Pretty Book Matches
Quartering a log before sawing it sometimes provides an opportunity to create attractive book matches. Here, a sawyer posts a few examples. October 30, 2005
Question
I recently had to 1/4 a biggish log to get it on a mill. I have several pretty 24" wide book matches like below, quilted and spalted with birds eyes in some.
![](/knowledge_base_images/bah/book_matches_01.jpg)
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Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From the original questioner:
Here is another - it was dark in the shed, so the image is not great.
![](/knowledge_base_images/bah/book_matches_02.jpg)
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From the original questioner:
Here is one more, a close shot showing some birds eye.
![](/knowledge_base_images/bah/book_matches_03.jpg)
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From the original questioner:
What is it - I'm not sure, but I believe it is some maple. What I am sure of is that every flip made different boards, some wild and some mild. I quit flipping when could pull some book matches.
![](/knowledge_base_images/bah/book_matches_04.jpg)
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From the original questioner:
One flip and it was back to mild as shown below.
![](/knowledge_base_images/bah/book_matches_05.jpg)
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From contributor R:
It looks like soft maple. It's probably red maple because of the grey and pink tones in the heartwood.