White Oak
k
Quercus alba
White oak is impervious to liquids, and has been used extensively for ship
timbers, barrels and casks. White oak is the state tree of Connecticut, Illinois
and Maryland.
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread throughout the Eastern U.S. The white oak group comprises many
species, of which about eight are commercial.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is light-colored and the heartwood is light to dark brown. White oak
is mostly straight-grained with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays
than red oak. White oak therefore has more figure.
WORKING PROPERTIES
White oak machines well, nails and screws well although pre-boring is advised.
Since it reacts with iron, galvanized nails are recommended. Its adhesive
properties are variable, but it stains to a good finish. Can be stained with a
wide range of finish tones. The wood dries slowly.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
A hard and heavy wood with medium bending and crushing strength, low in
stiffness, but very good in steam bending. Great wear-resistance.
AVAILABILITY
Readily available but not as abundant as red oak.
MAIN USES
Furniture, flooring, architectural millwork, mouldings, doors, kitchen cabinets,
paneling, barrel staves (tight cooperage), and caskets.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
15.1 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Red Oak
Quercus rubra
The Latin name for oak, Quercus, means "a fine tree." The oaks have
been key in America's industrial transformation: Railroad ties, wheels, plows,
looms, barrels and, of course, furniture and floors. The oak is the state tree
of New Jersey.
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread throughout Eastern U.S. The oaks are by far the most abundant species
group growing in the Eastern hardwood forests. Red oaks grow more abundantly
than the white oaks. The red oak group comprises many species, of which about
eight are commercial.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood of red oak is white to light brown and the heartwood is a pinkish
reddish brown. The wood is similar in general appearance to white oak, but with
a slightly less pronounced figure due to the smaller rays. The wood is mostly
straight-grained, with a coarse texture.
WORKING PROPERTIES
Red oak machines well, nailing and screwing are good although pre-boring is
recommended, and it can be stained to a good finish. Can be stained with a wide
range of finish tones. It dries slowly.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
The wood is hard and heavy, with medium bending strength and stiffness and high
crushing strength. It is very good for steam bending. Great wear-resistance.
AVAILABILITY
Abundant. Most widely used species.
MAIN USES
Furniture, flooring, architectural millwork and mouldings, doors, kitchen
cabinets, paneling, and caskets.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
36.6 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
In short, quartered lumber provides
greater dimensional stability in both seasoning and final use.
WHAT SPECIES ARE QUARTER SAWN?
FM Lumber Company regularly
produces quartered and rift lumber from White Oak, Red Oak, Cherry, Ash, Hard
Maple, Walnut, Sycamore and Beech. However, all species can be quarter-sawn and
are available upon request.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
QUARTERED 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, vertical grain pattern which typically forms angles from 30 to 60
degrees with the board's surface.
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Quartered
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Rift
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IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN COST BETWEEN
QUARTERED LUMBER AND PLAIN-SAWN LUMBER?
Quarter sawing is a specialized technique
requiring more time and greater skill to produce. Logically, lumber prices are
slightly higher than plain sawn. FMLumber Company offers customers
both quarter-sawn and plain-sawn lumber.
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
quarter-sawn log is "sawn from the inside out," resulting in more usable wood
from each log. Additionally, the quarter-sawing process uses less energy.
Finally, a greater percentage of high-grade lumber is produced from each
quarter-sawn log, allowing use of lower-grade logs. FM Lumber Company
prides itself in being a careful user and steward of our precious forest
resources.
HOW CAN QUARTER-SAWN LUMBER BENEFIT
MY PRODUCT?
Our carefully machined lumber provides you
with the structural integrity and unique grain patterns you want. Stability and
appearance pass from our boards to your finished products.
IF QUARTER SAWING IS SO GOOD, WHY
DON'T ALL SAWMILLS DO IT?
For most, the art of quarter sawing has
been lost over the years. Like many superior practices of the past, quarter
sawing lost favor to plain sawing techniques. Plain sawing is easier, cheaper,
and quicker... but it results in more waste, less grain characteristic and less
stable lumber.
WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT FM
LUMBER COMPANY'S QUARTER-SAWN LUMBER?
