Originally Posted By: northern hewer
Is quarter sawing similar as far as getting the best out of the log?


Quarter sawing is a method to produce lumber that has the annual rings going from face to face instead of from edge to edge. Quarter sawn wood is more stable than flat sawn.

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Good logs without knots (usually the butt logs) we would saw for the cabinet maker,without squaring, in this way we would come up with some pretty nice wide boards that contained more of the outer quality lumber which would have been lost in the squaring process, these boards then would be stored and air dried for 2 to 3 years under cover.

Sawing a log with the blade traveling parallel to the outer surface of the log is called grade sawing. You would saw the best face of a log first then rotate to the next best face, and saw that until the face goes bad. Then rotate again to the next best face and finish on the last face, (as there are usually four faces to a log). The piece left over in the middle of the log maybe wedge shaped, if so then it would be cut rectangular. And this is a very low grade piece of lumber that would be used as a railroad tie or some other type of blocking.

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I was wondering Jim though about quartering the log, and then sawing the quarters, is there any advantage in doing this extra work quality wise?

This is one method of quarter sawing for achieving high quality quarter sawn lumber. And depending on the size of the log when you start easier to handle, if large.

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Also what about Timbeals solution of diamond cutting, I never heard of it before, would you like to comment on it?

I've heard of it before, but I don't know if I'd go that way. It really depends on the target lumber and the stock you have to work with.

Jim Rogers


Whatever you do, have fun doing it!