- The manner in which the veneer is sliced makes it quarter veneer. The log is initially cut into quarters before slicing the veneer. These logs are referred to as flitches (logs that have been cut by a lumber company for veneering). A knife is used to slice through a quarter-cut log at a right/perpendicular angle to the yearly growth rings of the wood. This slicing angle produces a fine, straight line pattern in the grain along the length of the wood. A common problem run into when slicing veneer is yielding. Veneer slices are later matched up to form a panel, a table or a thin layer on a jewelry box. These slices can be difficult to match up later on. To reduce veneer yield, the necessary number of wood flitches for the object (such as a long table or high wall panel) are lined up before trimming off any of the veneer. By doing this, the quarter veneer is made even in width and height.
- To achieve a flake-like grain pattern from the log, the veneer is cut from oak wood. The blade will bisect medullary rays along the log as the thin veneer is sliced off. This method is the same used to produce African (ribbon stripe) veneer mahogany.
- After the quarter veneer has been sliced off from the flitch log, the slices (leaves) are matched by line pattern/ grain direction and by color/ shade for making veneer panels. Symmetrical patterns are created for a veneer panel by turning each leaf side by side, with alternate sides touching. This pattern somewhat resembles the pages in a book; Hence the method of creating this pattern is referred to as book matching. Leaves that have a straight pattern are best lined up, side-by-side (known as slip matching). Some quarter veneer panels are made entirely based on the color of the leaf without regard to the grain direction.
- When more length is needed for creating objects like taller panels or business meeting tables, quarter veneer leaves are spliced end-to-end with other quarter veneer leaves. A leaf of quarter veneer is paired with other leavers to extend the length of the wood over the surface of an object (such as a very large conference table). Each leaf is book matched (ends meeting, side to side, and then alternating the pattern of end and side matching the leaves). Tall wall paneling, however, is accomplished by book matching the leaves on panel sub-assemblies. These panel sub-assemblies are aligned end to end, which produces a continuous texture and grain direction along the panel.
