Amish Furniture Features

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From Forest to
Amish Furniture

Amish Furniture Styles

Amish Furniture -
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Finishing the Wood

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The Sawing, Drying and Grading Process:

“From Forest to Furniture”

• How wood is cut at the lumber mill
• Drying lumber
• Lumber Grading

What makes an Amish built piece of furniture different than the rest? Obviously, part of the credit goes to the superior craftsmanship of the Amish. But one must also give credit to the individuals that harvest, dry and sort the lumber for grade. They play a key role in the success of your quality piece of Amish furniture.

Speaking from experience, as we have two lumber kilns of our own, drying lumber can be a very challenging endeavor! This section will explain how the process works and how Amish furniture craftsmen select the lumber for your project.

A properly selected piece of wood eliminates the need for excess decoration in a home, as the beauty of the wood itself holds your attention. This charm is difficult to find in today’s paper thin, mass produced particleboard furniture.

Let’s start by explaining how the tree actually gets to the Amish furniture craftsmen’s shop and the critical steps that must be followed to produce a quality piece of lumber.

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How wood is cut at the lumber mill:

• Plain Sawn
• Quartersawn
• Rift Sawn

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Plain sawn:

The most common cut at the mill is a “plain sawn” cut (fig 1) .

When wood is sawn in the “ordinary” way, or with the lay of the yearly rings, it produces a more open grain pattern (fig 97).

This type of cut is the “standard” cut and when looking at Amish furniture it will most often just be named as the wood type. An example would be “Oak table”. This would refer to a table built from plain sawn oak.

How do you tell if it’s plain sawn?

One way is to look at the end grain of a board. Look at the growth rings and they will most often have a gentle curved, or cupped, pattern. Fig 97 (above) shows an example of this. Look at the white line drawn on the photo, this is the pattern of the growth rings in plain sawn wood.

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Quarter-Sawn and Rift Sawn:

Fact: Quarter-sawing lumber is the way the wood is CUT, not an actual wood.

What is quarter-sawn lumber?

Technically, quarter-sawn lumber has the growth rings of the tree approximately perpendicular to the board's broad face. In contrast, plain-sawn lumber has the growth rings parallel to the board's broad face. Quarter-sawn produces both quartered and rift lumber. Look at fig. 104 and note #1;

The three red lines on the right side of the photo show the growth rings of the tree and they are nearly vertical. This is a true quarter sawn board. Figure 104, #2 (above) shows a rift sawn board. The growth rings are approximately 30 degrees from vertical.

How is quarter-sawn lumber achieved?

There is only one true way to quarter saw a log. First, we cut a log into quarters (fig 104 above). Each quarter is then processed by cutting a single board off of one face, then cutting the next board from the opposite face, and cutting from alternating faces until the quarter is completely cut.

What are the aesthetic qualities of quarter-sawn lumber?

The most notable characteristic of quarter-sawn lumber lies in its incomparable grain patterns. Medullary ray fleck, wavy grain and interlocked grain are all visually enhanced when the log is quarter-sawn. The revival of Mission style furniture is just one example of how today's Amish furniture craftsmen are rediscovering the unique beauty of quarter-sawn lumber. Today's Amish heirloom furniture, the antiques of tomorrow, is crafted from quarter-sawn lumber. Quality reproductions and renovations of artisans' work demand true quarter-sawn lumber. Quarter-sawn wood is the choice of Amish craftsmen.

What are the structural qualities of quarter-sawn lumber?

Quarter-sawn lumber is the uncontested winner when compared to plain- (or flat-) sawn lumber. Quarter-sawn features include:

• Reduces shrinking and swelling in lumber width.
• Reduces twisting, warping and cupping.
• Less prone to surface checking.
• Does not allow liquids to readily pass through it.
• Smooth surface as raised grain is not pronounced.

What's the difference between quartered and rift lumber?

