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Sawing Methods
Our business is sawing logs. Wood is round; we want it to be square. It is important that your sawyer know what they are doing to get the most out of your timber. Below is a description of your typical methods of sawing. We will be glad to accomodate any of your sawing needs, large or small!
If you are new, don't worry about this too much. That is our job, and we do it well.
Flat/ Plain Sawn
This is the most common method of sawing. 95% of wood sawn today is like this. If you look at the end of the log, it is cut, one layer after another from top to bottom. With this method, you will get a mix of different grain directions, useful for a large arrray of projects and uses.
Quarter Sawn
This type of sawing is time consuming and labor intensive. The round log is "quartered" and sawn so the rings are as vertical as possible. This makes for a very straight grained, stable board. Some species of wood, such as Oak, obtain a lot of character from the quarter sawing method.
Rift Sawn
This is sort of in-between the other two types of sawing. It produces straight grained boards similar to that of quarter sawing, but the rings are more of a 30-45 degree angle across the board.
Slab/ Live sawn
Some woodworkers prefer the look of the "live edge". This is a board that still has the bark on the outsides of the board, and makes for some great projects such as bar tops or live edge tables.
Photo Courtesy of Candlemanfloors.com
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