# To Quarter saw, or not to quarter saw, that is the question...



## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I have a black walnut log. 36 inches on the small end ten feet long. Its vaneer quality I think, but I am considering keeping it to finish the boats interrior. I have read the pros and cons of quarter sawing? What would you do with this log?


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

by no means am i an expert, but from what i have read around here ther isnt much of an advantage to quarter sawing walnut. You wont get nearly as much out of the tree in comparison to flat sawing it. Great wood gloat though … makes me want to start inspecting the trees on my property.


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## BarbaraGill (Feb 12, 2011)

Part of the beauty of Walnut is the flat grain figure. I never have quarter/rift sawn it for that reason. If you want to get some quarter sawn boards possibly to show off a flat sawn panel you can use some of the boards near the pith. I have found that wood from large walnuts is pretty stable. I would also cut at least one 8/4 slab for legs if you think you might make something that needs them.
If there is a bifurcation at the small end or if there was a large limb that came from the butt log I would definitely saw for the figure.
Oh yeah, I would save those flared out pieces at the large end for bowls.


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## McKinneyMike (Feb 11, 2011)

Flat saw the log. There are a few instances where qtr walnut might have a use, but as a rule you want the grain to be a part of the look with walnut. If you were making door frames with it all, by all means quarter sawn lumber is more stable and the straight grain would help frame a flat sawn panel so to not distract from it. Cherry and walnut are two woods that you are far better off flat sawing over all, unless you want a more modern look(straight grain without a lot of drama) to your project.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I don't think walnut looks very interesting on the quarter. Of course
it would be more stable and the figure more regular, but those aren't
qualities we normally prioritize when working with walnut.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Thanks for the comments. I couldn't find any one to quarter it anyway, so flat saw it is. I lucked into this. It was in the news paper free for cleaning up the mess. I cut all 4 of them. I plan to saw off the big end and build a table out of it. It's 60 by 36 inches. Are there any tricks to prevent checking and cracking while it cures?There is a bifercation on the small end, but it will cut off and still leave a ten foot log. Thanks again.


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## tnwood (Dec 13, 2009)

The ends of the log need to be sealed immediately to keep it from checking and cracking. Either use Anchor Seal or several coats of paint. Once it is milled, get it stacked on dry stickers covered to keep the rain off it but with lots of ventilation to remove the moisture. The thicker the slab, the slower to dry. By the way, air dried walnut always looks much richer to me.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

The benefit to q-sawing is that you get the widest 1-piece cut you can. Slicing the slabs off of the edges gets you the most attractive wood, but it tends to warp the easiest; q-sawing a piece a few inches off the pith gives you the most stable piece; you can't do both, it seems nothing is free. If you want to make a big table top you will either need to slab it to get that big piece or glue two smaller ones together; I like the glue-ups better than the q-sawn, but that's only an opinion. Nice grab on a great log, good luck with it.


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## BarbaraGill (Feb 12, 2011)

From what you said Matt it sounds as if you are going to make the table out of a cross sawn section from the end of the log. There is one thing you can count on; it will crack. One way you can still end up with the natural edge piece is to cut the piece for the table into several pie shaped pieces. Once the wood has dried the pieces can be surfaced and fit back together. This topic has been discussed to death over on the Wood Web Sawing and Drying Forum. Everything from soaking it in a small inflatable pool of PEG to just allowing it to crack has been examined and talked about.
You can go over there and search to find the different discussions.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Thanks Barbara. I will. .....dont want to screw this one up.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Its been a while since my last post. 
Last month I took 500 bd ft of walnut out of the kiln and stacked it in my basement where I can keep it a 6.5% MC . I have another 1000 bd ft in the kiln now and that much more stickered and waiting to go in. Last week I quarter sawed some beautiful white oak. Im a newby at running a saw mill and I am amazed at how much more wood you get out of a log when its quarter sawed, and the wood looks so much better. I think the oak and walnut will look great together on the inside of my boat.

The base cut that I plan to build a table out of has not cracked or split yet. Its out side about 8 inches off the ground, under a piece of tin roofing. Fingers crossed it dosent crack.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm not a boat builder, so perhaps there's an advantage to quarter sawing? That's such a beautiful tree that the waste involved with quarter sawing would bother me. It's going to be great whatever you do. I recommend mailing the tree to me


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I'm confused. When I quartered the log (the white oak. The walnut was st. sawed) I had zero waste. Maybe I misspoke about what I did. 
I cut the log into quarters, then alternated sawing each of the flat sides of the quarter piece. this left each plank with the quarter grain pattern one cut edge and the other edge with bark on it. I had just one little slab on each of the 4 quarters. almost no waste at all. 
When I need the lumber I will edge it to the size I need.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Oh, I forgot to mention the "rift" cut. (the first cut on each quarter that had the center of the log in it) I cut 5/4 for the stait treads, its absolutely beautiful stuff….


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

I think below is a more accurate image of what happens in reality. Believe me, I could handle the waste on that big log. Cut the waste into pen blanks and give them to friends.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Isn't that a straight and a rift saw pattern? I am going to look for the diagram I used. give me a minute to find it.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I can't get the picture to post, but if you look at www.quartersaw.com there is a picture of how i did it. (Hope its ok to post links here)
)


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

From your website:









It looks like what they're calling a "triple cut" or "alternative" quartersaw, something I'd never heard of!