A quartered board features medullary ray or "fleck" perpendicular to a grain which typically forms angles from 60 degrees to 90 degrees with the board's surface. A rift board exhibits a clean, straight, vertical grain pattern which typically forms angles from 30 to 60 degrees with the board's surface (fig 20).

Is there a difference in cost between quartered lumber and plain-sawn lumber?

Quarter sawing is a specialized technique requiring more time and greater skill to produce. Logically, lumber prices are slightly higher than plain sawn.

If quarter sawing is so good, why don't all sawmills do it?

For most, the art of quarter sawing has been lost over the years, except for Amish Furniture craftsmen. Like many superior practices of the past, quarter sawing lost favor to plain sawing techniques. Plain sawing is easier, cheaper, and quicker... but it results in more waste, less grain characteristic and less stable lumber.

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Drying Lumber:

Experience has taught Amish Furniture Craftsmen the drying process is critical to the success of the final product. Loggers treat the ends of fresh sawn lumber with a special chemical that helps stop the excess moisture from escaping the wood too quickly. If this is not protected the ends will split (fig 109).

Then the lumber must be stacked in a place that will allow air movement, but not direct sunlight. Most lumber is stacked in a building with open sides and a roof to keep the rain out (fig 18).

Many have tried to “speed up the drying process”, but have failed. Naturally air dried lumber seems to “season” the wood before it’s placed into the kiln. This process gives Amish furniture craftsmen the best quality lumber for their Amish furniture.

After the lumber has been “seasoned” and allowed to naturally dry down, it is carefully stacked inside a wood kiln (fig 17).

This kiln will heat the air and the lumber. The kiln manager will use a “schedule” for a specific wood type and it’s thickness that will allow the wood to dry correctly without damage.

Each day this wood is monitored by a very talented individual. This process is critical to the success of each load of wood exiting the kiln. Amish furniture craftsmen work close with the lumberyard to get the proper drying process for their lumber.

Quartersawn Oak is one of the most difficult woods to dry. It requires the longest amount of time in the kiln. The “ray flakes” are nearly impenetrable and make it very difficult for the moisture to escape.

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Lumber Grading:

Amish furniture is built from the finest quality hardwood lumber. There are “standards” that are used in the logging industry to “grade” each piece of wood. These standards grade the board by the “percentage” of clear face cuttings.

FAS (First and Seconds)
Boards that are unblemished by knots or other defects are the highest grade call FAS. FAS are graded as 91% or better clear face on both sides. Minimum board width is 6 inches with lengths 8 to 16 feet long.

SELECT
The second wood grade is SELECT. This also must yield a minimum of 91% clear face cuttings, but the width of the board being a minimum of 4 inches and lengths of 6 to 16 feet.

#1 COMMON
This has some defects on both surfaces, yielding a minimum of 66% to 75% clear face cuttings. Minimum board width is 3 inches with board lengths from 4 to 16 feet. Some Amish Craftsmen use this wood for “distressed” furniture that is ordered by clients. This wood would show tight knots and some “worm holes”. This wood also shows some darker stains in the grain.

#2 COMMON
This wood has many defects on both surfaces yielding a minimum 50% to 66% clear face cuttings. Minimum board width is 3 inches and lengths from 4 to 16 feet.

VENEERS
Veneering (fig 11 and 98) is the process of sawing a log into very thin “strips” of wood (plain sawn) or “spinning” a log on a large cutting wheel to peel off a thin strip of wood (rotary sawn).


Veneers are often glued to a sheet of plywood or MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and is sold in 4 x 8 sheets ¾” thick. This is often used in the cabinet industry for kitchen cabinets, etc.

To tell if a piece of wood has been veneered just look at the grain patterns on the edge of the board. If the grain pattern changes directions and you can’t follow the yearly growth rings, chances are it has a veneered surface.

Some Amish Furniture craftsmen use veneered plywood for shelving and some internal structural pieces. It helps control costs and the panels are less prone to warping. Most of the Amish furniture Craftsmen use these panels on a limited basis. There are different grades of this MDF plywood. Amish furniture craftsmen use only top quality products.

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