Quartersawn lumber question

[jwoods]

Hello all,

Earlier this year I quartersawed a large white oak -4 foot diameter, split lengthwise into 4 pieces with chainsaw and rotated each piece back and forth on the bandsaw mill.  -This yielded around 1250 bd. ft.  Some true quarter sawn, some rift, and some plain.

Last night I loaded it for a trip to the kiln.  I'm less than impressed with the amount of fleck that I see in the quarter-sawn, the rift and plain are par for the course. 

The question is:  Will more ray fleck show up after a run through the planer?  It's not rougher than normal in texture, I've sawn a lot of plain-sawn, this is the first time for quarter-sawing and I'm curious.

Thanks,

Joe

[flip]

Maybe maybe not.  I have had some good stuff off the mill (red oak) and sent it through the planer 6 months later and had less fleck than what showed when rough.  Was it because I was just at the point where I was out of the magic angle or did I not have it the grain a perfect 90 to begin with.  I would say though if your grain hits the face at a 90 you should get fleck each time you take a pass through the planer.

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Not all logs produce good ray fleck.  You need to read the bottom of the logs and look at checking to see if it is good to qsaw a log.





  This photo shows the rays of a red oak.  Notice how they run straight from the pith to sapwood.  Also the number and thickness of the rays make up how good the lumber will be.  Also you need to saw level with the pith to keep the rays down the board.





  In red oak most of the time a 3 inch ray is good.  The red oak in the photo was a good one.  In white oak I often get 4 to 6 inch rays.
  Learning to read the log and sawing them right will make for better qsawn lumber.

[ely]

jwoods, i have probably ruined more q-sawn oak than anyone on here while quartering with a chainsaw. you really have to be particular with those initial cuts or be prepared to overcompensate once you get the quarter on the mill. if you have to true it up on the mill it does eat into your bd ft totals. just last week i made a boo boo with the husky and wound up with alot of quarter sawn lumber with no rays or flek. doesnt bother me i will put it up on the wall anyway.

[jwoods]

Thanks for the suggestions.  As far as the sawing technique, I'm fairly sure I did it right.......but it was the first time

I'm leaning towards Arkansawyer's idea about the ray density just not being there.  Compared to his picture, I have nowhere near the amount of rays, nor do I think they're that thick.  This tree grew relatively quickly, the growth rings were pretty big for this part of the world.

Ely,  Do you have any suggestions for the opening cuts, or other?



I'll try to get some pictures loaded.

[ely]

well bear in mind i do mess up from time to time.
but i use a chalk line to get a mark on the log that i am about to quarter with a saw. and i use the old tried and tested method of eyeballing it. i try my best to read the log and keep my chainsaw running down the pith.
most times when i get the log halfed then quartered you can see how well it is gonna turn out. if you messed up you tell that pretty quick too.

when i load the log on the mill i will put one of the flats on the deck and provided i followed the pith i will then make a flat on the top with the band saw. then i do the same with the othe rflat down. then i can flip the quarter over on the true flats that i just made and true up where i quartered the log, after this you just flip the quarters back and forth as needed to keep the grain as close to 90 degrees as you can.

i have seen other who jig the quarters up and saw them through and through al the way down to the deck, it will give you more bd ft per log but also more time edging.

[jwoods]

Thanks Ely,

That's how I ran it, both the chalk line, and by laying the wedge flat, and taking off the top corner, then flipping so the large flat is on the top, balancing the whole thing on the point.

Have a good weekend.

[Kelvin]

A coupld of things i've found that help when ripping a big log is i got a stihl 088 used off ebay for $750 and bought a 55" bar on sale at baileys.  I rip down the end of the log and then bring over the top and down the other end. 15-20 mins.   However, don't rip in 1/2!!!! rip in 1/3 and  2/3 and the same with what is left.  Ripping right in 1/2 ruins the best and widest quarter sawn boards, the faces you get when you rip right down the pith are the most true to 90 degrees.  You will run out of figure real quick if you take a massive 1/4 and simply saw all in the same way.  I can yeild about 75% figured, nice quarter sawn from a log by sawing into thirds and carefully squaring up the important middle sections.  THere are lots of photo tutorials on the site here. Do a search.  If i get a nice white oak i'm real careful not to waste any by not getting the best figure out of it.
Good luck,
KP