Quarter Sawn Oak?

[Chems]

My local place only supplies quarter sawn stuff in character, so there is a huge amount of wastage to get good stuff.

Is it likely if I asked them to order in some prime Quarter sawn oak they could get some? Or is this a flaw with Euro oak heart?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Chems
If the tree has been cut straight through (ie the pith is included), then it is not unusual for the board to have quite a lot of unusable timber down the centre (it will be least QS there, anyway).

If you want a good supplier not too far away (well, not sure exactly how far it is for you) try Whitmore's at Hinckley. They are the country's biggest stockholder and I've always found them very helpful. You do have to book a slot, though, just turning up is not encouraged.

S

 

[Chems]

Thanks for that steve, its only a half hour from me.

Found this one online last night:

www.quartersawnoak.co.uk

Anyone had any experience.

 

[markymark12]

Not a company i know myself but i would be keen to hear from others if they have used them. I always struggle to find good Quartered material, at best you get some sellers wanting to pull a couple of centres. Not always ideal as there is only even a few boards in it. So for bigger jobs you have all the issues of colour etc from a few different logs.

 

[markymark12]

Just spent a little bit of time on their website. I must say i was very suprised to see them cutting oak in the middle of June :shock: the logs do not look that big and there are no images of any of the stock itself. If i was doing the selling and the product that good, i would have images of it contained.
May be wrong and i hope someone comes along and tells us they have good stocks of well cut material. But i will not be forking out any money on a pack of what could be anything really.
Whitmores is where i would head myself. Not sure if they cut true quarters, or they billet saw mind. A lot of waste with the first so i have noticed a lot of guys that tell us it is quarter sawn sell billet sawn material, different cut, resulting in quite a bit of rift and the ray dropping of.

 

[matthewwh]

The two best boards in a through and through log are either side of the pith. The pith one will be stable too but if you have to cut the pith out you only get at best half the width. If you examine the endgrain you should be able to figure out where abouts in the log it came from. Assuming that is that they will let you poke about and take your pick.

 

[Phil Sewell]

I have self selected at Whitmores for 16 years so know the place pretty well. I think there is a minimum order of £200 (presumably to stop the occasional woodworker who wants the bottom board in a stack), worth checking this before you go, they might have changed this policy.

It drives me nuts going there because you can waste so much time wating for loaders to bring pallets to the sorting bays, so I don't look forward to it.

Going on Monday as it happens!

Phil.

 

[MNOS]

What's the matter with sawing oak in June?

 

[Benchwayze]

I have self selected at Whitmores for 16 years so know the place pretty well. I think there is a minimum order of £200 (presumably to stop the occasional woodworker who wants the bottom board in a stack), worth checking this before you go, they might have changed this policy.

It drives me nuts going there because you can waste so much time wating for loaders to bring pallets to the sorting bays, so I don't look forward to it.

Going on Monday as it happens!

Phil.

Me too in the very near future.
Need some 1/4 sawn, or at least a few centre-boards...
I think the £200.00 minimum order is reasonable, providing that's not just for a cube! :lol:

John :wink:

 

[OPJ]

Come on then, Chems - what are you making???

Rift-sawn oak is also quite attractive though, not quite as stable as quarter-sawn. I don't know whether it's generally sold as a separate 'item' to other stocks of oak. I've come across it several times amongst regular stocks of 1in boards. Really, you'd want a view of the end-grain but, that's rarely possible at the yard.

Another option might be to buy thicker stock and resaw it (now you have a bandsaw... :wink. You're more likely to come across quarter-sawn boards in thicker timber (think of how these are sawn from a log). It may or may not be as wasteful or expensive as using 'character' or pippy grade?

 

[BradNaylor]

Found this one online last night:

www.quartersawnoak.co.uk

Anyone had any experience.

Thanks for that link; I've never heard of them and they're about 15 miles from me.

I think I'll treat Mrs Naylor to a day out in the Peak District and have a shufty.

 

[Chems]

Olly, next job is an oak sideboard, fitted in around a pair of fitted units I've got to do, I want QS stuff but don't want to have to cut it out of character boards.

Brad, let us know soonest what you think of the place as I'd like to make an order but would appreciate your thoughts. Its not open at weekends thou did you see that? I'm actually in the peak district today, Matlock, which is a shame I could have dropped in!

 

[promhandicam]

Found this one online last night:

www.quartersawnoak.co.uk

Anyone had any experience.

Thanks for that link; I've never heard of them and they're about 15 miles from me.

I think I'll treat Mrs Naylor to a day out in the Peak District and have a shufty.

I'd leave your cheque book at home and your credit card too - unless my maths is completely wrong the 22mm x 200mm boards work out at about £125 / cu ft - assuming you buy their Value pack - http://www.quartersawnoak.co.uk/?page_id=490

 

[jameslee30]

Id never heard of quatersawnoak company. But... Austin actually taught me basic furniture making at nightschool before i decided to do it full time. Im definately going to have to get down there at some point to buy some oak, but all i can vouch for now is that hes a really nice bloke

james.

 

[9fingers]

I'd leave your cheque book at home and your credit card too - unless my maths is completely wrong the 22mm x 200mm boards work out at about £125 / cu ft - assuming you buy their Value pack - http://www.quartersawnoak.co.uk/?page_id=490

yes! their price for one stock size I picked 45 x175 x 1000 worked out at £150/cu ft.

It will have to be good for that price!

Bob

 

[Benchwayze]

I'd leave your cheque book at home and your credit card too - unless my maths is completely wrong the 22mm x 200mm boards work out at about £125 / cu ft - assuming you buy their Value pack - http://www.quartersawnoak.co.uk/?page_id=490

yes! their price for one stock size I picked 45 x175 x 1000 worked out at £150/cu ft.

It will have to be good for that price!

Bob

That would make my Hayrake Table one expensive piece. And that's without the chairs!

Unless I can find a better price than that, I shall have to use American Oak,...

John :wink:

 

[OPJ]

I'd leave your cheque book at home and your credit card too - unless my maths is completely wrong the 22mm x 200mm boards work out at about £125 / cu ft - assuming you buy their Value pack - http://www.quartersawnoak.co.uk/?page_id=490

yes! their price for one stock size I picked 45 x175 x 1000 worked out at £150/cu ft.

It will have to be good for that price!

Bob

Well, it depends... If he's cutting those boards from 7in or 8in thick stock then, that's probably not a bad price...!!

For some reason, I can't view their web page - all I get is a page something about cPanel; as if they've registered their site but haven't added any content?!

 

[Graeme]

What is a good/reasonable price(cu/ft) for 1st quality kiln dried oak?

I have two good local suppliers and I am always intersted to see if I am paying too much!

 

[RogerS]

What is a good/reasonable price(cu/ft) for 1st quality kiln dried oak?

I have two good local suppliers and I am always intersted to see if I am paying too much!

To be honest, I don't see how anyone can come up with what is 'a good/reasonable price' since there are so many factors that are going to come into play such as:

• how much you are ordering at the time
  have you bought from them regularly in the past
  have you bought reasonable amounts from them in the past
  do they have to deliver
  are you prepared to accept waney edge
  or sawn
  how do you define 'quality'
  thickness and width required
  geographical location
  have they got a 'special' on
  etc
  etc

 

[Graeme]

Roger you are right of course, I guess I meant K/D PAR at a trade price ex VAT. No delivery. I buy about £5K of oak a year for various projects and any thoughts from members are just rough guid, width, thickness and length all have an affect.

I pay £90-£110/cu ft for that spec.

Any thoughts welcome.