Quatersawn? Flame? 'Splain Lucy.

[Unk]

I'm not entirely sure what quartersawn is and why it's desirable. Can anybody 'splain it to me?

 

Also, I see so many guitars with a beautiful flaming in the wood. Is that a property inherent to that particular piece of wood or is it the product of the way it's cut?

 

I guess I should throw quilting in there as well. I'm not a fan of quilting but how does that happen in wood? Bearclaw on the other hand, I can see being part of the wood growth.

 

In the end I suppose I'm trying to reconcile if certain instruments are more expensive as a result of the process required to produce it by way if its finished look; the natural properties and aesthetics of the wood; or a combination thereof.

[bsman]

From a woodworking website:

Quartersawn lumber: When properly sawn, a log is cut into quarters. Each quarter is then processed by cutting a single board off of one face, then cutting the next board from the opposite face, and cutting from alternating faces until the quarter is completely cut. Being cut from the inside out, more and better grades of wood are harvested and with less waste.


The advantage for guitars is that the grain on a quartersawn top is straight. Figured maple (including flame, birdseye, quilt, burl, etc.) is simply a characteristic of individual trees and is usually found on the softer individuals of that species.

[bbarkow]

Originally posted by Unk I'm not entirely sure what quartersawn is and why it's desirable. Can anybody 'splain it to me?

 

 

Think of quartersawing as taking a 2 foot section of tree trunk and cutting it into a pie. Each "slice" is then split and laid open (bookmatched) for either a guitar top or back.

 

The advantage of quartersawing is that you get maximum strength out of the wood since all of the grain is running in the same direction.

 

Sometimes the wood will be quarter-split instead of sawn to minimize grain runout. You know how when you look at some guitars the wood on one half of the top is darker? That's because you're seeing a bit of end grain, or "runout", in the darker half. The light side will look darker if you turn the guitar upside down.

 

Hope this helps some - I'm sure others will weigh in.

 

Brent

[Unk]

Thanks for the info. I should have known it was something simple. I guess what threw me was that I have cut lumber before and noticed something like flame that I thought was a result of the saw blade. Now I know.
The issue of strength from quartersawn wood makes sense as well.
I have seen the darker/lighter thing before too and just shrugged my shoulders figuring the halves were made from different samples.
It's amazing how much terminology we see and accept and then one day think, "what exactly is that anyway".

[guitarcapo]

Quartersawn lumber is more stable against warps and cracks because the grain runs uniform. Unfortunately it wastes a bit more wood and is a lot more labor intensive making it more costly.
Lumber for tops should be quartersawn AND split but the major factories don't hand split billets so there is sometimes runnout of the bookmatched top grain. You get that change in darkness of the top on either side of the line when viewed at an angle.

Nowdays backs are often not quartersawn because it wastes wood and exotic hardwood is expensive. You pay major buck just to keep it from being PLYWOOD.

[ksargent]

To amplify one of GC's points - the darker/lighter comparison is only indicative of grain runout when the "dark" changes sides depending on the angle of the light. Assume that you are looking at the guitar rightside up - with the bass on the left and the treble on the right. Assume further that you note that the treble side is darker. If when you turn the guitar upside down - bass on right, treble on left - the dark shade moves to the bass side, then you have grain runout.

From what I've read, runout is probably more of a structural issue - and not even that if it is moderate. It is certainly characteristic of a less desirable top and usually shouldn't be found on a premium instrument.

Ken