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1st February 2023, 10:35 PM #16
Wow this is a old post revived
True quarter sawn is with the growth rings at right angles to the cut face. That diagram is for how to get only true quarter sawn boards from a log, and so correct.
Yes in accordance with the diagram it is a PITA, and rarely done, but doesn't mean it isn't. I do it for selective highly figured logs for musical instrument grade boards (and other fussy clients) willing to pay to get as many boards as possible from the log. I do it with a bandsaw using an adjustable angular fence. Basically the log is cut to length required, then supported at the appropriate angle by adjustable fences/guides for the quarter sawn pieces. Yes it can waste a lot of timber doing it that way (although I've found uses for the scraps), and takes a long time, but that's where the price comes in (up to $250K/m3).
Keep in mind the Guide is a Novice Milling Guide. I would not expect a high production mill would even contemplate such a methodology. Often quarter sawn timber is mainly offered "near enough" to right angles due to the cost to orientate the log/log pieces. Alternatively a single slice off each face of the quarter is taken for the quarter sawn pieces, then the remainder sold as rift sawn or flat sawn. That is why in the Guide I did show the "other milling" techniques that show the more common quarter sawn/Rift sawn methodology.Neil____________________________________________Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new
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2nd February 2023, 01:22 PM #17
Thanks, Neil.
Pretty much agree with you. The diagram does explain well what quartersawn means, but I could not imagine even a novice sawmiller attempting to cut that pattern. Your highly specialised craft situation is the exception. I never dreamed of selling timber for $250,000 per cube - About $600 per super foot - 1% of that was very acceptable!
We tried several times to optimise quartersawn recovery rates, but the results were unconvincing. We got the best results by maximising overall recovery and board width, then the grader did the rest:
- 90° +/- 15° was graded as quartersawn, but only for species with adequate price premium for quartersawn,
- 45°+/- 15° was graded as riftsawn, but only if we had a USA sales contract with adequate price premium for riftsawn,
- Some species such as red cedar the backsawn stuff was sold as "figured" and at a price premium,
- All the rest; the cut was unspecified, but was mainly backsawn.
Sawing logs on a workshop bandsaw of, say, 16 inches, is rather different from a sawmill where the primary breakdown bandsaw might be 96 or 108 inches.