Dowel and kind of sawed wood
ANd one cannot tell if it were ever quarter sawed, rift sawed, flat sawed, or whittled with a pocket knife! Just make sure the grain runs straight through the length of the dowel and it is all good baby ! A square or rectangular plank will stay straighter and be less likely to cup if it is quarter or rift sawed, but once it is in dowel form, the stresses in that dowel are what they are, no matter how it was first cut. Can a dowel warp? Yepp, one never knows where the tension is in a piece of wood until we cut it and let it rest to see what happens. But a quarter sawed piece of wood can warp too, it is just less likely too.
I would like to suggest that the best wood preparation is to cut a log into three foot sections, then split it, following the grain, use these planks and trim them along the same grain they split under, and make ones dowels from that, perfect straight grain, but a tremendous amount of labor and wasted wood. A friend of mine, that is truly a master carpenter, suggested that to me some years ago. Not very practical, but he still makes cabinets with hand cut dovetails, and dowel construction, no nails, so maybe he has a unique agenda? Just some words for thought, not looking to start any wars.
