What order/how to make these cuts?

[igor]

One long-delayed project on my list requires about 700 linear feet of white oak, 1 1/2" x 3/8". Now that I am about to get my bandsaw I realize that this project is an excuse to experience the joys of resawing. (I had planned on buying the stock cut to size.)

One thought is that I could buy, for example, 8/4 white oak 6" wide, plane it down in my new DW planer to 1 1/2" thick and then slice off 3/8" pieces with the BS. But, I am confused about the grain issue.

The project is a small floor area next to a room that has this 90 year old floor - 12" x 12" parquet, top-nailed, qs white oak. I want the qs look of the orig floor, but since (in this scenario) I would be cutting so that the sides of the stock would end up as the face of the floor, what "cut" wood do I buy? Or, to get the right grain appearance do I need to resaw qs in the other direction -- i.e., slice off 6" wide pieces and then rip them to

1 1/2"?

BTW, I have not done all the math but my hunch is that the first approach is more wood-efficient. And, edge jointing would not be an issue. Yet, it is more important to spend a few extra $$ and get the right, matching look. TIA -- Igor

[Doug Miller]

If you want 3/8" thick finished boards, you need to resaw at 7/16 or 1/2. They'll likely bow, cup, or twist a bit after resawing, and you want to have enough thickness available to take that out again.

Flatsawn (aka plainsawn).

Either way works. But it's a *lot* easier to rip 1/2 strips off the side of a

1 1/2 thick x 6 wide flatsawn board, than to resaw a 6" quartersawn board. Cheaper, too.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

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[Alan Bierbaum]

A good table saw will give a faster and smoother cut for this. Saw marks from a table was can be cleaned up with light sanding as opposed to the planing required for the band saw cut. The table saw will cut five strips in the time that one will take on the band saw.