Sawing Logs to Achieve Different Grain Patterns - Ask Matt #11

[@WoodworkingManiak]

It's great that you showed everyone how the log is quartersawn by actually sawing it up! Well done man!

[@mcremona]

WoodworkingManiak Well yeah, it's way more interesting if I actually do it ;)

[@ZHFabrications]

This was incredibly helpful, Thanks Matt!

[@NickFerry]

lots of great info Matt!

[@mcremona]

Thanks, Nick!

[@Wordsnwood]

Great explanation, Matt! So how thick is the kerf when you cut with your chainsaw? And how safe did you feel jointing a round log?

[@mcremona]

wordsnwood Thanks Art! The chainsaw kerf is about 1/4". Perfectly safe :)

[@ScrapwoodCity]

Very informative video, thanks for sharing it with us! Awesome!

[@mcremona]

Scrap wood City Thank you!

[@MattLaneWoodshop]

I'm always learning something watching your videos!

[@mcremona]

Lane Bros WoodShop awesome!!

[@robertoconnell8153]

This was an awesome video!! It's like the stuff that you didn't even know that you needed to know. :) Thanks Matt, you're a rockstar!!!

[@JT-hw6mq]

Thanks Matt. First time I have had a clear idea of the grain patterns. Have you done an episode where you discuss which grain patterns are best for which which features of a project? Also, congrats on the new addition to the family.

[@jimholladay2383]

Very informative demonstration. Much better than looking at two dimensional drawing. What blade do you run on your band saw?

[@mcremona]

Jim Holladay Thank you Jim! It's a 1/2" Lenox Tri-Master

[@Patricksworkshop]

great lesson and video Matt lessom

[@mcremona]

Patrick's work shop Thanks Patrick!

[@Tome4kkkk]

It's not "a fun thing to know". It's fundamental. Thank you very much. I've been looking for such a lecture for a while now!

[@eoinrobson2725]

Very well explained. Thanks Matt!

[@marnixteunissen1360]

Matt is so nice

[@revtmyers1]

Very nice. One of those things that you can know about the wood but not really think about the process to achieve.

[@mcremona]

thanks!

[@Joestacemazjojo]

I’ll definitely have to watch this a few more times to understand all of it but, with no previous knowledge you made it fairly easy to understand for someone just starting out. How long have you been learning this and where did you begin?

[@randystekly6518]

Thanks for this great video. Very educational and good information all woodworkers should be familiar with.

[@djavalo77]

I'm new to the lumber industry. This video really helped me.

[@mcremona]

+DJ Avalo Great to hear. Thanks!

[@mversantvoort]

Great explanation, thanks Matt!

[@jakewayrewa5201]

I need to buy a couple 2X4 for rails with my chainsaw mill. What cut orientation should I look for to get boards with the least potential for warping?

[@chefeduardogonzalez2313]

Thank you for that info on quarter saw and its advantages against moisture and worping im researching woods and mills. For a project addition to my kitchen a. 10 foot DINNING table / Butcher Block. Look and ability. Any input im looking for that super dark look with a light 🍁 pattern thank you Matt. My names Chef Eduardo

[@ted9876]

Good info and appreciate the demo to make it clear. Nice work.

[@agatazajkowski2077]

Thank you for this! Very helpful explanation for my NCIDQ exam.

[@454Casull]

Aren't you mixing up rift sawn and quarter sawn? Rift sawn should have the rings basically running perpendicular to the face.

[@damondiehl5637]

Matt, how does cutting affect the more exotic figure, like birds-eye and quilting and tiger stripe? Will you wind up without special kinds of figure if you cut in the wrong orientation? I realize that will be especially true for crotch cuts. If you cut a slab perpendicular to a branch, will you get more compression quilting than you would if you cut it on the same plane as the limb?

[@tkjazzer]

Can you give this video a update for beginners? Make a 101 lecture. refine it for version 2 for people don't know the lingo

[@robOntario]

Great video Matt, looks like you can ditch the large sawmill and just use you shop bandsaw to mill lumber from now on, 😂

[@ClickLikeAndSubscribe]

This is one of the most informative and lest theatrical woodworking videos I have seen in a while. Best!!

[@MosquitoMade]

As always, more good info here Matt!

[@areyouavinalaff]

so why don't people just cut trees into slices without corners? that way they wouldn't need to worry about 1/4 rift or plain. they could just have round slices and keep all the rings as rings. that would be better.