FM Lumber Company sets the
standards for quartered and rift lumber... as we have since 1903. Our
quarter-sawn lumber is the same fine quality wood used by artisans for the past
century. We truly quarter saw our lumber, taking no short cuts. Our lumber is
sized to perfection... more aptly described as machined than milled. We are
forest conservationists, abiding by a strong waste ethic. Our bark finds use as
landscape mulch, and our wood chips are used as raw material for paper
production. Our sawdust is used as natural fuel to kiln dry our quality
lumber. When you buy FM Lumber Company quartered and rift lumber, you
get the best product the forest can offer.
OTHER SOLID 3/4" UNFINISHED DOMESTIC HARDWOODS
With help from Online guide to North American hardwood
species
American Cherry Prunus serotina
Like all fruit trees, cherry belongs to the rose family and was used as early as
400 B.C. by the Greeks and Romans for furniture making. American Colonists used
the cherry tree for its fruit, medicinal properties and home furnishings. They
mixed cherry juice with rum to create Cherry Bounce, a bitter but highly favored
cordial. The bark was used in the production of drugs to treat bronchitis, and
cherry stalks were used to make tonics.
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout Midwestern and Eastern U.S. Main commercial areas: Pennsylvania,
Virginia, West Virginia and New York.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The heartwood of cherry varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken
with age and on exposure to light. In contrast, the sapwood is creamy white. The
wood has a fine uniform, straight grain, satiny, smooth texture, and may
naturally contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets.
WORKING PROPERTIES
Cherry is easy to machine, nails and glues well and when sanded and stained, it
produces an excellent smooth finish. It dries fairly quickly with moderately
high shrinkage, but is dimensionally stable after kiln-drying.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
The wood is of medium density with good bending properties, it has low stiffness
and medium strength and shock resistance.
AVAILABILITY
Readily available.
MAIN USES
Fine furniture and cabinet making, mouldings and millwork, kitchen cabinets,
paneling, flooring, doors, boat interiors, musical instruments, turnings and
carvings.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
3.9 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Ash Fraxinus spp
Norse mythology refers to ash as "the mighty tree that supports the
heavens" and "below earth its roots went down to hell." Ash
belongs to the olive family, although its only fruit is a dart-like winged seed.
Ash is a popular species for food containers because the wood has no taste.
Admiral Richard Byrd wore snowshoes made from ash during his polar expeditions
and early windmills were made from this species.
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout the Eastern U.S.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is light-colored to nearly white and the heartwood varies from
greyish or light brown, to pale yellow streaked with brown. The wood is
generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. The degree and
availability of light-colored sapwood, and other properties, will vary according
to the growing regions.
WORKING PROPERTIES
Ash machines well, is good in nailing, screwing and gluing, and can be stained
to a very good finish. It dries fairly easily with minimal degrade, and there is
little movement in performance.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Ash has very good overall strength properties relative to its weight. It has
excellent shock resistance and is good for steam bending.
AVAILABILITY
Readily available.
MAIN USES
Furniture, flooring, doors, architectural millwork and moulding, Kitchen
cabinets, paneling, tool handles, baseball bats, sporting equipment and
turnings. It is particularly suitable for food and liquid containers since there
is no odor or taste.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
4.6 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Black Walnut Juglans nigra
The roots of the walnut tree release a toxic material which may kill other
plants growing above them. From the time of ancient Greeks until well into
modern European history, walnuts symbolized fertility and were strewn at
weddings. Just the opposite, in Romania, brides who wished to delay childbearing
placed into the bodice of their wedding dresses one walnut for each year they
hoped to wait.
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout Eastern U.S., but principal commercial region is the Central states.
One of the few American species planted as well as naturally regenerated.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood of walnut is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to
dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. The
wood develops a rich patina that grows more lustrous with age. Walnut is usually
supplied steamed, to darken sapwood. The wood is generally straight-grained, but
sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative
figure. This species produces a greater variety of figure types than any other.
WORKING PROPERTIES
Walnut works easily with hand and machine tools, and nails, screws and glues
well. It holds paint and stain very well for an exceptional finish and is
readily polished. It dries slowly, and care is needed to avoid kiln degrade.
