A couple resons: Instead of applied or carved ornamentation it was felt that the natural beauty of the grain was the best way to enhance the functional beauty of furniture, which could be further enhanced by the type of finish (although Gus Stickley professed that fuming had the effect of making the overall colour of a piece relatively even, and thus it was just the pattern of the 1/4 cut flake that made a difference). Secondly, it's slightly less prone to warpage than straight grain, depending on the actual tightness of the grain pattern. Finally, oak was generally plentiful and so despite the fact that 1/4 cut was a little more wasteful it originally didn't matter because the supply of trees was good (but of course we have fewer oak forests now than ever before).
Thanks, that's good to know. Oak has never flourished out west, actually I think only the Burr oak(Edit: Actually it's the Garry Oak aka Oregon White Oak) grows in B.C. I found one here in a yard from which a house had been moved and they might even put it on the garden tour.
quartersawn white oak was widely used in victorian times as well. like stonecat said, it has better structural characteristics as well as beautiful flake grain. many sideboards, mantles, rockers, and beds were made with striking ray patterns, as well as paneling and wainscots.
it was probably dirt cheap then. now, for the hobbyist or home craftsman, it is about $6.50-7.00 a board foot. but if you can find a wholesaler, i have found it for $3.50-4.00 BF. that is more in line with plain red oak or other common hardwoods at home stores.
I particularly like mahogany and I know that this was also used quite widely in A&C - eg the Gamble house has beautiful mahogany panelling, staircase etc. Seems like most people nowadays automatically go for oak, which is also beautiful, but I do love the tight grain, depth and rich color of high quality mahogany.
the greens used mahogany for several reasons. it had a grain more in line with traditional asian styles, oak was not plentiful on the west coast, and they liked the tight grain which they felt more suitable for the softer curves and edges of their work.
in an environment as rich in wood as most of their houses, the dramatic character of QS oak wood detract from the sculptural quality of the woodwork.
When you quarter cut lumber, it has less expansion and contraction then flat sawn lumber by about one half. In the case of white oak it has only 4.5% movement when quartered compared to about 7~8% movement when flat sawn. In addition, to all of the above mention. Also mahogany is most stable with 4~5% movement in all cuts and fine grain. Movement is a function of humidity. So run those humidifiers in the winter. Your wood will thank you for it.
i'm not going to apologize for reviving this thread, there seems to be an unspoken rule about it but i don't care, what a rebel eh!
a couple of times now i have seen plans that stress white q-sawn oak as opposed to red, i assume because it bette suited the preferred stain colors of the day, is this correct?
white oak is a more stable wood, tighter grain, smaller openings in the end grain. and color has some advantage. in my opinion, the ray fleck is better in white than red.
also, red has a distinct odor when cutting that i dont like. overall, white is my choice.
as to other woods in A&C furniture, location was a factor as well.
as mentioned in earliers posts, large oaks are not common in the west. mahogany was a prime wood in those areas, in part because it was abundant as an import from asia, as well as the authenticity for asian inspired work lik G&G.
in the south you find more walnut, that being more common in the area.
thanks don, i wasn't aware that odor was exclusive to red, not having used white oak for anything. one wood smell i do love is that of freshly sawn old doug fir, the poor mans' hardwood. it would make a great cologne, same deal as kramers' beach scent