[@richardwooten7657]

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS ! MORE VIEWS OF THE CUT BOARDS PLEASE. ONE OF FIFTY OF US IS FROM MOSUORI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mypony891]

So if I cut a log so I have just a circular piece, which is course contains the pith, the circular piece is going to split down the middle no matter what? I was wanting to use it as a plaque so should I use a couple butterflies to keep it together?

[@dustyleblanc6323]

Nice informative video Matt! Thanks for your time! I seen an earlier suggestion for a video that I would like to second. Identifying different "common" species of woodworking lumber. Just an idea.

[@mcremona]

Dusty LeBlanc Thank you Dusty. Look for that video soon ;)

[@grandjunctionguy]

Stop being so awesome, you're making the rest of us look bad. Seriously, thanks for answering this question. This video was incredibly helpful.

[@mcremona]

Grand Junction Guy Sorry, that's my bad ;) Thank you!!

[@ZacHiggins]

Great job Matt, these technical topics can be really confusing, but your explanations are super clear and easy to understand. I've never seen demonstrate cutting up a log to get quarter sawn boards, I'll definitely be referencing this video when I need to cut some logs up.

[@mcremona]

Zac Higgins Thank you Zac! I'm glad it was easy to follow and understand :)

[@MightywoodNet]

Great explanation, Matt. I learned a lot. I love how the subtitles of this video start with "Hair on my name is Matt..." ;-) Thank you for this video, Matt! Hair on!

[@mcremona]

Mighty Wood Thank you! How I love the auto subtitles... Hair on!

[@KingofFools]

You seem like a cool guy. I think we should be friends.

[@paddington8248]

All that and he didn't show us the actual quarter sawn grain...

[@PhilDeGuzman]

Absolutely found this interesting and useful. I've never really understood the different terms flat sawn, riff sawn, quarter sawn...now I know!!

[@RichMcNatt]

Great video Mat! I have been asked about that very thing a few times but was unable to enplane it in a manner that made seance to others, now I can just refer them to this video. lol

[@mcremona]

Rich McNatt Thanks Rich!!

[@9mmkahr]

I've seen a lot of misinformation online about riftsawn vs rift grain pattern. From what i can gather, a true riftsawn log yields all quartersawn pieces with a lot of waste. It's basically a starburst pattern of flat boards cut from the center out, all the way around the center. Different from rift grain pattern, (diagonal) which comes from a few different sawing patterns. Quarter sawing a log yeilds mostly rift and quartersawn grain, and flat sawing a log yeilds all three grain patterns. Cheers, i love your vids. How's the handmade floor doing? Any noticeable expansion / contraction through the seasons?

[@22574jason]

This was a great informative video! Thanks!

[@pjtanner2439]

Thanks for the video Matt. I built a home-made Alaskan chainsaw Mill to cut up my neighbor's fallen oak and I'd like to cut it up as quarter-sawn to build my front door & dinner table. Do you have any suggestions? My biggest problem is that my home-made set up can only do horizontal cuts.

[@damondiehl5637]

Hi PJ, to alternate your cuts on an Alaskan mill, you would have to make two starting cuts with your straight edge, your first cut and then a second that is 90 degrees from the first. A framing square would help you line up your second cut at 90 degrees from the first. I've seen other videos where the sawyer had two saw setups. One was an Alaskan mill and the other that only connected at one place on the chainsaw's bar. The sawyer alternated between the two setups to duplicate what Matt did on the bandsaw. He also started at the pith level with the Alaskan mill and cut his way up from there, leaving everything in place, so the distance between the carriage and the bar got smaller and smaller with each pass. (Did that make sense?) He did pull the board he cut out with the vertical setup off the log, so he wouldn't cut them again with the Alaskan mill.

[@davidjanuszewski5020]

I need to re-saw hardwood planks into 3/4 boards, what width of blade will be best... My band-saw is 14", will accept nothing wider than 3/4 blade...

[@vtrmcs]

Rather than accommodate, can we replace that word with "tension"? So many bandsaws are unable to adequately tension the width of blades the manufacturer species as maximum. As a general rule, you want 3 teeth in contact with the wood at all times. David. It depends upon your saw, the timber, the depth of cut, the blade specifications amongst other things. Impossible to say with the information you gave.

[@daveboyt6810]

Very clear description. Thanks for posting it. Lots of nice looking slabs in your intro shot, too. Maybe could do videos on kiln drying & surfacing.

[@kyletaylor6071]

anyone else notice that face in that third slab behind him...

[@jolox.]

