WHY DOES CANAL DOVER CHOOSE WHITE OAK FOR ITS QUARTER-SAWN FURNITURE?
Quarter-sawn white oak was the species artisans used for original high-quality mission style furniture in the early 1900’s. It was chosen because the medullary ray fleck, wavy grain, and because other aesthetic qualities are more pronounced in white oak than other species. White oak is also a denser, more stable, and durable species. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUARTERED LUMBER AND RIFT LUMBER? A quartered board features medullary ray or “fleck” perpendicular to a grain which typically forms angles from 60 degrees to 90 degrees with the board’s surface. A rift board exhibits a clean, straight, verticle grain pattern which typically forms angles from 30 degrees to 60 degrees with the board’s surface. A combination of rift and quarter-sawn lumber is often used by wood artisans to achieve a delightful aesthetic effect. WHAT IS THE ECOLOGICAL BENEFIT TO QUARTER SAWING? There is a significant ecological benefit derived by using quartered and rift lumber compared to plain-sawn lumber. A qu
