Quartersawn White Oak Lumber — Ray-Fleck “Tiger Oak,” Priced per Board Foot
Starting at $20.00 per board foot — 4/4 rough sawn Quartersawn White Oak, priced live as you configure
Buy quartersawn White Oak lumber by the board foot. The dramatic ray-fleck “tiger oak” cut of Quercus alba — the signature of Arts & Crafts and Mission furniture, and the most stable oak cut. Kiln-dried 4/4–10/4, rough or surfaced. Factory direct.
Random-width, 8 ft rough sawn boards sized to the board feet you enter.
Quartersawn White Oak is the same Appalachian White Oak we build our doors and shutters from — Quercus alba — cut radially so the saw crosses the wood's medullary rays and throws them across the face as bright silver flake. That flash of figure is the “tiger oak” that defined Arts & Crafts and Mission furniture. Buy it by the board foot — select thickness and milling, enter the quantity you need, and add to cart.
Choose Rough Sawn for shop stock you'll mill yourself, S4S for boards surfaced to 150-grit and ready to use, or S2S for face-surfaced material you'll joint yourself.
About Our Quartersawn White Oak
- Appalachian White Oak (Quercus alba), quartersawn for dramatic ray fleck
- The “tiger oak” flake that is the signature of Stickley-era Arts & Crafts and Mission work
- One of the two most dimensionally stable oak cuts — moves far less than flatsawn across its width
- Same closed, tyloses-plugged pores as flatsawn White Oak — naturally rot-resistant and exterior-grade
- Janka hardness ~1,350 — noticeably harder than Red Oak
- Kiln-dried to 6–8% moisture, #1 Common and better, 4/4 through 10/4
Quartersawn stock is premium because, like rift, the yield per log is low. It is the cut to specify when you want figure and stability together. Call 412.641.0177 for wide boards or truckload quantities.
What Builders Make from Quartersawn White Oak
- Arts & Crafts and Mission furniture — the ray-fleck figure is the whole point of the style
- Fine cabinetry and doors — stable panels and stiles with dramatic flake
- Wainscot and paneling — flake reads beautifully across a wide field
- Flooring — figured, stable, and iron-hard underfoot
- Exterior joinery — White Oak's rot resistance with quartersawn stability
Grade, Thickness and Board-Foot Pricing
Our Quartersawn White Oak is #1 Common and better, kiln-dried to 6–8%, and sold by the board foot — one board foot is 144 cubic inches (a 12×12×1″ board). We stock 4/4 through 10/4; extra-wide, heavily-figured, and truckload quantities are quoted on request through the form below.
Call 412.641.0177 with questions or custom quantity requests.
- Rift White Oak Lumber — straight, fleck-free grain, the most stable cut
- White Oak Lumber — flatsawn Appalachian White Oak, exterior-grade
- Red Oak Lumber — Appalachian, #1 Common and better
- Walnut Lumber — American Black Walnut, no stain needed
- All Species Rough Lumber — 16 species available
Quartersawn White Oak at a Glance
The technical properties builders and furniture makers ask about for quartersawn American White Oak (Quercus alba) — the ray-fleck “tiger oak” cut.
| Botanical name | Quercus alba — family Fagaceae; "quartersawn" describes the cut, not a different species |
|---|---|
| The cut | Sawn radially so the blade crosses the medullary rays, exposing them as bright flake across the face |
| Also known as | Tiger oak, quartered oak, flake oak, comb-grain oak |
| Where it grows | Native to the eastern United States and southeastern Canada; our stock is Appalachian |
| Average dried weight | ~47 lbs/ft³ (755 kg/m³) — heavy |
| Janka hardness | ~1,350 lbf (5,990 N) — hard; harder and denser than Red Oak |
| Rot & insect resistance | Very durable — heartwood pores are plugged with tyloses, essentially watertight, exterior-grade |
| Grain & figure | Straight background grain overlaid with dramatic silver ray flake — the defining “tiger oak” figure |
| Color | Light to medium golden brown, the flake often paler and iridescent; sapwood nearly white |
| Stability | One of the two most stable oak cuts (with rift) — moves far less across its width than flatsawn |
| Machinability | Machines well for so hard a wood; reacts with iron in moisture to leave blue-black stains — use stainless or coated fasteners |
| Paintability | Almost always finished clear or fumed/stained to show the flake — painting hides the figure you paid for |
| Best for | Arts & Crafts / Mission furniture, fine cabinetry, wainscot, figured flooring |
| Sustainability | Abundant and sustainably harvested; not listed or threatened |
The Story of Quartersawn White Oak
Quartersawn White Oak is the wood that a whole design movement was built on. It is Quercus alba — the same closed-pore oak of the eastern United States — but cut radially: the log is quartered and sawn so the blade runs across the tree's medullary rays. Those rays, sheets of cells that radiate out from the center like spokes, show up on the finished face as bright, shimmering flake. Woodworkers call the effect ray fleck, or simply "tiger oak."
The wood of Arts & Crafts
When Gustav Stickley and the Arts & Crafts makers wanted furniture that looked honest, solid and unmistakably American, they reached for quartersawn White Oak and often fumed it with ammonia to a deep brown that made the flake glow. Mission and Craftsman pieces, church pews, library tables and Stickley chairs are quartersawn oak; the figure is the signature of the entire style.
Figure and stability in one cut
The ray flake is not just decorative — exposing the rays is a byproduct of radial sawing, and radial sawing is what makes quartersawn (and rift) oak the most dimensionally stable cuts. So a quartersawn board gives you dramatic figure and minimal movement at the same time, which is exactly why it is prized for wide panels and doors that must stay flat.
Working with it
It is White Oak through and through: hard (~1,350 Janka), heavy, strong and rot-resistant, and reactive to iron — use stainless or coated fasteners. It is nearly always finished clear, fumed or stained rather than painted, because the whole reason to buy quartersawn is to see the flake.
Quartersawn White Oak — Common Questions
What is quartersawn White Oak, or “tiger oak”?
What is the difference between quartersawn and rift White Oak?
Why is quartersawn White Oak more expensive than flatsawn?
Is quartersawn White Oak stable?
How is quartersawn White Oak sold and priced?
What furniture is made from quartersawn White Oak?
Can quartersawn White Oak be used outdoors?
Should quartersawn White Oak be stained or painted?
Built to order in Quartersawn White Oak
The same White Oak we sell here goes into our custom millwork
Estate Millwork mills this stock into finished, made-to-size doors, shutters, and cabinet doors — priced to your exact dimensions and shipped nationwide. Start with the product you need:
Custom Wood Doors From Our Hardwoods
The same kiln-dried stock on this page is what we mill into custom solid-wood doors — built to your exact opening, in any species. Browse by type:
- Interior Doors — solid-wood passage, closet and panel doors, any species
- Entry Doors — exterior-grade front and entry doors, built to the rough opening
- Louvered Doors — fixed or operable louver doors, cabinet height to full height
- Oak Doors — Red and White Oak, our most-ordered door species
- All Custom Doors — every style, priced live in the door designer
Custom & Bulk Quotes
Get a Custom Quartersawn White Oak Lumber Quote
Truckload bulk, surfaced (S2S / S4S) stock, extra-wide or figured boards, or a species that isn’t on the calculator — tell us what you need and we’ll price it, usually within 1–2 business days.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 412.641.0177.