My customer wants me to build another bookcase to look like this one(this is some store bought thing). Picture attached. He tells me it’s oak and it looks to me like red oak, but let me know if I’m right. Also, looks like a typical sprayed lacquer factory finish that has that yellow/amber tone, is that what you think? Thanks for your help.
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I think a close up shot of the top and/or side will help identify the wood.
initial reaction: Beech
There is no sure way to tell what wood this is made of, I see different wood spieces but the picture is out of focus.
Better picture please.
Picture doesn't give much but just as a guess based on tone and style I'm going to say rubber wood.
some of it looks like red oak and other pieces looks like qs ash. need more photos
"Some store bought thing"? The front trim looks like oak but I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of it is pressboard with a thin veneer of something.
If the customer really wants a truly "matching" bookcase, I would decline building it and suggest they just go buy another. Going to be nearly impossible too perfectly match wood/finish. Plus they may be able to buy one for the price of materials before adding in labor costs...
Agreed
(PS - this will sound counter intuitive, but I ended up building a couple projects for customers after declining similar things as you discussed. Basically, they were impressed enough with my being honest that they later hired me for other projects.)
Could be lots of things. Looks more ashy than oaky.
It may well be a timber that was cheap wherever it was made. Certainly does not look expensive.
I recommend offering the customer a selection of wood and finish options and getting clear written agreement and a big deposit prior to taking on the work.
You don't have to accept every job that comes along.
Try looking at the end grain to separate the species suggested by others.
Ash will not have wide rays, oak and beech will.
The pores in the oaks will be large and numerous at the growth ring boundary, then rapidly become smaller and less numerous (ring porous) making the rings quite distinct. The change from large to small pores within a growth ring will be more gradual for beech (diffuse porous). White oak will nearly always have tyloses in the pores (vessels), red oak will almost never. The tyloses can be seen with or w/o a magnifier and look like yellowish crumpled up saran wrap. It makes the larger pores sparkle in white oak.
I'm not familiar with rubberwood, but it's easy to confuse tropicals with the local woods. A lot of furniture from overseas will contain at least some tropical specie.
If I had to vote, I'd say red oak, but the shelf part doesn't look quite right.
Based on the picture, it does indeed appear to be red oak, given its grain pattern and color. The finish does look like a typical sprayed lacquer with a yellow/amber tone, which is common for oak to enhance its natural warmth. You're on the right track!
As someone else mentioned, that's red oak up front and press board on the flat surfaces. You should take the advice of the person who said to decline the job.
I made this mistake recently. A coworker needed a replacement cabinet door built (same red oak color as your pic). I have a raised panel set that matched the profile of his other cabinet doors exactly. So i said "sure"... I mean, you see that basic stain/color on red oak cabinets everywhere, so HOW HARD COULD IT POSSIBLY BE TO RECREATE?
Big, huge, collassal mistake.
I made the door in short order. Then it came tone to match that color. I started hemorrhaging cash trying to mix stain and dye stain and this pigment and that. Had to rebuild the door because the more i tried, the further away from a color match i got.
Finally i got the idea to bring it in to a huge, national paint manufacturer and have them whip up a stain to match.
It took them a month and what they said was the best they could do... was not a match.
But at point i was done falling further down that rabbit hole so i used what they gave me and called it good.
Moral of the story... color matching even very common shades is a VERY dodgy process.
I will never, ever makes that mistake again.
Good luck.
I’ve completely renovated two century+ homes and matching anything is a headache at the best of times. I’m doing it for myself, not for profit so I can take the time and effort to get it right.
I would never want to do it as a business. Even if you ‘guess’ the right species, the grain, the stain and the finish could derail you in a heartbeat.