Pretty, but is it quartersawn?

[azwipe]

Check out what came in the mail today:

Digging the birdseye action, especially considering I just paid the standard price. But can anyone expertly opine on whether the grain indicates a quartersawn piece? My understanding is the tight grain pattern says, "maybe".

 

[geddyfan]

Doesn't look quartersawn maybe rift. IMO

 

[Philonius]

Need to see endgrain; neck heel and end view of head would be nice.

 

[megafiddle]

Can you see the grain clearly on the very end (heel end) of the neck?

And also along the edges of the headstock? Try to get some photos.

-

 

[azwipe]

But I think you're asking for a shot looking "down the barrell". Let me try to get a pic of that too.

 

[azwipe]

Appreciate you all looking.

 

[Dogfish]

It's flatsawn. Still pretty!

 

[azwipe]

It's flatsawn. Still pretty!

Cool, thanks! I'll post a pic when it's successfully bolted to my Squier.

Az

 

[nightwulf]

Yep, rift, not quarter...but still nice...

 

[Big B.]

Birdseye tends to show much better on the flatsawn surface than the quartered so it was probably cut that way intentionally. The difference in stability will be minor if any but you'll have a great looking neck.

 

[Mahataru]

I've heard that flat sawn will actually bend less under tension than quarter...

 

[Jazz Ad]

You heard wrong then.

 

[JustForSport]

Flat-sawn may tend to bend less from side-to-side than quarter-sawn,
but front-to-back is what the trussrod is for.

 

[Dave Higham]

You heard wrong then.

No he didn't.

http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/quartersawn.htm

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[Hopkins]

No he didn't.

http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/quartersawn.htm

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Thanks Dave,

Great info, I have posted it before but people still argued with me.

Also I don't think some people understand what rift sawn actually means. Rift sawn lumber will give you a vertical end gran on every board produced from a log but it is very wasteful

When flat sawing, the out side edges of the largest boards will have vertical end grain, and when Quarter sawing the outside boards will have a diagonal end grain. Rift sawn is the most consistent lumber you can buy as far as end grain goes.

 

[eddiemac]

As a sawyer, I know nobody saws the way you show in your rift-sawn illustration. You'd have to shim up the log (or cant) for every cut. Who would do that? I always thought rift-sawn grain was somewhere in between quarter and flat-sawn.

 

[Hopkins]

As a sawyer, I know nobody saws the way you show in your rift-sawn illustration. You'd have to shim up the log (or cant) for every cut. Who would do that? I always thought rift-sawn grain was somewhere in between quarter and flat-sawn.

From what I have read about rift sawing, the fact that it is very wasteful, and as you have pointed out, is a difficult process, makes it a very uncommon practice. There may be another way of sawing lumber that people are calling rift sawing, but I am pretty sure true rift sawing is done like the illustration I posted.

 

[Mahataru]

You heard wrong then.

Is this something you have tested?

 

[eddiemac]

I don't think "true" rift sawing (as illustrated) is ever done. In actual practice, what is considered quarter-sawn has a grain direction of 90 to 60 degrees in relationship to the wide side of the board (as seen at the end of the board). Rift-sawn, if considered at all, is 60 to 30 degrees; and flat-sawn is 30 to 0 degrees. Many consider anything with grain from 90 to 45 degrees to be quarter-sawn. These are important factors in veneer, flooring, and producing the ray fleck look in classic oak furniture, but probably is less critical in guitar/bass necks.

 

[Hopkins]

http://blog.carbideprocessors.com/uncategorized/quarter-sawn-lumber-vs-plain-sawn-lumber/

All information I have read says you are correct, it is labor intensive and wasteful. But I am sure that it is practiced