They create a visual ribbon like effect on the lumber when sawn. These consist of small capillaries inside the wood that run from the center of the tree to the outer growth ring. Medullary rays are cellular structures found in woods. To accomplish this, the log is sawn into four quarters, (hence the name quarter sawn), and each quarter of the log is sawn perpendicular to the growth rings.Īnother important attribute of rift and quartered lumber is the presentation of medullary rays. Both of these sawing techniques produce boards with a straight or linear grain pattern throughout the board. Rift sawn lumber, also known as straight grain, is cut at the sawmill with the grains intersecting the face of the board at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees and quarter sawn lumber is cut with the grains intersecting the face board the board at an angle between 60 and 90 degrees. Rift and quartered lumber, although sawn slightly differently, are usually manufactured together as compliments of one another. Because of this, rift and quartered lumber is known to be more expensive and harder to find since fewer sawmills cut logs this way. It requires the sawyer to spend more time handling each log and typically creates 50% more waste compared to a flat sawing pattern. The rift and quartered sawing technique requires a unique sawing pattern that is not the most efficient for cutting a log. Quarter-sawing and rift-sawing are two other sawing techniques. Flat sawn manufacturing allows the sawmill to maximize yield and create lumber more efficiently. When used in cabinets or in flooring this presents a grain pattern that is peaked or what is sometimes referred to as a cathedral pattern. The first one is flat sawn or plain sawn which is the most common cutting technique. In general, there are three ways sawmills usually cut white oak. Many times, rift and quartered white oak can be known to be expensive and hard to find. This happens because many times the special grain presentation that rift and quartered offers, is appealing to designers and architects to achieve a special look they are pursuing.

Flat sawn white oak