Wood to practice with

[Ted Evans]

I feel that Oak is not the best wood for the purpose of practicing, however, should I totally avoid it while I am in training? I have an almost unlimited supply of mostly red but some white also that I could use until more skills are acquired. Thanks for any suggestions. Bear

[Joe Aliperti]

A pine 2x4 ripped in half makes a lot of wood for spindle practice for cheap.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Ted,

I just plain don't like to turn oak, period. White, Red, swamp, purple, green or dry, all the same. It just unpleasant to work with. Then when you look at so much of the manufactured turnings are oak (especially spindles) why would someone want to turn something which can easily be confused with purchased product. Oak is for factories and fireplaces IMHO.

Frank

PS: No offense to the flatwork guys

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned oak and yes it is a pain sometimes. When dry it is hard but green it will turn pretty well. A old woodturner told me if I could turn oak or black locust I could turn anything. Give a piece a go and then decide.

[Burt Alcantara]

Must be a regional thing. I love oak in all forms. Turned kiln dried, turned green, turned firewood. Love it all.

[Tom Hintz]

I really enjoy turning all sorts of hardwoods (yes, oak, too) but I think I learned more turning cheap pine than anything in the beginning. Pine will show you right away if you are really rubbing the bevel (smooth shiny surface) or not (nasty fuzzy surface) with very little middle ground. Because it is so cheap you can also practice combining basic shapes to see how they look together. I still occasionally glue up a pine blank the same size as the expensive wood I will turn if I am not sure of the design or how to achieve it. I do a test run on the pine and then turn the hardwood. Not all of the time but it is a handy alternative to guts-ing it out and messing up high dollar wood.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ted - haven't turned much oak so can't really give any advice other than to use what you have on hand. If oak is such tough stuff to turn - once you get good at it everything else should be a breeze! Main thing is to have fun!

[Keith Burns]

I have turned white oak and find it to be a very nice wood. I have attached a photo of a red oak bowl turned by my friend Ed Koenig that just happens to be in my collection. Bottom line is oak is wood and can be turned into some beatiful work.

[Jeff Nicol]

Well for me Red oak was one of the first woods I ever turned and I love the smell of it and how it will have lots of character and grain differences throughout! It is pretty stable when it has no knots and will dry fast on the lathe so I sometimes will sand it when it is green and let the dust plug the pores a bit and it seems to slow it down from drying. White oak will split real fast if it is not sealed on the whole surface after rough turning. Even when you are done practicing the woodstove can be filled with the practice to keep you warm for the good stuff! But no matter what if it is free who cares what you practice with!! Have fun and stay safe.

Jeff

[Cody Colston]

The best wood for practice turning is free wood. If you have Oak, then practice on Oak. ;)