Quarter Sawn Wood Question

[timM]

I sure would be pleased to hear opinions regarding the strength of a piece of quarter sawn Walnut.  I am considering a blank and was wondering about the wrist strength with a blank sawn in this style.  Thanks in advance.  tim

[Stophel]

Practically speaking, NO difference whatsoever.  If you have decent grain orientation, it makes no difference whether it is slab sawn or quarter sawn.

TECHNICALLY, slab sawn wood is stronger.  Quarter sawn is slightly more stable.  Quarter sawn usually looks purtier too.

 

[David Rase]

Grain direction through the wrist is more important and a much higher priority on a piece of quarter sawn wood then a slab sawn piece.  You can get away with "musket" grain on a piece of slab sawn wood and have a strong stock but  not so much when it comes to quarter sawn.
DMR

[northmn]

I onlu use quarter sawn for the reasons Stophel stated.  Grain orientation is important regardless.

DP

[keweenaw]

Walnut will vary considerably in terms of tendency to split along the grain.  On quarter sawn walnut you definitely want the grain to run along the wrist, not across it.  If you start with a plank with straight grain in it, you need to angle the pattern to achieve this.  The tendency when starting with such a plank is to say, "Gee, if I put the pattern on this way I can get two blanks, but if I angle it to get correct flow through the wrist I can only get one."  Well, the best thing to do is to cut one good one and not two bad ones!

Tom

[rich pierce]

There's little quarter sawn wood out there with the exception of the very high end stuff.  If you think you've got quarter sawn wood, look at the rings at the butt and muzzle end.

[Stophel]

It's pretty rare to come across anything quartersawn.  When you do, you will pay for it.

I've never been concerned about getting quartersawn wood.

[Acer Saccharum]

Wood shrinks less radially(from center to edge) This would be quarter sawed.

Wood shrinks more on the circumference than from center to edge.

So if you have quarter sawed stocks, the shrinkage will be less  at the toe of the butt in winter than if you use plank sawed.

I have heard that the figure shows up more in quarter sawed, but that really depends on the piece of wood, the way it grew, the orientation of the curl, etc.

I happen to like how plank sawed maple looks, and would not hesitate to use it.