Quarter Cut (QC)
Quarter-sawn boards have greater stability of form and size with less warping, shrinkage across the width, shake and splitting, and other good qualities. In some woods, such as oak, the grain produces a decorative effect which shows a prominent ray fleck and sapele is likely to produce a ribbon figure.
Quarter sawing gets its name from the fact that the log is first quartered lengthwise, resulting in wedges with a right angle ending at approximately the center of the original log. Each quarter is then cut separately by tipping it up on its point and sawing boards successively along the axis. That results in boards with the annual rings mostly perpendicular to the faces. Quarter sawing yields boards with straight striped grain lines, greater stability than flatsawn wood, and a distinctive ray and fleck figure. It also yields narrower boards, because the log is first quartered, which is more wasteful. Modern techniques reduce the wastage of this type of cut whilst keeping the traditional characteristics.