8/4 QS White Oak?

[Darl Bundren]

Hey, all. Does anybody know where I can get some 8/4 Quartersawn white oak in the western part of the state? I checked with Gennett here in Asheville and they said that they didn't have (didn't carry?) it. I don't need a bunch, just like 2x4x6 for some legs on a on a nightstand I am working on.

And, can you tell me if Wall Lumber usually carries 8/4 QSWO? I didn't see it on their website, but if they had it I might be up for a road trip.

Thanks.

 

[DaveO]

How soon do you need it. I have a friend with a sawmill who has just taken down a 150+ year old WO and he was asking me to find out what would be the most desirable way to mill it...all 4/4, or thicker, all QS etc. He has a kiln so I could get some in 4 months or so.
Dave

 

[chris99z71]

We proably all sound like broken records, but Hardwood Store of NC has it. $6.50/bf. They're in Gibsonville (between Greensboro and Burlington). The come very highly recommended by everyone that I've ever spoken to who has dealt with them.
Check here

 

[Darl Bundren]

Unfortunately I only have a couple of months before the nightstand is due for delivery. And, the Hardwood Store looks like a distinct possibility. Thanks for the help. If anybody else has leads, I'd love to hear them.

 

[wapitiscat]

There are some tricks to getting quarter sawn figure on all four edges if you want to try that route. Most recently, the project in the April 2006 Popular Woodworrking (154) has a technique described. Doing something like that may save money and give the quarter sawn figure all around.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

http://www.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/content/binary/SEP04WM.pdf

that's a pdf file of a magazine that has a great article on getting quarter sawn legs out of flat sawn stock. it's not gimmicky or anything, just a pure brilliant idea. that article starts on page 19 so you don't have to go through the magazine, but it's a pretty good issue if you want some solid reading anyways...and that shaker end table is on my "to-do" list

 

[Ozzie-x]

Marco & wapitiscat are right, there are (better) alternatives to solid stock. If you find 8/4 QS, it will only be QS on 2 faces, you're probably after the ray fleck or "tiger oak" as some people call it. In looking at the original arts & crafts pieces, something had always struck me as odd particularly about the legs. One day the light went off and I realized that QS on all 4 faces defied mother nature. One way the original arts & crafts makers achieved that effect on the legs was by using 4/4 QS stock for each face and joining them with a 45 degree glue joint at the corners. The improved "modern" day method is to use a 45 degree lock miter cutter or bit on the shaper or router table. The joints on the corner are not noticeable. Cut a plug to go in the bottom hole in the leg. Works great. The original arts & crafts makers also did a lot of veneering to achieve the QS effect on all exposed faces. I've done this too and it also works great. Another option (maybe more simple) would be glue up the legs with QS on the 2 outside faces, then take a QS piece to the bandsaw and cut some very thin pieces to glue on the 2 glue edges of your leg glue-ups. I just finished doing this on the legs of a wormy chestnut piece I built and it worked really well. Hope this rambling helps.

 

[Kyle]

Unless you have a vacuum kiln 8/4 qsawn woak takes a LONG time to dry without causing honeycomb. I usually dry that stuff over a year before I even think about throwing it in the kiln. I just sold 140 BF of 10/4 quartersawn material with heavy fleck to Cornell Zimmer in denver about a month ago that had sat for over a year and they will let it sit in their shop for another year. For thick material buy it and sit on it because at some point you will need it and glue ups just dont look the same.

 

[Darl Bundren]

Thanks for all of the helpful responses. The design of the nightstand pretty much requires the QS faces on the two outside faces of the legs; the panels and front are set in on the legs something like 3/16 of an inch, not enough to worry about seeing the flecks and rays I don't think. It looks like it makes the most sense to either resaw or glue up. I hadn't seen anything before about ripping flatsawn boards to get QS figure, and I think I have a mag article on gluing up legs to make a poker table or something. I'll probably go one of those two routes. Thanks again for the leads.