Hi everyone:Thanks Jim for the information, I know that sawing logs properly is an art, and comes with many years of standing behind the saw and being the one making the decisions.when I was a teen ager I took a load of basswood logs to the local mill.  These logs were if I remember straight 2 to 3 feet in diameter, but had large holes in their centres.  I really didn't know what the sawyer could do with them but I was amazed at that time to see how he cut around  the outside of the logs, and threw the hole out the window.  I took home a nice wagon load of beautiful boards and planks, that he was able to saw from them, I never forgot that day.

Is quarter sawing worth the effort if you have a really nice log, and are paying to have the sawing done by the hour? From my calculations you would not obtain many boards of any width, but rather narrower boards of good quality. There would though be no way to avoid some poorer quality boards in the process, am I not right?

thanks again

NH