Thank you for this informative video! I have just gotten a small Wen bandsaw for Christmas and have been wanting to get some lumber from small logs to try and make a fiddle or mandolin. Are there any advantages to cutting new wood while it is still flexible, or should you always try to age it a year or two?

[@DemasShopforEverything]

Good info, I have a poster that shows me this. Thanks Matt

[@mcremona]

***** Thanks Dema!

[@anthonypayne6032]

Great vid , I found you from that post with Nick and Jay the QA thing, Late. What I'm asking is how long do you let logs sit before cutting and then after before you can safely work with it?

[@mcremona]

Typically you want to cut them as soon as you can but most logs can sit for probably up to a year, some even more depending on the conditions. Dry time will depend on the thickness and the drying conditions. I did a video about drying if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnKbYn6lZdaNnck

[@leesorenson6119]

Can't never buy custom off the shelf.

[@stephenbannasch]

Nice video and shop! Hadn't thought about rift-sawn wood having nice grain on all four sides before.I'm wondering how wide your jointer is? I could use something that big when I'm processing logs for tonewood. For tonewood I'm looking to get quartersawn wood right at 90 degrees +/- just 5 degrees or better and also almost no runout so I split logs into six or more sections first before resawing. I made a right angle sled with two extra-deep pipe clamps so I can hold a sectioned log in a precise orientation in terms of both rotation and skew for the initial cuts.

[@mcremona]

Stephen Bannasch Thanks Stephen! My jointer is 12". It's a grizzly G0609X. That sounds like a really cool jig!

[@-_MhdAlviS]

We gada translatenya, ampun

[@Mitermikeswoodshop]

Very informative Matthew Cremona Thanks.

[@Tome4kkkk]

Is there anything wrong in doing an entire dining table top out of quarter sawn uniform boards? I know you're a grain artisan but please try to be objective for a moment ;)

[@mcremona]

***** Thanks Chris!!

[@davenopeapottimus2590]

Matt I think you just saved me from making a regrettable set of cuts in some very old 3x3 heart pine tobacco drying beams. They're slated for table legs. Now i will select the diagonal grain pieces rather than randomly selecting. I get it now.. the resulting pattern on all 4 sides matching.. awesome. 3 years with this mill flying without any instruction (I avoid it.. I would rather do me, and not just be a copy of someone else) and Im lucky enough to find your honest reporting of info and tips amongst all the "look at me Im great" versions out there. You need some of my pawlonia for your demos.. its much kinder to the equipment! Tell me what size and what cut you want and i'll ship you a hunk!

[@David-fv7zg]

I have been told that quarter sawing will give you less yield from a log, generally speaking? Is this true? If so what percentage do you lose if quartersawing? Thanks gain, I always look forward to your posts coming out. Dabe

[@mcremona]

Dave Pruitt It depends on the method of quarter sawing used. The one that I showed here has high yield but other methods that produce more consistent QS figure have lower yields. A more radial approach would be more constant but would have a lot of waste in the form of wedge shaped boards. (Method A here: newwindow.nl/files/images/medium/newwindow-lexpott-quarter-sawing.jpg)

[@watcherdude1330]

Ok stupid question probably. So in layman’s terms what direction is a regular spruce 2x4 cut in. Or is it variable as well ?

[@mcremona]

variable

[@jonplapham]

Matt, it is my understanding that "plain sawn" is a cutting technique (slabbing parallel cuts) and that "flat sawn" is the description of a board's grain pattern. Is that correct? A log cut "plain sawn" would produce some boards that are flat sawn, some that are rift sawn, and even some quarter sawn near the center.

[@mcremona]

Jon Lapham I think you are right. For whatever reason, I seem to use them interchangeably. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to try to correct myself in the future.

[@dericc8611]

loved this ! so fascinating! Very well explained! Just found your channel, Subscribed!! Cheers :)

[@flyingsawdustjemtz9226]

Matt, Truly enjoyed your video. I'd like to see more on this topic; i.e., learning how to select rough cut boards at the lumber yard to satisfy one's needs to build furniture. Flatsawn, riftsawn, quartersawn cut boards, and how to use them to build visually appealing furniture pieces. For example, how about you selecting boards to build a table or desk, and then actually rough cutting, jointing, planing, and final table saw cutting the boards for each of the furniture piece's parts. This is a part of woodworking that is rarely explained. I enjoy your videos tremendously.

[@lordrudolph1037]

When I was in grade school they tested me and said I read at a college level. Yet, I have found that I need to be spoken to like I'm in kindergarden. Per your request, my suggestion is to do this again and break it down, slowly. I really want to understand. Thanks!!

