I am going to use hickory for the core and back of a trilam. the board I have to make my lams from is nice and straight. How critical is the orientation of the rings on a trilam? Quartersawn or flatsawn or somewhere in between. The last couple I did were quartersawn but I didn't realty think about it.

Very straight grain with minimal run out 1/4 sawn is best.

QuoteOriginally posted by Roy from Pa:
Very straight grain with minimal run out 1/4 sawn is best.

Roy is right on in terms of the backing.
With the core lam you can get away with minor to moderate grain runout.