Quartersawn Lumber

Our Expert

Yes, quartersawn lumber tends to be more dimensionally stable than plainsawn but most lumber is still plainsawn for several reasons. Most people prefer the dramatic "flame" or "cathedral" figure that is present in plainsawn lumber. Plainsawing yields wider boards than quartersawing.  And although not as stable as quartersawn, plainsawn lumber can be very stable when properly dried.

However, besides adding dimensional stability quartersawing also produces a beautiful "ray fleck" figure in certain species such as oak.  Ultimately the decision to purchase quartersawn or plainsawn lumber depends upon the type of figure desired and the use of the wood. 

Regardless of how a board is sawn, in order to produce a strong, long-lasting joint it is important to use long-grain gluing surfaces. When viewed under magnification wood resembles a bundle of drinking straws. Those "straws" were once the trees "plumbing" that transported sap up the tree. End grain is essentially the ends of the straws and woodworkers discovered centuries ago that they make a poor gluing surface. In contrast, long-grain makes an excellent surface for gluing and can result in a joint that is often stronger than the surrounding wood.

There are a multitude of joints that can be used for woodworking but the most commonly used joints are often a variation of the mortise-and-tenon or the dovetail. Both are time-tested and derive their strength from the long-grain glue surfaces as well as mechanical interlock. 

Although most joints are used to join wood at ninety degrees (or an odd angle such as when constructing chairs) some joints are used to extend dimension. Although it's possible to increase stock thickness, width, or length by gluing I believe the best solution is to instead purchase stock of the largest dimension possible. Whenever stock is glued together to increase dimension a there is always the possibility of mismatched grain and color which is always distracting in the finished product. For example, when making a tabletop I prefer to use one wide board, or a maximum of two boards. And I always select large solid stock for bedposts and table legs; otherwise the glue lines that result from joining together stock to increase dimension are just too distracting.

However, it is not always practical or even possible to use large stock. Wide tabletops, for example, must often be constructed by joining several boards edge-to-edge. In this case I ignore the direction of the annual rings and instead join the boards for the best grain and color match. Despite the old adage of alternating the annual rings I've found that wide tops and panels will stay flat as long as the lumber is properly dried and free of the stress that is often present when lumber is dried too quickly.

When trimming a room with moldings it is often necessary to join two pieces of stock end-to-end. A scarf joint is a better choice than simply butting the moldings end-to-end. Even though joints in moldings require no structural strength a scarf joint is less noticeable than a butt joint. It also exposes long-grain gluing surfaces which result in a joint that will be more likely to stay in alignment over time.