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Lumber Sawing Methods

At Anderson Lumber of St Pete we are often asked about the words Quartersawn and the difference between lumber cutting methods. At our St Petersburg, Florida Lumber mill we have been using the various methods for cutting lumber for over five decades. To help our customers understand the work Quartersawn we thought we would explain the various ways to saw a wood log.

Plain Sawing or Flat Sawing

The most commonly used method is plain Sawing. This method is the simplest way to cut rectangular boards out of a round log. In plain sawing, the wood is saw tangentially to the annual growth rings. You can easily notice this cut by the cathedral arches.

Quarter Sawing

Quarter sawing is also popular and gets its name from the fact that the log is first quartered lengthwise, resulting in wedges with a right angle ending at approximately the center of the original log.Then you take each quarter of sawn wood and tip it and cut again. Resulting in boards with the annual rings mostly perpendicular to the faces. Benefits of Quarter sawing is that it yields boards with straight grain lines, and greater stability than flatsawn wood.

Rift Sawn Wood Technique

The Riftsawn method of cutting wood is seldom used as it produces a great deal of waste. The technique used also prvents the rays from showing after the cut.

Understanding the different techniques that go in to cutting your lumber may help you make an easy decision next time you are shopping for lumber in St Pete.