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New member here but not completely new to the guitar building habbit.

I had a question for the board...I should know this but alas my knowledge isn't completely full yet.

What does "riftsawn" mean? I know quartersawn and flat sawn...but havn't run across rift yet.

thank you much
William

I always heard riftsawn and quartersawn used interchangeably. Perhaps someone else can enlighten us if it's different.

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Rift sawn is between quarter and flat, no?

According to some grading guidelines I read. quartersawn has the grain lines at 45?-90? to the surface, Riftsawn is 30?-60? to the surface.

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Webster's definition for rift-sawed: quartersawn

They are usually right, I am usually wrong if they are right. At least we know it's not flatsawn.



Here is a pic I found. I saw a pic one time of a log being rift sawn for siding. I've always thought of quartersawing as sawing off the face of the quartered log. Live and learn.Dickey38422.6371296296

Hi Will,
I recently read and interesting article in "Woodsmith" magazine which basically corroborates what John H. said. Riftsawn will look a great deal like quartered, but can have the grain running a bit off--angled 30 to 60 degrees to the face. I'm only familiar with the term as regards oak lumber. Any others use this term?

By the way, Hardwood Barn (Mt. Enterprise) has a bunch of this stuff.

Welcome aboard,
Steve

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Milling techniques/wood types:

Flatsawn - Traditional milling technique that squares off the logs lengthwise, then mills boards off of each edge. Flatsawn boards exhibit familiar characteristics in woods such as Oak.

Quartersawn/Vertical grain - A less common wood milling technique that cuts the logs into quarters lengthwise, then into boards, on order to show a specific grain. It is more difficult, and yields less wood, but is more stable in width than flatsawn and doesn't warp much. The grain has a subtle figure but reveals beautiful patterns, especially in Oak and Madrone.

Riftsawn - A combination of flatsawn and quartersawn.

That pic is actually backwards from the way I've seen it defined. You almost never see truely quartersawn wood unless it is split. When we cut up some walnut, I just tried to keep the grain as vertical as possible. Unless it was something special, like a crotch, we would cut the log into quarters and then alternate flat sides to take the largest remaining piece. When someone tells you a board is riftsawn, that is my understanding of how they cut it.

That reduces the width of board that you can get from a given log, but the wood we got was great. The truth is, it really is sad that most sawmills don't cut that way, the small stuff is actually usable and stable cuts of wood that you usually don't see at the wood dealer.