[SwampDonkey]

I'd suggest the free online Wood Handbook from the USDA as a supplement, but it's quite technical. All you have to do is Google it and it'll come up. The Textbook on Wood Technology is no longer in publication, but it is referenced heavily in the Wood Handbook.

Don't matter how you slice up the log, it's going to behave as it does in relation to it's growth.

[ljmathias]

Yeah, I've come to the conclusion based on just a few years experience cutting my own lumber, that the one rule you can count on is that "wood moves."  Some moves more than others, and you can help contain it by good stickered stacks, but in the end, it does what it does.  Being a pragmatic optimist (my wife counters with pessimistic opportunist, by why quibble over words), I like what wood does and try to use the twists and bends and bows and cups- some work out pretty good, most not so much, but worth a try anyhow.  No matter what else I can say about how my carpentry and wood working projects come out, they're all mine (at least after Mother Nature is done growing 'em)....

Lj

[SwampDonkey]

I don't totally understand how to correctly quarter saw a log, I guess, been trying to find that info, but see a couple different methods.

Arkansawyer has a good tutorial on quartering if you do an "Advanced Search" under the forum "Search" menu item, goes to a new page. Go there to search "Quarter sawing" using his user name.

The idea of removing the centre of the log when preparing for sawing is because this is juvenile wood were the branches were actively growing, once they die off and the trees heals then the tree is putting on clear wood, or there could be something there feeding a dormant bud that can release to grow a branch when the tree is opened to more sun light. Juvenile wood is less stable anyhow. It's actually the oldest wood in the tree, but sometimes these forestry terms mean something opposite. :D The sapwood is also removed, its live wood and lighter colored in most woods where as heart wood is not live wood clear to the pith. Generally, the sapwood is mostly lost anyway by ridding the bark on the log (no not peeling it) and squaring the timber with the saw. It is also where most stain starts and where bugs like to eat. More stored tree food (sugars) there where cells can get it to remain alive. The wood rays help transport it from the cambium toward the pith.