Sitka, you have obviously have not time at the sawmill. I have to call you down for peddling our BS to the city boys here.
Plainsawn wood gets a little bit more wood out of the log, but much of it is going to cup when the wood dries. So what you gain in sawing, you lose more in planing.
Riftsawn wood, or radial cut to the center, wastes a lot more wood, because it requires a circular saw set to a depth of 1/2 the log, and produces a piece of waste wedge-shaped piece between every good square board out of the log.
I guess I'll have to take some photos at the sawmill so you will understand a little bit.
