I saw an article that referred to rift sawn wood. I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up. I can see the advantage of quarter sawn, but rift sawn seems to have more waste. What am I missing that would make you choose rift sawn over quarter sawn? 

consistent grain, minimal expansion/contraction

Rift Sawn would be less likely to cup due to the grain being more straight across the board thickness.

Rift-Sawn White Oak is similar to Quarter-Sawn, but with the angle of the cut changed slightly so that fewer saw cuts are parallel to the medullary rays, which are responsible for the flake effect. This positions the growth rings between 30- and 60-degree angles to the face of the board.  Some folks think that furniture should not be made from all quarter-sawn lumber because they think seeing a lot of flakes is distracting from the beauty of the furniture design.   Danl

At first glance I thought the title said Raft saw tree.

 

3 minutes ago, Danl said:

Rift-Sawn White Oak is similar to Quarter-Sawn, but with the angle of the cut changed slightly so that fewer saw cuts are parallel to the medullary rays, which are responsible for the flake effect. This positions the growth rings between 30- and 60-degree angles to the face of the board.  Some folks think that furniture should not be made from all quarter-sawn lumber because they think seeing a lot of flakes is distracting from the beauty of the furniture design.   Danl

Quite a few of the old Oak furniture pieces I've acquired are done with a mix of Rift-Sawn, and Quarter-Sawn Oak.

I was told a long time ago it was done to minimize large panels from cupping. Similar practice as alternating the grain direction.

Thanks, I can now see all that you have described that would be more desirable and make much better furniture.

Here's a fun page in our own wiki.

Wiki | Methods of Cutting Logs Into Lumber and Veneers

THEPATRIOTWOODWIKI.ORG

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