[@lordrudolph1037]

p.s. thumbs up for this vid!

[@tooljunkie555]

I think I had an Epiphany after watching this vid;) idk if tht even made sense. Great video matt! Another one im gonna add to my collection milling vids.cuz I am determined to get a chainsaw and a make somekind of mill one of these days and when I finally do ill know what whats . U still buolding a bassinet/crib? Or shldbi ask is tht what tht log is for? Legs for bassinet/crib? I'm thinkimg about trying to talk my wife into us buying like one or two acres of land just so I can cut down trees so i can make my own lumber ....someday.... I would bring a tent and make a weekend out of it lol

[@mcremona]

Joe Walters Thank you Joe! I'm still building it but that log will need to be for something else. It will be some time before it's dry. Good luck with that :)

[@tooljunkie555]

Matthew Cremona oh..ok..so ur putting out the video afterwards. Not as u progress? Thats kool. And yea im going to need quite a bit of luck.shes not hearing it..haha she thought I wanted a new house on land not land just for lumber..lol oh well wrth a try I guess..butbwho knows maybe after zoey graduates well move tobthe country..time will tell!

[@StoneandSonsWorkshop]

Again... very interesting. Thanks for showing us the process.

[@mcremona]

Stone and Sons Workshop Thank you!

[@rjbeebe]

Great video - very clear and easy to understand explanation. I'm looking forward to exploring more of your videos.

[@mcremona]

Richard Beebe Thank you Richard!

[@topsaw]

Always love your videos. So informative. Showing my woodshop class this video tomorrow. We mill on a wood mizer and build from what we mill. Thank you

[@mcremona]

Awesome! Thanks for the videos on the mini skids. I'm likely going to be getting one.

[@topsaw]

@@mcremona go big, I think the CTX 50 is just a little too small

[@mcremona]

I’m looking at a used s800. I think it’ll give me a good amount of versatility in a still pretty small package

[@topsaw]

@@mcremona I think that is a better way to go. One thing I really like about the stand ons is that they are easier on my back and I really like the great visibility with kids around. success showing your video today.

[@mcremona]

Awesome!!

[@stevemcentyre1570]

Most excellent Matt!!!!!! Very well done. You can teach this stuff if you put your hand to it. First rate tutorial.

[@mcremona]

Steve McEntyre Thank you so much Steve! I really appreciate that!!

[@ABC-qw9zu]

Finally makes sense. Thanks a ton for putting this together. If I'm going to mill a spalted apple tree for gun stock it should probably be quarter sawn right?

[@solorzano5810]

Great video, am saving this video as future reference since tomorrow am getting a 14” bandsaw, the one thing I won’t be doing is placing my crack on the board or near the blade. Very instructional

[@murphyrick1]

Great job with video! I would like your opinion on the best way to saw a log for building gun stocks. Need cuts that produce as much of the beauty of the wood as possible but at the same time I need the cuts to be stable like you were speaking of for the doors in the video. Is there another cut besides quartersawn that would be better for my purpose? When I cut a tree I usually dig up stump with about 6 foot of trunk attached. I do not use any of the tree for stocks except stump and crotch. Thank you for any advice you can give. Happy wood working.

[@AaronTWas]

Hi Matt, thank you for this video, very informative! Something that really impresses me about your content is the level of knowledge you are able to share not only on the creation process of a piece in your woodworking, but also on tree analysis, identification, and the milling that happens before creating a piece. Are there any sources that you highly recommend for study on these things? Did you receive any formal education in the biology of trees outside of your bio major, or is most of it built from your background as a bio major early on in your college years? Thank you so much for sharing such amazing work with everyone!

[@joewhitefse]

Great video as usual Matt. A lot of interesting information and now I actually know what to look for when picking out lumber.

[@mcremona]

Joe White Thank you, Joe! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@crelfe]

What blade do you recommend for this type work? Looks like I have the same bandsaw. Thx, Matt.

[@jamesrpm3920]

Just in time for me , I have a apple log (chunk ) about twice the size of your demo log . Once I have it quartered I can run it through my saw and now know what I'm getting .

[@generic000007]

very informative video. and i like the crotch hahaha.....your videos are full of puns, i dont know how you keep a straight face and not burst out laughing.

