When you say "flat sawn" does that really mean rotary sawn (i.e.
peeled like most plywood veneer)? It makes a big difference in my
opinion. Rotary sawn looks very fake as it appears to be a 4 foot
board. Flat sawn and quarter sawn should "appear" to be a number of
boards edge glued. I would pay more to not have that rotary look. As
to quarter sawn, I would think that would look very nice (I like
quarter sawn white oak) but as someone else has said it might depend
on whether the bench will be made from quarter sawn. The difference
between flat sawn and quarter sawn is quite noticeable - the
difference between either and rotary sawn is even more noticable.

Dave Hall



On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:57:12 GMT, blueman wrote:

I am putting up some wainscoating and a bench in our mud room that I
intend to construct out of white oak (veneer plywood for the
wainscoating and solid for the bench). The finish will be light stain
and poly for protection.

White oak plywood is available in both "Quarter Sawn" and "Flat Sawn"
with the Quarter Sawn costing 2x as much. I am willing to pay the
extra money if the result is worthwhile but am not sure how noticeable
this is in paneling having never used Quarter Sawn. Any pointers on
the right way to do this?

Thanks