The important difference between RED and WHITE Oak
The important difference between RED and WHITE Oak
Why it’s so hard to tell the difference, and why it matters to woodworkers.
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Excellent info. Thanks for making this distinction.
You probably already know this, but stubborn splinters can sometimes be extracted using wood glue. Apply to your skin, let it dry and pull free. Hopefully with the splinter. DO NOT USE CYANOACRYLATE. DAMHIKT.
Vinegar for splinters.
Thanks, this was quite informational and well produced. I was unaware of the pore difference.
Did not know the difference in regards to the pour structure. I just finished cutting down two dead oak trees. One showed very light (white) inside the outer wood and the other showed very red in the same location. Both had light outer wood just inside the bark. Thought I had a red oak and a white oak. I will most definitely check the pour structure to see what I have. Thanks
Hi there, thank you for all your great videos. I have recently found a stack of Door jamb kits at my local building store. These kits are not used anymore according to the guys in the lumber yard and so they have been sitting in the warehouse collecting dust. I have used them on a wall in my house as a designer and decorative feature and it looks fantastic. I am thinking of getting some more, as they are very cheap (.90$ a square foot.) but I want to change the colour and and wondering if you have any advice on staining this type of wood. It is as you say very inconsistent colour wise, Some pieces are very red and others lighter.
Was there a video on those bookcases?
Great video! Ok, so I’m building a skin on frame canoe and just epoxied in 25 ribs made of…… red oak. It was the only oak I could find locally to bend into ribs. I didn’t realize how easily it rots until after I epoxied it all together. Any suggestions on sealing the ribs so they don’t rot? The canoe won’t always be in the water or outside but I understand red oak draws moisture.
Because I don’t want everything I build to look like it belongs in a Cracker Barrel Resturaunt.. lol. The video is packed with great information but the quips you slip in are hilarious!
Working on a project right now with what i was told was white oak, but the pores are pretty open. it’s creating all sorts of issues with my finish as the stain globs up in the pores, the oil finish stays wet in the pores. Tried sanding sealer and grain filler still an issue. I might just stay away from this wood until i get a very firm handle on finishing
What a great video! Thanks.
I also find that red oak can vary in color a bunch from the same tree, having cut up a large tree I have really dark bottom part and it’s lighter on the top.
I love this channel.
❤
Easter egg. Cool!
If you finish red oak with a few coats of poly, can you use it outdoors?
I am also more dense and tend to dull quickly.
Great video. Especially the blow-thru demo. Can you comment on the two species’ ability to take stain.
Awesome
Great info. Subbed.
Very informative! First time to your channel. The way you present it is very easy to understand.
Do you know which white oak has the milky color and which areas are they from?
As a Sawyer who saws predominantly oaks I 100% agree
Well done👍
Great video! What if you have a furniture piece you want to re-stain and can’t see the end grain? Is there a way to identify which one you have?
Correct me if I understood it correctly? When you say "dense" is that determining the strength of the wood? Which in other words White Oak is alittle more stronger then Red Oak?
If the red oak is white and the white oak is red, it doesn’t bother me at all.
… I’m colorblind. =)
your hot water makes me percolate 🙂
Since white oak has closed pores, is it a good choice for endgrain cutting boards? Maybe not the best choice (cherry, maple, walnut, etc.), but good enough?
It is worthy to note that, due to the capillary flowing property of Red Oak, White Oak is the preferred variety in use for building ships.
Loved this video!
White oak is now about twice if not more expensive than Red Oak locally! Crazy
Thank you! I’m not generally a fan of oak, I’m not into open pores messing up the look I want. May I suggest doing a series of these short bids about the pros and cons of different species? I’d love that!
Whiskey barrels are made of white oak specifically because of the closed pores. Red oak barrels would leak.
Next you can tackle the aspen, poplar and, tulip controversy.
White oak ain’t cheap anymore
I wonder what you think of live oak in woodworking. Any thoughts?
Forester here, amateur wood worker, the resins in the white oak will surely dull tools faster good call.
Very helpful James!
I once built an outdoor bench out of red oak recycled from old kitchen cabinets. It was a disaster! After just one winter it was falling apart. After two it simply collapsed in a heap. The end grain had soaked up water like a sponge and he wood had rotted out from the inside.
I use strips of white oak where I need clean sharp hard edges kind of like your example. Great explanation.
ju da man! Thank you!
Someone once told me that white oak can be more difficult to dry properly and, when done improperly, is prone to developing honeycombs in the interior. I learned this when a bunch white oak I had purchased was filled with honeycomb and asked this person how to cope with it. I want to go dig through your videos to see if you’ve talked about the different types of maple.
Thanks for the education on white and red oak. In the 70’s my dad and I built a pole barn with cedar posts and rough sawn (mostly green) white oak for everything else except the galvanized metal roof and garage door.
I pounded lots of 16d, 8d and ring shanked roofing nails. We used a Black & Decker circular saw and a small McCulloch chainsaw for all of it.
One inch thick seasoned white oak siding is very hard to drive a nail into, compared to fresh sawn. The splinters are mean.
The board and batten white oak siding weathered to a gray color and is extremely durable. After I moved away, my folks stained the outside a classic weathered red barn color. It’s still in good shape after more than 45 years.
I have some white oak from my wood moulding company and it’s filled with the same holes and some of my pieces allow me to blow air through them does that mean it’s not true white oak?
Wow. Great video. You can also tell the difference by the shape of leaves. Pointed Red oak. Rounded white. Thanks for all your information. Have got lots of good tips from you.
I have a dining table and chairs that don’t stay glued very well and seem to break quite easily. It appears to be quite porous. Some one told me it was built out of water oak. Is this a species of red oak?
Thanks
Very important: use white oak or english/european for outdoor applications. Red oak has shorter rays and is not resistance to rot.
white oak price has been going up steady, now it is almost as expensive as walnut
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