[@walterrider9600]

thank you . question please . i have a 17" 2hp band saw what kind of blades do i need to use for cutting green logs . and regular blades for it 1/4 and 1/2 for general usage . i got some from grizzly i can not believe what i got . can you help with information on what blades do i need to get . hope you can help

[@synapseZA]

Really enjoyed that - thanks! Probably won't be slabbing logs anytime soon, but good to know when buying lumber.

[@mcremona]

synapseZA Thanks for the suggestion. It's a great topic. Good stuff to know!

[@MRrwmac]

Very interesting and well presented! Are you ever going to use (or drink) that 1bd ft of volume (haha)?

[@mcremona]

MRrwmac Thanks Mac! I don't think water with food coloring would taste that great...

[@saaid000]

Very interesting. Thank you

[@TestSubjectWorkshop]

I finally understand!!

[@ozzydeschapell3618]

Hey matt great video very educational. But got to know what is the gallon of blue liquid behind you in your video's?

[@mcremona]

Ozzy Deschapell Thank you! Check out this video for the answer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZzbeGSpaqiXm5I

[@Nikolalana]

Put some oil or thinner on the wood....grain is not visible with so much light and clear wood

[@jeffbright7728]

Have you ever lifted one end of a log and cut ellipses? I have a need for small Cedar table tops with the white sapwood around the entire edge. I just wasn't sure if the half end grain, half not would warp when drying.

[@cadeudo]

annoying audio sound tho , like the video

[@irelmo69]

I loved this! Thank you for explaining 😊👍

[@phooesnax]

Awesome. So lumber comes out of round logs?!. That is not what they said at the home center!

[@mcremona]

phooesnax Strange, isn't it ;)

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

Very interesting and very informative! I would like to see you quarter saw a large log on the big bandsaw and explain the procedure as you go.

[@kim4win]

This was so interesting...a topic I knew nothing about!

[@mcremona]

kim4win Thank you!

[@graemebrumfitt6668]

TFS Dude, GB :)

[@leesorenson6119]

You're a champion friend

[@charleyandsarah]

Great information as always Matt. Thanks :-)

[@mcremona]

Slowvannah Farms Thank you!

[@robertgoggin7849]

Mat you are still one off the best.

[@bryanhall6581]

What brand/size is that bandsaw?

[@TedAlexander24]

Thanks Matt.

[@mcremona]

Ted Alexander Thanks Ted. It was great meeting you today!

[@TedAlexander24]

Yeah, it was like meeting a celebrity for me. You are a good guy Matt.

[@mcremona]

Ted Alexander haha! yeah right!

[@garrygiordano4059]

Video was right to the point. Presented in a clear, concise and graphical manner. Best one I’ve seen on the topic.

[@el34glo59]

I didn't know the pith was bad

[@Unclebuddy01]

Extremely informative and very well presented. I've always wondered about the various cuts and now it is clear to me. Thanks for an excellent video presentation !

[@mcremona]

Michael Trent Thank you Mike! I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@kirtlindeman6184]

Love your Ask Matt Series. #11 brings up a question. How do you compensated for blade wander when you resaw? I recently tried to Re-Saw a 4/4 down to a 3/4 on a slab of curly maple and the blade crept over almost an 1/8" ruining the piece. The top was right on line, but the blade at the bottom had crept? Maybe an episode on resewing and setup would be worthwhile.

[@donchristie420]

As David peters has replied,use the widest blade your machine can handle.

[@cdouglas1942]

Further, tension, tension, tension. See also Don Christies comment. Also I think paring off only an 1/8" is job for planer, not bandsaw. The 1/8" coming off is flimsy, does not support bs blade

[@reefready9284]

Excellent presentation Matt. I just wish the log was as easy to flip and turn on the mill, as it is in your shop.

[@mcremona]

Thank you! Yes, I wish that as well :)

[@richarddodd600]

Thanks matt,great info and nicely explained :subscribed.

[@nccherokee1]

Great presentation Matt. I have a Wood-Mizer LT 40 bandsaw. Question: How do I saw quarter sawed lumber on my saw mill? Thank and keep sawing.

[@hotrodhog2170]

You would do it basically the same way as he did it on his bandsaw. Saw a log in half, then saw one half of the log in half again to end up with a quarter of the original log, then check the end grain and keep flipping it as you saw each quarter.

[@hotrodhog2170]

+Fred Moretz check this video out, might help to explain it more. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKe4gX2Ge8xnra8

[@Barrysworkshop]

Nice job showing how the cuts affect grain orientation. I've seen the diagrams, but showing the pattern as you cut it is particularly effective.

[@mcremona]

Barry's Workshop Thank you Barry!