White oak species/region variations fume
Hi,
I’m building a prairie settle that I intend to fume. I bought most of the wood from Owl Hardwood, a local retailer, but decided I wanted something better looking for the lower front and back rails, since these are the show pieces. I went to a local (west suburbs of Chicago) sawyer and bought some rough, air dried 8/4 white oak. They are much more interesting, but they have a different color. The stuff I already have is more near a chocolate brown, while the new stuff has a pinkish/reddish cast. It’s not as red as red oak and, given the closed pores and wide rays, it is definitely white oak.
Since I plan to ammonia fume then oil it, am I likely to see an unpleasant variation in color? Also, air dry in Chicago’s fall means about 17 % MC, while the other stuff is about 10. Will this cause me grief? How long will it take to equalize with the other stuff.
Thanks,
Scott
Replies
The closed cells are definative, the wide rays less so. I have 1400 board feet of personally harvested red oak with gorgeous ray fleck, as good or better than most white oak I've seen.
At any rate, the fuming should even out the color, but I'd try it on samples first to be certain.
I suspect the 17% moisture content will be more problematical. I'd put both woods in one location and give them plenty of acclimation time.
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon;
Gateway to the Oregon Caves
Scott, as Lee mentioned in his post, fuming will help moderate the color differences...Also, I wouldn't be overly concerned about moisture content differentials...However, I suspect you won't totally solve the problem with fuming. All of the oaks contain tannin and will react to ammonia, but what you won't be able to conceal are the differences in figure (mostly the differences in density and texture), if you're dealing with two different species of oak...even if they are both white oaks. Also, the "chocolate brown" color you mention isn't a natural pigmentation in any of the white oaks and I suspect it stems from some sort of spalt (as is the case in English brown oak.)
If you're objective is to match an authentic prairie antique of this type, you probably should have gone with bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa.) It's readily available through small mills in rural Illinois. I used to live in suburban Chicago (Schaumburg) and, while it is getting to be quite a few years ago, I used to buy a lot of local hardwoods from Ken Burtch out in DeKalb. He called his operation the Hardwood Connection, but I think he's now move his store a few miles north to Sycamore, Ill. Also, there was a good sawmill in Kirkland I used to cruise a couple of times a year and was able to pick up some memorable deals.
Give props to a Heidler Hardwoods and we've named just about everyone north of I-80 worth visiting for furniture grade material!
Be sure to post photos of that settle when it's done!
tony b.
I bought these boards from Ron Meyers in Batavia. The link below lists sawmills by county in Illinois.
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/forestry/2002/SAWMILL.htm
Excellent resource! Thanks...it's been added to my woodworking bookmarks/favorites.
tony b.
There was an article in FWW about 3 months ago on using stains to get the equivalent of fuming on white oak. It seemed much easier to control than fuming and produced excellent results without the hassle. You might check it out.
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