Wanting to sell lumber

[Curlycherry1]

Originally Posted by Backwoods

However, what works the best for me is to never own the log or the lumber and strictly custom saw the customers logs to there specs at there place.

This bears repeating. I know a farmer back in NY and I have also hired a local guy here in the Twin Cities to saw some logs for me and both of them said far and away custom sawing is the way they make money. They show up, they set up, they saw, they get paid, they pack up, they drive away.

Lots and lots of people have a tree or afew that get knocked down or taken down and they want the lumber to make something to remember the tree by. That is the twist that makes them the money. Plus they have no money tied up for months or years in inventory sitting in a garage or barn.

[Sawyer Rob]

This is the best diagram for the different ways to quartersaw, that i've seen,



Actually, the only one that's "true" quartersawing, is the "radial" Q. sawing, and second best is "common" Q. sawing, which is the way that "i" do it.

Most of the ways i see guys Q. saw, they aren't getting all true Q. sawn lumber, they are getting more "rift" sawn lumber.

Rob

[Brmorgan]

Originally Posted by Sawyer Rob

This is the best diagram for the different ways to quartersaw, that i've seen,



Actually, the only one that's "true" quartersawing, is the "radial" Q. sawing, and second best is "common" Q. sawing, which is the way that "i" do it.

Most of the ways i see guys Q. saw, they aren't getting all true Q. sawn lumber, they are getting more "rift" sawn lumber.

Rob

Yeah, it's just too bad that the recovery/yield rates for those methods are significantly lower than alternate sawing, which is what you see more commonly. You generally end up with more pieces which are wider on average that way, though as noted the farther down you saw the quarter the wood will become more and more riftsawn. Still, the largest initial cuts will be very close to, if not perfectly vertical grain. Very usable for all but the most demanding applications.

[Sawyer Rob]

The bottom line is, IF you want more Q. sawn lumber, you saw it one way, IF you want more rift sawn lumber, you saw it the other way and that's the info i thought we were shooting for.

If you want to minimize waste, use a bandmill, and flat saw the log... Flat sawing may not give you as "high of priced" lumber, but you'll have more of it!

Rob

[mikeb1079]

great thread guys, keep it coming. as a rookie sawyer (i shouldn't even be calling myself that) it's inspiring to see and hear what can and should be done to maximize a logs potential. after all, beauty and utility are the reason why we use wood in the first place. thanks for that diagram of quarter sawing sawyer rob. that's also the best (easiest to understand) one i've seen too.

[Backwoods]

Trees grow differently in the different climates that exist across the country, and how they are “pruned” affects them as well. I find that very few of the common logs here in Oregon are even worth quarter sawing. It takes a pretty good log before I saw for quarter sawn wood. More often, I am grade sawing a log and will take quarter sawn out of part of the log.
Species will also affect whether or not you want to quarter saw a log. Oak and some of the other species that have wide mazula rays can be worth loosing some lower grade wood to go after the quarter sawn lumber. However, other species like Myrtlewood that have much smaller mazula rays, color and grain patterns are more valuable then quarter sawn.
With soft woods that do not have inter locking fibers such as the pine and cedar family’s, quarter sawn lumber is much weaker lumber.
Another factor is the size of the log will determine if it can or rather “should” be quarter sawn. As a general rule for me, if the log is not over 18” on the small end I do not even consider it as a lot that I would quarter saw, next on the list is the quality of the log. For quarter-sawn wood, the grain pattern should be straight uninterrupted grain.

I have put sawyers in the seat full time for four or five years and still considered them a rooky. I have butted heads with some in the industry to put a rooky in the seat and in six months, she was a better sawyer then a guy that had been in the seat for 25 years calling himself a sawyer. One thing that I like to believe, is that the guy doing the clean up is just as important as the guy doing the sawing. And because of this, I have trained some real good top-notch sawyers by not over looking the talent that is in front of you. So do not give up your desire to be a good sawyer.

[Curlycherry1]

Backwoods brings up a good point in that only oak is really worth quarter sawing. I have QS cherry, maple, and walnut and sure it looks a bit different, but it is does not have drastically different figure. White oak has ray flecks that show up when a log is properly quartersawn. And when I say properly quartersawn I mean someone who studies the end of the oak log and checks to find the signs of the rays (pencil thin lines on the end of the log) and they saw parallel to those lines.

I have quarter sawn white oak boards that are covered in ray fleck because the sawyer took his time and found them and made sure his cuts would feature them.

[aojgnar]

Originally Posted by Curlycherry1

Backwoods brings up a good point in that only oak is really worth quarter sawing. I have QS cherry, maple, and walnut and sure it looks a bit different, but it is does not have drastically different figure. White oak has ray flecks that show up when a log is properly quartersawn. And when I say properly quartersawn I mean someone who studies the end of the oak log and checks to find the signs of the rays (pencil thin lines on the end of the log) and they saw parallel to those lines.

I have quarter sawn white oak boards that are covered in ray fleck because the sawyer took his time and found them and made sure his cuts would feature them.

do you have a pic of what you are talking about? i would like to see what ray fleck looks like.

[Curlycherry1]

Originally Posted by aojgnar

do you have a pic of what you are talking about? i would like to see what ray fleck looks like.

Here is photo of Quarter Sawn White Oak (QSWO) harvested off the web. You can see the growth rings and then kind of at a 45 degree angle those lighter lines are called rayfleck.



Here it is from another picture harvested off the web in this case the QSWO is probably fumed with ammonia to give it that dark color. When this is done the ray fleck really stands out. Stickley Furnature was made out of white oak that was quarter sawn and they often fumed the oak to give it that dark color.

[Brmorgan]

I've been finding some really nice flecked Oak in pallets I've salvaged recently. Only good for small pieces obviously, but when you live hundreds of miles from the nearest native Oak tree of millable size, ya take what ya can get. It's a time consuming way of gathering material and has occasionally done a number on a set of planer knives via hidden dirt or staples etc., but has so far been worth it. I've come across some really interesting and exotic woods before in foreign pallets, some still unidentified.

Ray Fleck is a result of "wood rays", which are the ~7-10% of the fiber mass of the tree that grows radially from pith to bark, unlike the vast majority of the wood fiber which grows vertically along the length. As far as I know the only real function of wood ray fiber is for structural support, but don't quote me on that. In most species these rays are either barely detectable or invisible altogether without magnification, but in some, like Oak, they can become very prominent and desirable.

[discounthunter]

dont over look sycamore as a good wood to quartersaw,i wouldnt use it any other way,as its otherwise a plain looking wood.