The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING

Methods of saw-milling

Plain sawn orflat sawn

Produces full width waney/wane edge and squared up boards (Figure 3.5) with the annual rings in a series of contour markings. Boards cut this way are known as tangential cut.

Quarter sawn

Figure 3.4 shows a true quarter sawn or radial cut log. However, due to cost, this is rarely done, and the majority of quarter sawn timber is produced as in 3.3. Here, many boards do not

3 Wood conversion or milling

have the annual rings running at 90 degrees to the surface as on the true radial cut board.

Billet sawn (Figure 3.2)

This is frequently done to produce more stable timber than results from the plain sawn method, and it is often passed off as quarter sawn timber, whereas in fact only a few centre boards (3.6) are produced on the true quarter. The differences in behaviour between plain sawn and quarter sawn timber are described later under Movement and shrinkage (p. 15).

4 Waney/wane-edge board showing square edge wood (A) and short and long narrow boards (B and C)