Kerfing grain direction

[peter havriluk]

Dense would-be builder department:

I have confused myself. If I am cutting 1/4" wide kerfing strips off a plank 3/4" thick, like salami slices, do I start with a flatsawn plank or a quartersawn plank? Does it matter?

Thanks, folks.

[Kevin in California]

Good question Peter. I've cut mine from quartered which then gives you flat grain down the strip, seems to bend easier, but then it breaks easier too. Try both and see what you like best.

[peter havriluk]

Thanks, Kevin. I'll experiment and buy two boards to slice up. I'm a big spender.

I looked in as many places I could think of and in all the books I owned, and I didn't find a solid instruction. I'll see what happens. Kerfing is a bit of a below-the-radar topic, what discussions there are seem to involve 'ordinary' or 'reversed' and then cease. Not near so controversial as glue.

[Tim Benware]

Doesn't the grain go in the same direction as the sides and blocks?

[peter havriluk]

The grain for sure goes the length of the plank, just like the neck and heel blocks. My thinking(?) was that if I sliced my kerfing strips off a flatsawn plank, I would show many growth rings looking at the wide (7/8") dimension, and if I cut my strips off a quartersawn plank, I would see few to no growth rings when I looked at the wide dimension, and I didn't know if I ought to pay attention to that, seeing as it's a variable I could control.

[ken cierp]

Just a thought -- there's an old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" it is my opinion if we are learning, sharing, questioning on an internet forum a picture and or a sketch is the only way to assure we are all on the same page.

[peter havriluk]

Lemme try to 'draw' something with the keyboard, which has its own limitations, but the grain direction will stand out:


||||||||||||||||||||||||| = quartersawn plank grain direction vertical parallel with the height dimension
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||

||| = 1 kerfing strip sawn off the edge of the quartersawn plank
|||
|||
__________________
------------------------- = flatsawn plank grain direction horizontal parallel with the width direction
-------------------------
-------------------------

=== = 1 kerfing strip sawn of the edge of the flatsawn plank
===
===
===

So --- any importance as to which of the two plank grain variations is preferable to use to make kerfing?

I hope my primitive art work can convey the core of the question.

Thanks, folks.