Frequently Asked Questions
- Q. What is quartersawn lumber?
- A. Technically, quartersawn lumber has the growth rings of the tree approximately perpendicular to the board’s broad face. In contrast, plain sawn lumber has the growth rings parallel to the board’s broad face. Quartersawn produces both quartered and rift lumber.
- Q. How is quartersawn lumber achieved?
- A. There is only one true way to quarter saw a log and Frank Miller Lumber (FML) does it this way. First, we cut a log into quarters. Each quarter is then processed by cutting a single board off one face, then cutting the next board from the opposite face, and cutting from alternating faces until the quarter is completely cut.
- Q. What are the aesthetic qualities of quartersawn lumber?
- A. The most notable characteristic of quartersawn lumber lies in its incomparable grain patterns. Medullary ray fleck, wavy grain and interlocked grain are all visually enhanced when the log is quartersawn. The revival of Mission style furniture is just one example of how today’s artisans are rediscovering the unique beauty of quartersawn lumber. Today’s heirloom furniture, the antiques of tomorrow, is crafted from quartersawn lumber. Quality reproductions and renovations of artisans’ work demand true quartersawn lumber. Quartersawn wood is the choice of wood artisans.
- Q. What are the structural qualities of quartersawn lumber?
- A. Quartersawn lumber is the uncontested winner when compared to plain (or flat) sawn lumber. Quartersawn features include:
- Reduces shrinking and swelling in lumber width.
- Reduces twisting, warping and cupping.
- Less prone to surface checking.
- Wears more evenly in flooring applications.
- Does not allow liquids to readily pass through it.
- Smooth surface as raised grain is not pronounced.
- Q. What species are quartersawn?
- A. FML regularly produces quartered and rift lumber from white oak, red oak, cherry, hard maple, walnut, sycamore and beech. However, all species can be quartersawn and are available upon request.
- Q. What’s the difference between quartered and rift lumber?
- A. A quartered board features medullary ray or “fleck” perpendicular to a grain, which typically forms angles from 60 degrees to 90 degrees with the board’s surface. A rift board exhibits a clean, straight, vertical grain pattern, which typically forms angles from 30 to 60 degrees with the board’s surface.
- Q. Is there a difference in cost between quartered lumber and plain sawn lumber?
- A. Quarter sawing is a specialized technique requiring more time and greater skill to produce. Logically, lumber prices are slightly higher than plain sawn. FML offers customers both quartersawn and plain sawn lumber. We cut our quartered and rift lumber for figure, not for grade.
- Q. How can quartersawn lumber benefit my product?
- A. Our carefully machined lumber provides you with the structural integrity and unique grain patterns you want. Stability and appearance pass from our boards to your finished products.
- Q. If quarter sawing is so good, why don’t all sawmills do it?
- A. For most, the art of quarter sawing has been lost over the years. Like many superior practices of the past, quarter sawing lost favor to plain sawing techniques. Plain sawing is easier, cheaper and quicker … but it results in more waste, less grain characteristic and less stable lumber.
- Q. What is the ecological benefit to quarter sawing?
- A. There is a significant ecological benefit derived by using quartered and rift lumber compared to plain sawn lumber. A quartersawn log is “sawn from the inside out,” resulting in more usable wood from each log. FML prides itself in being a careful user and steward of our precious forest resources. We are forest conservationists, abiding by a strong waste ethic. Our bark is ground and finds use as landscape mulch, and our wood chips are used as raw material for paper production. Our sawdust is used as natural fuel to kiln dry our quality lumber. When you buy FML quartered and rift lumber, you get the best product the forest can offer.
Frequently asked questions about forestry and harvesting
- Q. Who selects the trees for harvest?
- A. FML has a procurement department with trained foresters who work closely with the forestland owner and their management objectives.
- Q. Doesn’t cutting down large trees damage other trees?
- A. FML works with trained loggers who can directionally fell trees, limiting the harvest damage. In taking down the larger trees, the smaller trees receive more sunlight and absorb more nutrients from ground moisture to ensure their steady growth.
- Q. Are we damaging the land by cutting so many trees?
- A. About one-third of the nation’s forests – 245 million acres – is set aside in national parks and wilderness areas, and in other “non-commercial” areas. This third of the U.S. forests is bigger than Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Belgium and Israel combined. The remaining lands are classified as “commercial” and can be used for growing and harvesting repeated crops of trees. In the national forests, portions are permanently set aside for non-commercial uses such as recreation and wildlife.
- Q. Are America’s forests about to disappear?
- A. When you listen to the evening news it sometimes sounds that way. On the contrary, About one-third of the United States – 730 million acres – is covered with trees. That’s about 70 percent of the forestland that existed when Columbus discovered America. Today we have mores trees than we did 70 years ago. Scientists estimate that America’s forestlands contain some 230 billion trees – around 1,000 for each person.
- Q. What is a tree worth?
- A. The value of a tree depends on many things: specie, size, quality, and current markets. Our foresters inspect the tree in question to determine its value.
- Q. Will timber harvesting damage wildlife habitat?
- A. It can actually improve wildlife habitat by providing new, young growth perfect for bedding areas and a food source for many wildlife species.