Quarter sawn Stiles and Rails

[kelsey hogue]

I am planning a kitchen remodel and wonder if anyone has experience in ripping 8/4 flat sawn boards into 3/4" quarter sawn stock for door stiles and face frames? Thanks.

[Scott T Smith]

I am planning a kitchen remodel and wonder if anyone has experience in ripping 8/4 flat sawn boards into 3/4" quarter sawn stock for door stiles and face frames? Thanks.

That should work fine. Your only risk is that 8/4 white oak frequently have a delta between the core and shell MC%, and you may experience some bending of the ripped stock.

[Jerry Miner]

I see a couple of issues:

1. As Scott said, the MC differential (or other internal stresses) may cause the ripped pieces to bend.
2. You'll only get 2" (max.--maybe 1 3/4" net) width--- minimal for a normal cabinet door. OK for small doors, I guess. Or you could edge-glue the pieces to get a wider stile/rail.

[Brian Holcombe]

You may also want to ensure that the grain runs vertically. Often the grain on the edge of a flat sawn board will rise or fall over its length, but for a cabinet door VG is best.

[kelsey hogue]

I am planning a kitchen remodel and wonder if anyone has experience in ripping 8/4 flat sawn boards into 3/4" quarter sawn stock for door stiles and face frames? Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback. I plan on making the door panels out of book matched re-sawn alder and didn't want the stiles to compete for attention, but alder doesn't have a strong quarter sawn look like white oak so it may be more trouble then it is worth. I didn't consider the issue of the stiles bending. Also limiting the width 2" max may make the doors to appear skinny. I think I will save this idea for a smaller project. Thanks agin. Kelsey Hogue

[Jerry Miner]

Kelsey-- FWIW I've built lots of cabinet doors out of alder, and although I like to use straight, QS stock for stiles and rails, I don't always have enough stock for that and often end up using flat-sawn stock for S&R. IME, alder is stable enough that it has not been a problem. I think QS white oak would conflict with your alder panels, and that alder S&R would blend better visually. FS alder stock will work fine here, IMHO.

[kelsey hogue]

Jerry- I am planning on using alder throughout. (my reference to QS white oak was in response to another post) I was looking for a way to maximize the vertical grain without picking my way through a bunk of wood searching for quarter sawn and riff cut. I do have some drawer fronts I am making using S&R and may try out this technique on them as they will be smaller than the cabinet doors.