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Cody Cantrell
01-17-2016, 5:08 PM
High folks, I have a couple larger Red Oak logs that fell a couple years ago and the sap wood is starting to rot but the heart wood is still sound. I am wanting to saw them into 16/4" slabs and sticker them for making Roubo style workbenches. My question is the grain has a slight corkscrew to it. With the investment in time for it to dry is it worth cutting up or will it propeller twist on me? Hoping at that thickness that it keeps that to a minimum, thoughts? Thanks for any advise.

Cody Colston
01-17-2016, 6:06 PM
If the Red Oaks are big enough to QS, that would be the way to go, IMHO. You won't get really wide slabs but you shouldn't need them for a workbench.

BTW, I would use the Red Oak for the base and something else for the top...Maple or Beech would be a good choice.

Cody Cantrell
01-17-2016, 10:53 PM
Thanks Cody for the advise. Will lumber this thickness usually twist?

Chris Hachet
01-18-2016, 7:32 AM
Thanks Cody for the advise. Will lumber this thickness usually twist?

I would quarter saw it and allow it to dry really well. Twist will depend on the individual tree much more than the type of lumber.

Scott T Smith
01-18-2016, 9:32 AM
Cody, I have a large stack of red oak slabs that I milled over a year ago from a spiraled red oak log. Thus far I have not seen any signs of twist. The slabs were milled at 4-1/2" with a few milled at 8" for Roubo benches.

Usually I have found that a long red oak slab QS milled at 4" will S2S at 3", so if you want your Roubo bench top to be thicker than 3" you may want to increase your milling thickness.

Robert Engel
01-18-2016, 9:45 AM
It will take years for 16/4 wood to air dry.

I am building a workbench now with some timbers I had sawn from a 5" thick hard maple slab that had already been stored 2 years.
I had them cut in 4" wide strips and have had them stickered in my shop for 18 months.
I haven't measured the MC, but there is still some movement in the wood after milling.

I had obtained a 4x8 white oak beam which came from an antique barn in Pennsylvania est >150 yrs old. Now that was dry but unfortunately insects riddled.

I ended up making all my legs from glued up 4/4 stock.

I think if you use TBIII a laminated leg will be extremely stiff and stable.

Something to consider......

Dennis Ford
01-18-2016, 1:59 PM
16/4 red oak will not be easy (or quick) to dry, it will take a LONG time and there will be significant degrade from checking. If the tree was twisted, the lumber will also be twisted.

Chris Hachet
01-18-2016, 3:22 PM
16/4 red oak will not be easy (or quick) to dry, it will take a LONG time and there will be significant degrade from checking. If the tree was twisted, the lumber will also be twisted.

4 years or so....depends on how you view a long time...

Sean Troy
02-18-2016, 3:16 PM
It will take years for 16/4 wood to air dry.

I am building a workbench now with some timbers I had sawn from a 5" thick hard maple slab that had already been stored 2 years.
I had them cut in 4" wide strips and have had them stickered in my shop for 18 months.
I haven't measured the MC, but there is still some movement in the wood after milling.

I had obtained a 4x8 white oak beam which came from an antique barn in Pennsylvania est >150 yrs old. Now that was dry but unfortunately insects riddled.

I ended up making all my legs from glued up 4/4 stock.

I think if you use TBIII a laminated leg will be extremely stiff and stable.

Something to consider......
Why TBIII as opposed to TBII?

Jeff Heath
02-19-2016, 12:14 AM
There are always stories of the twisted log that dried perfect, but the probability of your wood not behaving well is high. In the past, I've milled quite a few twisted logs with good intentions. Mostly, it will be good as utility wood for things like bases for benches, etc.....but I would put my efforts into other timbers, if I were you. Besides that, Red Oak is not known for it's ease in drying, and you will be years and years waiting before 16/4 is dry enough to be considered at equilibrium with your shop environment. Knowing exactly how long is tough to say, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took 10 years or longer. I have sawn a lot of really thick slabs in the past, 12 to 15 years ago or more, and realized that I made a lot of really good food for insects and a lot firewood, too. Without a DH kiln, the drying schedules are insanely long for large slabs like this, and would occupy a kiln for well beyond any reasonable reason for continuing. Some species behave quite well as they air dry, but red oak isn't one of them.

Robert Engel
02-19-2016, 8:01 AM
Why TBIII as opposed to TBII?

It dries stiffer. Probably splitting hairs.