In article ,
Andy Dingley wrote:

Sounds like a cheap hack to emulate quartersawn stock from skinny
trees and cheap flatsawn timber. What's the figure like ? It doesn't
matter if it's narrow stock (from a stability point of view) or if
it's quartersawn (if it's narrow, it'll be stable enough any way you
cut it) but it sounds like the visuals are going to suffer badly,
especially any ray flake.

I know nothing of red oak, so don't know how that would end up
looking, however you sawed it.

Hey Andy. I agree - I believe mass produced furniture makers would have
an easier time just gluing up a bunch of smaller pieces to make "boards"
than pay for wider pieces. I believe we're looking at bean-counter
mentality.

The original American A&C pieces I've seen in person from Gus Stickley
as well as his brothers - L&JG - Limbert and Roycrofters all appear to
use wide pieces for tops and case sides. (It's been observed that oak
may have been the "chosen wood" for American A&C due to other hardwood
being overharvested prior to 1875-ish.)

There's a new book by Taunton Press on Arts & Crafts furniture, just
published this year. I rec'd a copy for Christmas and it's chock full of
pics of original pieces. I don't recall seeing any with what I would
consider unusually narrow glue-ups (less than 8" or so).

As to Red Oak, it's a more open grain than White Oak and, interestingly
enough, can display much more prominent and dramatic ray fleck. Ammonia
fuming can yield a green tint, so that has to be taken into account. For
my Arts & Crafts pieces, I prefer White Oak over Red; Mahogony over Red;
Black Walnut over Red; Cherry over Red - but other than that, I'd choose
Red in a heartbeat.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
Offering a shim for the Porter-Cable 557 type 2 fence design.
http://www.flybynightcoppercompany.com
http://www.easystreet.com/~onlnlowe/index.html