Quarter sawn sitka bracing

[David Lewis]

My Washburn M1SDB has quarter sawn sitka bracing. I looked up what 'quarter sawn' was, and got that it was 'rip sawn', and that it was stronger and could look very nice....

Is this an advantage to bracing? I imagine that it doesn't really matter what it looks like... and does stronger mean that it is less resonant? Or that it holds the mandolin together better? I'm obviously not a luthier, or even woodworker.

I'm very happy with the mandolin - I've just wondered since I got it what this meant?

Thanks so much in advance.

[John Kelly]

Quarter-sawing gets its name from the fact that the log is first quartered lengthwise, resulting in four quadrants of log with a right angle ending at approximately the centre of the original log, rather than sawing the log from the start into flat boards, a bit like slicing a loaf of bread. Each quarter is then cut separately by tipping it up on its point and sawing boards successively along the axis, This results in boards with the annual growth rings mostly perpendicular to the faces. Quarter-sawing gives straight, striped grain lines and greater stability than flat sawn wood. There is less shrinkage in the wood while it is drying out and in the case of instrument bracing the vertical grain lines give the brace more strength in the direction of most stress, allowing slimmer bracing among other things.

Here is a link to an Australian site which explains it in more detail:

https://guitartimbers.com/timbers/quarter-sawn-timber/

[sunburst]

The term "quarter sawn" does, in fact, derive from a method of sawing a log where the log is first cut into quarters as John said, but these days the term more nearly means "vertical grain". Just about any time wood is cut so that annual rings present nearly 90 degrees to one surface (two surfaces, actually) it ends up being called "quarter sawn" regardless of how it was sawn from the log.
As for strength, stability and so forth, that all depends on the wood species, the dimensions of the pice, how the piece is used and etc.. Many species, perhaps a majority are essentially the same stiffness and strength with vertical grain or with horizontal grain. Wood shrinkage is different in the direction of the annual rings than the other direction, but the amount of difference varies greatly from one species to another.

Braces specifically, since that was the source of the OP question.
Braces made from spruce (most common brace wood) are generally considered best when cut and applied so that annual rings are 90 degrees to the top or back, and that is often referred to as "quarter sawn", though it is obvious that braces can be thus cut from lumber that was sawn by any method, from split billets, or from spruce wood processed nearly any way. Spruce is not significantly stronger either way -vertical grain vs horizontal grain- it is not significantly stiffer either way, stability is similar in pieces as small as braces either way, but it is somewhat less prone to splitting when the annual rings in a brace are vertical to the top or back, so that is the preferred way to cut and position braces.

The reasons that the literature with your Washburn mentions the braces being "quarter sawn" are marketing reasons. If you ask the person who wrote that copy I'll give you strong odds that he/she will not be able to explain what it means nor why it is considered better. In fact, if you ask the folks working in the factory making the guitars they may well not be able to answer the question either. There are lots of things that luthiers do and many of us don't know why we do it that way other than that's the way it's always been done. Fortunately most of the things that have always been done that way are done that way for good reason, whether we understand it or not. Unfortunately, it seems to be a tradition among luthiers who don't really understand something to make up a complicated explanation rather than to admit that we don't know.

[Br1ck]

Everyone knows that way back when, a master wood cutter, John Quarter, commanded top prices for his abilities. So renouwned was his prowess, when the going rate was ten cents, he thought it cute to charge what his name was. But his hubris was such that years later when others were getting fifty cents, he couldn't bear to raise his rates, and so died in poverty.

And so it became ironic the term quarter sawn is used to describe both a fine job and a cheap job, based on the generation using the term. RIP John Quarter 1888-1947

[David Lewis]

Thanks to all: I suspected it was marketing language, as no other mandolin talked about how the wood for the bracing was cut - not even all of them spoke about what wood was used - mostly, if bracing was mentioned at all, it was the type of bracing. All of that information was very useful. Thank you.

And RIP John Quarter.