Cut it like a pie or like a loaf of bread? Learn more about sawing floor boards
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We got this nice note from customer Amira Garbus of Northport, New York, who had some of Carlisle’s White Oak installed in her home. “Your service was excellent. My phone conversation with your staff was very professional. My delivery was great and the best part is that my Carlisle wood floor looks magnificent. Can’t thank you all enough.”
Amira told us she was also thrilled that the floor was made in the U.S.A.
Amira’s floor was 1,100 square feet of 6-inch wide White Oak which had been done with Rift and Quarter Sawn. What is Quarter Sawn, you might ask? Normally, a log is plain sawn, i.e. it is first cut into a rough square by taking off four sections of the outer bark and sapwood, and then sawn with a series of parallel cuts — as if a loaf of bread were cut lengthwise to yield long slices. Grain-wise, this typically gives a floor a little bit of everything: straight lines as well as a variety of swirls and “cathedral patterns” — several swirls inside one another. This is the way most floors are cut.
Quarter sawn cuts generally only apply to Oak and a few other hardwoods. They are made by first cutting the log into four pie-shaped wedges and then making a series of cuts which are more or less perpendicular to the tree rings, which produces straighter grain. Without getting too technical, let’s just say that quarter sawn White Oak produces more “rays” or “flecks,” which is the hallmark look of Mission furniture/cabinetry. In addition to being visually interesting, this grain pattern produces extremely stable boards.
The photo to the left is a nice example showing the difference between the two, a beautiful mixture of quarter sawn, rift sawn and plain sawn White Oak. Note the contrast between the various grain patterns.
Posted on Sep 16, 2010 AT 08:21 PM in Hardwood Flooring • (0) Comments
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