QSWO is tough stuff!

[Rob Luter]

I'm making a small chair side table for the family room. The material is some very well seasoned QSWO I've had in my shop for a couple years. This stuff is like working with stone. No wonder Stickley furniture is so durable!

[Art Mann]

I believe white oak gets harder with age. Many years ago, I salvaged a bunch of planks from the interior wall of an old storage house. The lumber was absolutely beautiful but was very hard to work due to the hardness. I have used a lot of white oak since then but none of it is as hard as that lumber was. The shame is I didn't even realize what its true value was and squandered most of it on unworthy projects.

[george wilson]

Exactly why I felt sorry for those poor coopers in Williamsburg. I made them a couple of hand forged looking plane irons from A2 steel !!!

[George Bokros]

I am working with rift sawn white oak now. I had it in my basement shop for about 5 yrs and it is working beautifully. Love the nice straight grain and color.

[Ron Bontz]

A lot of folks just don't appreciate the qswo. It is one of the best mid west woods for out door use as well as the old Hoosier/ McDougal cabinets that were always getting wet from wet dishes being placed in them. And they didn't make those ice boxes out of white oak for nothing. :)

[Rob Luter]

Agreed. It's about all I use. It's just that with every new project I think "Jeez, why not pine?"

[Ray Bohn]

One of the first things I did when I began to feel like I knew what I was doing, was to pick out a few choice QSWO boards at the lumber yard for my first real project. This adventure taught me that my tools were not anywhere as sharp as they needed to be.

When I looked back at my visit, I understood why the yard guy had a slight smile on his face. He knew this rookie didn't stand a chance.


I believe white oak gets harder with age. Many years ago, I salvaged a bunch of planks from the interior wall of an old storage house. The lumber was absolutely beautiful but was very hard to work due to the hardness. I have used a lot of white oak since then but none of it is as hard as that lumber was. The shame is I didn't even realize what its true value was and squandered most of it on unworthy projects.

[lowell holmes]

QSWO is one of the best for outdoor use. I have a threshold made of it and it has been un-coated for years.

[george wilson]

White oak has closed cell structure that won't just let water run clear through it. On the other hand,a shingle made of red oak will blow bubbles in a container of water in you blow into the end grain of one end of the shingle. Water can go all the way through the red oak shingle. This is why white oak is best for out door use.

However,white oak that is intermittently wet and then dry,will rot just like other woods,though its closed cell inner structure does help it last longer. If it is used in boat building,it is best to use it on the bottom of the boat,where it will be under water all the time.

[Robert Engel]

Pecan and hickory are much worse. I built a kitchen of hickory - first and last time!

The thing with WO is sharp tools, scraper & watch for insubordinate grain :-)

[James Gunning]

You may recall that the USS Constitution (nicknamed Old Ironsides) was covered in white oak planking. The cannonballs just bounced off. As I recall from a visit years ago, other woods were used in the ship as well, but the sides and many of the frames were white oak.

[Jerry Olexa]

Either Oak can be hard to work with.....Agree

[Chris Hachet]

I am working with rift sawn white oak now. I had it in my basement shop for about 5 yrs and it is working beautifully. Love the nice straight grain and color.It is one of my favorite woods to work with. That being said, between me using QSWO and hard Maple, and my Shop mate Brian using things like Wenge, purpleheart and Ebony to build Guitars, our sharpening stones are getting quite the workout as of late.

[Chris Hachet]

You may recall that the USS Constitution (nicknamed Old Ironsides) was covered in white oak planking. The cannonballs just bounced off. As I recall from a visit years ago, other woods were used in the ship as well, but the sides and many of the frames were white oak.I do recall...neat fact though.