Hasta La Ideas

This is the second post of an ongoing series about wood. Understanding its nature, the way it moves and changes, and the implications for designers. Check back every Wednesday for the next installment.

When working with wood we ought to start with how it’s cut into boards. Because how wood is cut can have a huge impact in how it behaves. In my first post of this series, I described one of the most common cuts, the plainsawn, it’s advantages and disadvantages. Now we’ll look at riftsawn.

As you can see in the diagram above, plainsawn cuts are made parallel to each other and this results in a board face with oval curves also known as a “cathedral” look. But with riftsawn wood the cuts are made perpendicular to the tree’s growth rings which creates a straight grain pattern that is much more uniform. (We’ll talk about quartersawn, the third type of cut in next week’s post.) The result is a board face that is more refined and might be suitable for cabinets or floors, or in any situation where the designer wants a uniform pattern. For instance, riftsawn is good for table legs because all four sides of the leg will look the same. Specifically riftsawn is also useful in pieces where there is something you want to highlight, instead of detract attention from. Because riftsawn tends to be good as a basic aesthetic:

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