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

yes the alternate quarter is how I did it, but I left the sap wood on. quick and easy. I'll run it thru the planer and edger after its dry.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I like the "alternate" center cut because I just lay the quarter log on the mill and saw the planks off the bottom, turn it 90 degrees and saw off the bottom again. I dont even clamp the log on the mill. It just sits there against the stops. (band saw)


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

The way I do it is to make an octagon (8 sided) of the log, then cut the cant into three pieces. The center piece is cut about 2 - 3" above and below the pith. Boards are then swan full width from this center piece. The top and bottom pieces are then sawn, again about 4 boards from the center of each piece leaving a top and bottom piece. Then the octagon shape allows you the orient these remaining pieces in such a way as to be able to clamp square and q-saw the pieces.

Quarter sawing requires a lot more thought and a lot more time and effort, so I pick the logs that I want to quarter saw like white oak and sycamore. The rest, I saw for best grade.


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## GNiessen (Dec 7, 2011)

Cutting several 9/4 slabs out of the center of a big log like that would give you some really nice tables. And it is always nice to get several slices from the same tree for color matching.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Tomorrow, if it dosent rain I'm going to fall a Black walnut that is has a circumference of 10'3" at eye level. The owner wants it gone, and I want it. The best part of the deal it that the tree is not in a yard, so I shouldn't find much metal in this one. Its not vaneer quality, but I think there is a ton of good lumber in it.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)




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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Whoa! What a fine tree. I am jealous. I am cutting a bunch of low grade red oak, but yearn for a walnut like that one! The log on the mill in my avatar pic is a 30" diameter black walnut. I got some seven 18" and 2 3/8 thick slabs from this tree plus some nice 4/4. I love walnut!!!!!!

Your tree, at 10'3" circumference, is 39" in diameter. Too big for my mill! It would have to be cut into quarters to fit my mill. Bring it on!


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

No rain today so down she fell. Notice the dang crack?? Oh well I sealed the ends and now we wait….


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

this is the fourth log from the bottom. The first three were to big to load by myself.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Awesome!!!!!!!


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I got really lucky with this find. The owner called me to his farm to treat a case of colic in one of his horses. After we finished he asked if I was interested in a trade. The tree had a few dead limbs so he wanted it gone…....I have $231 invested.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

I cut some small gnarly drought-killed oak today. I was thinking about that nice walnut log!!


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

you mean these logs….(wood gloat)


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Is the stump worth anything for gunstocks?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

From what I have heard from those that went the stump route, in the end, the conclusion is that it was marginal in the final analysis. It is a very time consuming process. The grit/dirt/rocks play havoc on your sawmill no matter how well you think that you have washed the stump. There are some posts on the Forestry Forum that will shed a lot of light on the subject.


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

Nice wood score! I have a Timberking 1220. The max size log I can handle is 34" in diameter and 20' long. I've sawed logs as big as 40" by using my chainsaw to cut slabs from the sides so the log will fit between the saw head support posts. when I saw walnut logs this size, I flatsaw from the top down till I'm 3" from the pith, then turn the log 180 degrees and again flat saw down till I have an 6" cant. Next I turn the slab 90 degrees and flat saw down till I have as small a beam with the pith centered as possible. That gives the most flat sawn lumber possible from a walnut log with the widest boards possible and nothing less than 6" in width. With oak, I try for as much quartersawn lumber as possible. Here's a couple of posts I made last summer where I cut a big oak log and I show the details about how I moved the logs, turned them and sawed them.

http://lumberjocks.com/HalDougherty/blog/25276 
http://www.thelumberworksforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1000

You are going to have some beautiful lumber from that walnut! What are you planning to build with it?


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Hi Hal.
My intent was to finish the inside of my sail boat with it. But I think I'm changing my mind because it will be so dark inside. The wheel house interrior may be walnut because it has lots of ambient light. I may use white oak below deck. 
I'm open to ideas.


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## planeBill (Oct 21, 2011)

Walnut is an EXCELLENT boatbuilding wood. Beautiful and stable. Most people will not use it simply due to superstition, if you can believe that due to it's use as a coffin wood and there were some sinkings of ships with extensive use of walnut, seveal hundred years ago. I however have no reservations and have used it, on a limited basis and am very happy I did, it's beautiful and durable. Use it in your boat, you'll be happy you did.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

I sawed this one 9/4.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Whoa! What a slab!


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

Hi Matt:

I saw your earlier stuff on* "Quarter Sawn"* etc. I picked up a book at a Garage Sale last year and just finished Scanning in a few Pages and Pics. Then ran them through an Editor to make them READABLE.

The book is *"Kings Elements Of Woodwork" dated 1911.*

I recopied a few of the Pages so I could section them and pull out more and Larger Detail on some of the Pictures.

Following is the Full Descriptive Page on Quarter Sawing etc (I'm NO Expert on this) and a Blow Up of the Cutting Pic from that page.

Also a HUGE LOAD of White Pine Logs being pulled by FOUR HORSES!! HOW could they possibbly Pull all that Weight?? The Runners underneath just look like more Logs??




























Hope It's Of Some Value.

Regards: Rick


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Wow, Thats a LOAD of logs. Thanks for posting. 
Matt


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

Time to bring back an old thread. All that walnut from 2 years ago is being used now. Ill find some pictures to post in the next few days. The entire V-berth in the boat is walnut. Most of the salon and galley is walnut. I have used a lot of white oak and there is a lot of purple heart in there too.









I found out the had way, how hard purple heart can be.


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## matt5 (Jan 12, 2011)

More walnut, purple heart and white oak in the Galley. Oh, and lots of elbow grease.


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