Rift sawn lumber is cut from a log using a radial cut pattern, producing stable planks with a uniform grain appearance. Plain sawing is the fastest and cheapest method, but the boards are more likely to warp. Quarter sawing produces more stable boards with an aesthetically appealing grain pattern. Softwoods are usually just sawn, while hardwoods are sawn to reduce warping and present uniform grain patterns. The difference between split-sawn and quarter-sawn timber is controversial, with some claiming little difference between the two.
Rift Sawn Lumber was cut from a log using a radial cut pattern, so that the face of each plank is perpendicular to the log’s concentric annual growth rings. Drawing a split cut diagram on the end of a log would look like the spokes on a wheel. Woodcutting is the least economical method of sawing, producing a large amount of waste and requiring time-consuming adjustment of the log or blade before each cut. Planks made from slot sawing are much more stable than planks sawn flat, and marginally more stable than quartersawn; that is, it is the cut of wood least likely to warp and shrinkage is minimal. The grain texture on the face of the split sawn is straight and narrow, and the “flakes” caused by the medullary rays of the wood on the face of the boards are not as pronounced as in quarter-sawn boards. Split-sawn wood is primarily used in applications where a uniform grain appearance is desirable, such as furniture legs.
There are two more ways to cut planks or boards from a log: plain sawing and quarter sawing. Plane sawing simply consists of cutting a trunk lengthwise into planks of equal thickness and variable widths. Flat sawing wood is the fastest and cheapest cutting method, with little waste, but the boards are more likely to warp. Quartering wood involves first cutting the log into quarters and then into planks following one of a few different techniques. Depending on the technique used, quartersawn wood produces more waste, but the boards are more stable and many carpenters find that quartersawn, when finished, is the most aesthetically appealing due to the staple created from medullary spokes in hardwood.
Softwoods—wood from softwoods such as pine, spruce, and hemlock—generally are just sawn, a method of sawing wood that simply cuts slices of wood from the trunk, never changing the orientation of the trunk relative to the saw blade. Softwoods are usually used for dimensional lumber, house framing, and other wood projects. Plane-sawn wood will show a wide variety of grain patterns because on some boards, the growth rings of the wood will be more or less perpendicular to the board surface, and on others, they will be at 15 to 30 degree angles.
Although hardwoods such as oak, cherry, and maple are sometimes sawn flat, sawyers will also saw logs from these popular woods. This is done both to reduce the possibility of warping of the cards and to present end users with cards with relatively uniform grain patterns. Sawing a log, as mentioned, is the most expensive because the orientation of the log on a fixed blade has to be adjusted because each plank cut is oriented towards the center of the log, like the spokes on a wheel. Therefore, there will be many triangular shaped lengths of wood left over from the cutting process. Additional boards can be cut from these scrap pieces, but they will be narrower and therefore more limited in their use.
It should be noted that there is some controversy in the woodworking community over the difference between split-sawn and quarter-sawn timber, with some claiming that there is virtually no difference between boards cut using these two methods. In fact, based on the characteristics of the cut wood, rather than the method used to cut it, many quarter-sawn boards are indistinguishable from split-sawn boards, and some of the boards cut with plain sawn also meet the qualifications of quarter-sawn or split sawn.
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