Thanks HandyMac. That link has very similar info to what I found in the link I posted above. Someone on my other thread thinks the door actually has both rift and QS oak. I think they could be right. It looks like the side rails are rift and top/bottom are QS.

Only way to be 100% sure is by looking at the end grain.

Casey

The grain effect is essentially the same on both. Rift sawing is just a way to get the rings perfectly perpendicular on every board, i.e. each board is cut radially from the center of the log. It wastes more wood and is tedious and labor intensive. Quartersawing yields some boards that are at a slight angle. QS will actually give you a few perfect boards that are the same as rift sawn. And yes the way to tell what you have is by checking the orientation of the rings on the end of the board.

Since logs are often not uniform from one end to the other, you will get variations in grain either way.

Thanks toxcrusadr! I've been searching but I still cannot find any photos of rift sawn oak that has any medullary rays showing like in my sample. It doesn't seem common that it should have the rays showing. But it's a happy rarity, if that's the case! I love them!

The end product when you saw logs at the mill is only slightly under the sawyer's control, because the growth rings/grain vary at points throughout the log. Only riftsawn veneer is a reliable way to get that one particular grain format, because they cull through hundreds of pieces and get the veneer mill running just right.

In 1890, they had enormous white oak tree trunks to pick through, which yielded unimaginably (in 2000's) wide and flecky planks of Q-sawn.

If you want picture perfect matched rift grain, either use veneer or be prepared to have the costs skyrocket, because the cabinetmaker will have to pick through piles of lumber to get the best matching grain.

The usual definitions are:

-quarter sawn -- growth rings are 90-60 degrees from face

- rift sawn -- growth rings are 30-60 degrees from face

FML