What is Rift-sawn Lumber? Hint: It's Quartersawn Deluxe

[ptradmin]

Many people take milled lumber for granted, not realizing there are several types - and they each affect how the wood is cut, how it wears, and how it ultimately looks in a finished piece. Rift-sawn lumber is a largely theoretical, unique and special method of milling that yields particularly usable, very strong boards with grains that run completely perpendicular to the face of the board. What do we mean by this? Well, basically that nobody does it. Rift-sawn boards are essentially choice cuts from a Quarter-sawn milling method. To actually set out and rift-saw lumber directly would be more than a little wasteful of the original tree, as each piece is cut towards the center, a method that is overly difficult, and produces less boards than either Quartersawn or Ripsawn (Plainsawn) milling.

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[puckduck]

I heard someone bring up riftsawn lumber a couple years back and had never heard the term before. It's like a misnomer that keeps coming back. To my knowledge, nobody cuts wood like that third image, rather they stagger the cuts perpendicular within the quadrant. Mostly, though its just quarter-sawn.