RADIALLY SAWN CLAPBOARDS

For looks, stability, and the ability to take stain or paint, quarter-sawn wood is better than plain-sawn—and rift-sawn is best. Milling the log perpendicular to its growth rings produces a linear grain pattern with no flecking. More expensive? Yes. But the clapboards actually last. • Ward Clapboard Mill (founded in 1864, Charlotte, Vermont) produces clapboards using a unique radial sawing process similar to traditional rift sawing. Preparation involves debarking and rounding the white pine or red spruce log into a perfect cylinder on a lathe. The log is then positioned in a carriage and passed over a saw. Cuts are made 4 ½" to 6 ½" deep (depending on log diameter) the full length of the log. Each time the log returns for the next cut, it is rotated 5/8" until it has rotated a full 360°. This gives each clapboard its taper and true vertical grain—particularly suited to house siding. Ward Clapboard Mill, (802) 496-3581, wardclapboard.com