Discover the unique appeal of hand scraped wood floors. With texture ranging from soft and subtle to deep and rustic, hand scraped hardwood flooring gives a warm, classic look to modern homes and works well on solid or engineered wood floors. Hand scraped wood floors are a modern trend that can give a room old-time warmth and atmosphere. The style gets its name from the once-common technique of using a draw knife to scrape a plank into smoothness. The woodworker pulls the draw knife, a single blade with a handle at either end, toward himself to remove shavings to make an even surface. This process leaves scrape marks that were once typical of wood flooring. These days, handscraping may be done by hand or by machine. The pattern that the strips are placed in makes a huge difference in the floor's final appearance. At Sharp Edge, we consider this to be part of the art of installing a one of a kind masterpiece in your space.

Handscraped is not the same as "distressed." The two styles have a similar process, but with the latter, wood is made to look as if it's gone through more wear and tear.

When lumber is cut from logs, it is typically cut in one of three ways: quarter sawn, rift sawn or plain sawn. Each type of lumber is dependent on how the log is oriented and cut at the sawmill. The result is a particular orientation of the growth rings on the end grain of the board and is what defines the type of lumber. The type of cut also determines the figure in a piece of wood and the wood’s mechanical properties.

Quarter Sawn hardwood is often used for flooring, cabinetry, high-end custom crafts and furniture. You may recognize it as the traditional wood used in making mission style furniture. Dramatic flecking is also present in red oak and white oak. Other wood species that are sought after in quarter sawn are walnut, maple and cherry.

In addition to the desirable grain pattern this type of wood is some of the most dimensionally stable, making it ideal to work with. Quarter sawn lumber exhibits almost no twisting, warping and cupping. It is more resistant to moisture penetration and less prone to surface checking and raised grain. Rift sawn hardwood flooring is typically narrow with a very straight grain pattern on the face of the board.

Rift sawn hardwood is usually used with oak to avoid the flecks that are common in the species. Similar to quarter sawn hardwood, rift sawn hardwood is also referred to as radial grain. The most stable boards, and also the most wasteful to produce, are rift sawn planks. Each of these boards is cut radially perpendicular to the growth rings of the tree. There are large triangles of waste left from between each board. As a result, rift sawn lumber is costly to produce and therefore, the most expensive type of planks available from a log.