Rift White Oak Lumber — Straightest, Fleck-Free Grain, Priced per Board Foot
Starting at $20.00 per board foot — 4/4 rough sawn Rift White Oak, priced live as you configure
Buy rift-sawn White Oak lumber by the board foot. The straightest, most uniform linear-grain cut of Quercus alba — no ray fleck, the most dimensionally stable oak cut, prized for Craftsman stiles and rails, flooring and modern flat-grain work. 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.
Rift White Oak is the same Appalachian White Oak we build our doors and shutters from — Quercus alba — sawn radially at the narrow rift angle that runs between the tree's medullary rays. The result is the straightest, tightest, most uniform grain oak can give you, with none of the silver flake you see in quartersawn. 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 Rift White Oak
- Appalachian White Oak (Quercus alba), rift-sawn for the straightest, most uniform linear grain
- No ray fleck — unlike quartersawn, rift is cut to avoid the rays for a clean, quiet grain
- The most dimensionally stable oak cut — it moves the least across its width and stays flat
- 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
Rift is the premium oak cut: hitting the rift angle on every board wastes the most material of any cut, so yield is the lowest and the price the highest. It is the cut to specify when you want dead-straight grain and maximum stability — think long stiles, rails and flooring that must stay flat and read uniform. Call 412.641.0177 for wide boards or truckload quantities.
What Builders Make from Rift White Oak
- Craftsman & Mission stiles and rails — dead-straight grain runs clean down every leg and frame member
- Modern & contemporary furniture — oak's toughness with a quiet, flake-free grain
- Flooring — rift and rift-and-quartered floors are the most stable and most uniform underfoot
- Cabinet doors and long door stiles — stable, straight, and consistent across a run
- Wainscot and paneling — even linear grain reads calm across a wide field
Grade, Thickness and Board-Foot Pricing
Our Rift 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, extra-long, and truckload quantities are quoted on request through the form below.
Call 412.641.0177 with questions or custom quantity requests.
- Quartersawn White Oak Lumber — the ray-fleck “tiger oak” cut, dramatic figure
- 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
Rift White Oak at a Glance
The technical properties builders and furniture makers ask about for rift-sawn American White Oak (Quercus alba) — the straight-grain, fleck-free cut.
| Botanical name | Quercus alba — family Fagaceae; "rift-sawn" describes the cut, not a different species |
|---|---|
| The cut | Sawn radially at an angle that runs between the medullary rays, so the face shows straight, tight, uniform grain with no flake |
| Also known as | Rift oak, comb-grain oak, straight-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 | The straightest, most uniform vertical grain oak offers — tight linear grain with no ray flake, the cleanest look of any oak cut |
| Color | Light to medium golden brown, sometimes with an olive cast; sapwood nearly white |
| Stability | The most dimensionally stable oak cut, with quartersawn — rings run nearly perpendicular to the face, so it moves the least across its width and stays flat |
| Machinability | Machines well for so hard a wood; reacts with iron in moisture to leave blue-black stains — use stainless or coated fasteners |
| Paintability | Takes clear finish and stain beautifully; its even straight grain reads clean under any finish, and it can be painted over filled, primed grain |
| Best for | Craftsman / Mission and modern furniture stiles & rails, cabinet doors, flooring, wainscot, contemporary flat-grain work |
| Sustainability | Abundant and sustainably harvested; not listed or threatened |
The Story of Rift White Oak
Rift White Oak is oak reduced to its cleanest possible grain. It is Quercus alba — the same closed-pore oak of the eastern United States — but sawn radially at a deliberate angle, roughly 30 to 60 degrees to the growth rings, chosen so the blade passes between the tree's medullary rays rather than across them. Quartersawing crosses those rays and shows their flake; rift avoids them entirely. What is left is straight, tight, uniform vertical grain running the length of the board with no fleck at all — the most linear look oak can give.
Why builders reach for rift
When a design needs oak that is quiet rather than figured — long straight legs, door and window stiles, table aprons, a run of flooring that reads as one continuous grain — rift is the cut. Craftsman and Mission makers used it for the vertical members of their pieces where dead-straight grain mattered, and modern and contemporary furniture makers prize it for the same reason: it is oak without the busy flatsawn cathedral or the quartersawn flake.
The most stable cut
Because rift's growth rings run nearly perpendicular to the face across the whole board, it expands and contracts the least across its width of any oak cut and stays remarkably flat. That stability, paired with its uniform grain, is why rift and rift-and-quartered flooring is the premium specification and why long stiles cut from rift stay straight.
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. Rift is the lowest-yield, highest-price oak cut, so it is usually reserved for show surfaces and structural members where straight grain and stability earn their cost. It finishes cleanly clear or stained.
Rift White Oak — Common Questions
What is rift-sawn White Oak?
What is the difference between rift and quartersawn White Oak?
Why is rift-sawn White Oak more expensive?
Is rift White Oak the most stable cut?
How is rift White Oak sold and priced?
What is rift White Oak used for?
Can rift White Oak be used outdoors?
Should rift White Oak be stained or painted?
Built to order in Rift 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 Rift 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.