Beech - steamed or not?

[steve355]

Hi

I need to purchase some quartersawn beech for plane making, which is difficult to come by. I’ve been offered some by a local supplier that can cut a central plank from a log for me. This would be unsteamed and undried. He could dry it in a kiln for me, or I could let it dry naturally across a period of time.

Does anyone have a view on this in terms of stability, shrinkage etc? Or would I do better to approach a supplier of turning blanks (as I have before) and get them to cut me some billets, even if they aren’t as “quartersawn” as I’d ideally like?

thanks
Steve

 

[Adam W.]

All I can add, is that you need to ensure that the tree the quatersawn pieces come from doesn't have any noticeable spiral grain, as the blanks will twist if it does.