48 BULLETIN 909, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Some manufacturers cut from the " sap " side, the outside of the 

 log (PL V, fig. 2), and others cut from the "heart" side or center 

 of the log. Those who cut by the latter method do so in order to 

 get wide heartwood stock that is at least partly quartered. This adds 

 to its attractiveness, particularly if there is a figure in it. More of 

 the quartered stock may thus be obtained with less waste than by 

 the straight-slice method. It is true, as manufacturers claim who cut 

 from the " sap " side of such flitches, that by slicing from the flat 

 heartwood side there is considerable waste in working down to the 

 curved surface from which a continuous sheet may be obtained. 

 Moreover, since knots are more numerous near the center of walnut 

 logs, the " heart " side is more likely to be defective. On the other 

 hand, if the center of the log is clear, considerable valuable heart- 

 wood is wasted in the " dog board " when the slicing is done from 

 the sap wood side. Although the thickness of the sap wood must first 

 be trimmed off, and after that some narrow sheets of heartwood are 

 cut, this method makes possible the production of wider sheets of 

 heartwood than are obtained by cutting from the heartwood side. 

 If the cutting is from the outside, the figure is somewhat coarse, as 

 in the rotary method proper, but slicing from the " heart " side cuts 

 across the growth rings and gives a striped effect. In stay-log slic- 

 ing the flitch is sliced down to a thickness of about 3 inches, the piece 

 that is left being called the " dog board." If the veneer is cut from 

 the heartwood side, the last sheets are nearly all sapwood. 



Rotary machines are generally made to take a log as long as 8 to 

 10 feet. Stump or "butt" wood is sliced by the rotary stay-log 

 process, veneer being cut from the outside of the log. This is for 

 the reason that the figure in " butt " wood runs with the outer sur- 

 face of the wood. These stumps or butts are cut in half, because they 

 can be more conveniently handled in this form. 



Straight-slice process. — In this method the timber, which is first 

 soaked, as in the rotary method, is pushed vertically against the 

 knife with, however, a slightly oblique motion from end to end. 

 The log lengths are usually cut in half lengthwise and prepared as in 

 the stay-log rotary process. The cut is then made from the heart- 

 wood side. Quartered stock is, of course, obtained only near the 

 center of the log. The coarser figure is soon reached, particularly in 

 the middle of the sheets. The panel maker generally trims off the 

 outside striped veneer from the central coarse figure and keeps the 

 two separate for different uses. Very large logs are sawed lengthwise 

 in quarters, in order to get more of the quartered veneer stock. For 

 quartering, logs should be at least 24 inches in diameter at the small 

 end. Logs are also prepared for straight slicing, by squaring them, 