Walnut has good dimensional stability.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Walnut is a tough hardwood of medium density, with moderate bending and crushing
strengths and low stiffness. It has a good steam-bending classification.
AVAILABILITY
Reasonable availability with regional limitations.
MAIN USES
Furniture, cabinets, architectural millwork, doors, flooring, paneling, and gun
stocks. A favored wood for using in contrast with lighter-colored species.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
1.9 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Hickory and Pecan
Carya spp
Its name is an English contraction of the Native American "powcohicora."
Whereas various parts of the world had supported hickory during the countless
geologic ages, practically nowhere but in Eastern North America did it survive
the catastrophic changes of the Glacial Epoch, some 50 million years ago. Thus,
it is the first strictly American hardwood species. Westward trekking pioneers
made hickory a prerequisite for their wagon wheels. Later, the Wright Brothers
whittled hickory for their "flying contraption." Hickory sawdust and
chips are used to flavor meat by smoking. Commercially, the pecan is the most
important native North American nut tree and it is the state tree of Texas.
Pecan was a Native American name given to any nut hard enough to require
cracking with a stone. Native Americans, particularly in the Northeast, used
hickory for their bows.
DISTRIBUTION
Eastern U.S., principal commercial areas: Central and Southern states.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The hickories are an important group within the Eastern hardwood forests.
Botanically they are split into two groups; the true hickories, and the pecan
hickories (fruit bearing). The wood is virtually the same for both and is
usually sold together. Hickory is the hardest, heaviest and strongest American
wood in the common use. The sapwood of hickory is white, tinged with
inconspicuous fine brown lines while the heartwood is pale to reddish brown.
Both are coarse-textured and the grain is fine, usually straight but can be wavy
or irregular.
WORKING PROPERTIES
The heaviest of American hardwoods, the hickories can be difficult to machine
and glue, and are very hard to work with hand tools, so care is needed. They
hold nails and screws well, but there is a tendency to split so pre-boring is
advised. The wood can be sanded to a good finish. The grain pattern welcomes a
full range of medium-to-dark finishes and bleaching treatments. It can be
difficult to dry and has high shrinkage.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
The density and strength of the hickories will vary according to the rate of
growth, with the true hickories generally showing higher values than the pecan
hickories. The wood is well-known for its very good strength and shock
resistance and it also has excellent steam-bending properties. Extremely tough
and resilient, even texture, quite hard and only moderately heavy.
AVAILABILITY
Readily available, more limited if sold selected for color as either red or
white hickory.
MAIN USES
Tool handles, furniture, cabinetry, flooring, paneling, wooden ladders, dowels
and sporting goods.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
2.2 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Beech Fagus grandifolia
Known as "Mother of the Forest" for its nutrient-rich humus. Beech has
a long, illustrious past. The Aryan Tribes of Asia, the earliest known people to
use a written language, carved their messages into the soft, smooth pliable bark
of the beech tree trunk. The writings, cut out of the bark and used intact, were
called "boc," which eventually became "book."
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout the Eastern U.S., commercial concentration is in the Central and
Middle Atlantic states.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is white with a red tinge, while the heartwood is light to dark
reddish brown. The wood is generally straight-grained with a close uniform
texture.
WORKING PROPERTIES
Beech works readily with most hand and machine tools. It has good nailing and
gluing properties and can be stained to a good finish. The wood dries fairly
rapidly but with a strong tendency to warp, split and surface check. It is
subject to a high shrinkage and moderate movement in performance.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Beech is classed as heavy, hard, strong, high in resistance to shock and highly
suitable for steam bending. Good resistance to abrasive wear.
AVAILABILITY
Limited
MAIN USES
Furniture, doors, flooring, millwork, paneling, brush handles, woodenware,
bending stock, toys and turnings. It is particularly suitable for food and
liquid containers since there is no odor or taste.
RELATIVE ABUNDANCE
0.4 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.
Technically,
quarter-sawn lumber has the growth rings of the tree approximately perpendicular
to the board's broad face. In contrast, plain-sawn lumber has the growth rings
parallel to the board's broad face. Quarter-sawn produces both quartered and
rift lumber.
There
is only one true way to quarter saw a log. First, we cut a log 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.