Replies

1. 
   billy5151 | Mar 25, 2010 01:04pm | #1

   QS White Oak Finish

   John,..

   I don't know if this will help. This is a picture of a white oak  with just an oil/wax finish. It's probably 1-2 years old, nothing's really hit me yet as to what to do with it.  Any way I love the way it finishes, but then again....I just love wood. ( it's the only real competition my wife has). I look foward to seeing pics of your project.

   Bill D.

   
2. 
   stantheman | Mar 25, 2010 09:44pm | #2

   Hoping an expert will chime in, but in my experience, red and white don't look anything alike unless you stain them really dark.  Not to mention the different look of Q-sawn grain. 

3. 
   ring | Mar 26, 2010 12:44am | #3

   RO and WO?

   John, I'm always hesitant to give advice about esthetic questions.  I mean, if you like how something looks, then what does it matter what I think?  In spite of that, I'm gonna chime in here...

   Red Oak and White Oak do not match up well at all in my opinion.  I much prefer White, and almost never use Red at all, but I certainly wouldn't mix them unless the piece was going to be stained as dark as night.  If you need to match an existing piece in RO but you want to spice it up, consider using a really contrasting species.  There was a good article on this recently in FWW.  For instance, I'd put wenge next to RO, or curly maple.

4. 
   srtjase | Mar 30, 2010 10:16pm | #4

   Red vs White

   I enjoy using both RO and WO.

   FWW #194 has a nice article that describes some of the characteristics of each wood.

   In my opinion, red oak seems to finish with a bit more warmth than white. If I were going to use any quarter sawn oak, however, I prefer white oak. It seems to have a much more exciting fleck pattern to it than quarter sawn red oak

   I too use danish oil quite often. Do you mind sharing your 3 part finish recipe?

   Thanks

   .

5. 
   Pete99353 | Mar 31, 2010 12:27pm | #5

   QSWO Finish

   I agree that the two oaks are quite different and will be difficult to match. I have an unstained white oak floor with one piece of red oak stuck in by mistake and it is quite obvious because of the color contrast.

   I'm a Stickley furniture fan and have made a few pieces of furniture from quartersawn white oak (QSWO). I tried using stains, both alcohol and water based,  but was always disappointed with the results. The pigment pools in the open pores and makes them noticeably darker than the surrounding grain. Oil has the same effect.

   Fuming with ammonia is a much better way to darken QSWO, without extra concentrations of color in the open pores. That being said, when I point out the differences to people most of them think it is a distinction without a difference.

   If you decide to fume, take all the necessary precautions to protect yourself from the caustic nature of ammonia. I use a full face respirator equipped with an ammonia filter as well as heavy rubber gloves. There are several good articles in FWW about the process.

   Check out the attached photo's to see how fumed QSWO looks.

   One of the other benefits of fuming is being able to do it before assembly, without taping off parts that will be glued during assembly

   
6. 
   user-64052 | Apr 01, 2010 09:45pm | #6

   it depends on how much the red oak has faded out over the years. you take a lot of that old stripped red oak  furniture from years ago and the colour is failry compatible with white. there are differences to the woods but the layman will hrdly ever know thee difference. you could also build it from red oak and bleach it to match the older piece, which wouldn't be that difficult. if you build it from red oak it will catch up to the other in a few  years. all depends on the selling job that you can do

   ron

7. 
   Joe Sullivan | Apr 02, 2010 12:44am | #7

   Red and white just won't lo9ok alike, try as you may

   John:

   I agree with Ring, who is, by the way a real master who uses thousands of board ft of oak a year in his cabinet shop in Israel. 

   I myself use a lot of white oak as a hobbyist and like it well (I have a couple of thousand board feet of it).  I also have so-called "red" oak.  As you probably know, red and white are very broad trade definitions.  In my case, the white oak is the real thing, Quercus Alba.  The "red" oak is a member of that broad family that really does have a distinct reddish brown cast.  It also has a very nice flake when quarter sawn as mine is.

   That said, almost ANY red oak species can be picked out from across the room if near white oak.  The grain is much different even if the woods are finished to the same color.  Ifyou want a match, you are well advised to go with a "red" that looks like the wood in the older bed, and then to stain it to match.

   Joe

1. 
   user-64052 | Apr 02, 2010 12:34pm | #8

   Joe; what is your definition that makes a real master?

   the wood is not stained as he said.

   you can see the difference fairly easy if the wood is fresh but as the years go on red fades out quite well

   english brown oak is the real thing

   ron

2. 
   ring | Apr 02, 2010 07:45pm | #10

   Joe, I'm flattered but a little taken aback by being called a "master".  There isn't any single aspect of fine woodworking that I feel I've mastered.  Running a commercial shop for many years has taught me a lot of things, almost always about the very fastest down-and-dirty way to get something done.  But honestly, now on the verge of retirement, I feel like I'm ready to start fine woodworking all over again.  So thanks for the words of recognition (everyone loves being appreciated), but I'm much more comfortable without titles or little "Expert's Hammers" or any such.

   regards from the Holy Land for a Happy Easter,

8. 
   PSeverin | Apr 02, 2010 07:18pm | #9

   Depends upon the boards

     I do mix red and white oak under a clear unstained finish.  What surprises me is how little difference there often is between the two.   I've been more surprised by the variation between  two pieces of rift saw red oak, one ending up medium red and the other almost white, than I have been the contrast with white oak.  

   Generally the white oak tends to go yellow and the red oak a light tan...hardly a jarring combination.  And then there are those pieces of dark white oak that I find particularly interesting when picking out boards that throws the question even further out of whack.

    

   My advise is to use red oak.  In the bins at lumber yards are pieces of beautiful quarter and rift sawn red oak that can be as lovely as anything else. Perhaps that is why I loved that clip here on Hank Gilpin working through all the woods of the forest.   I don't run a cabinet shop and so don't have the problem of trying to explain why something isn't flawlessly matched.    I make things, putting pieces together, not quite in the accepted way and hope to be pleasantly surprised by the less than perfect results.  

    

   Peter

1. 
   retired08 | Apr 05, 2010 11:37pm | #11

   Red Oak vs. White Oak

   Thanks for all of the replies and I apologize for not getting back sooner but my excuse is that I didn't have the right box clicked to be told of any replies.  I think I have that fixed now.  In any case, I talked my daughter into using hard maple with a shellac finish.  The one thing I don't care for with the oak is that it can be somewhat splintery and using that for slats on my grandkids crib didn't appeal to me either,  Thanks to all ,John 

9. 
   jem777 | Apr 08, 2010 02:32pm | #12

   It's prone to termites i
   It's prone to termites i think. It should be treated before usage.

   termite control services