Is this "tear out"?

[Nick Schepis]

Along the red oak rim, there looks to be tiny holes along the grain, but they don't appear on the oak band in the center... I used the same tools and techniques on both...

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[John K Jordan]

Along the red oak rim, there looks to be tiny holes along the grain, but they don't appear on the oak band in the center... I used the same tools and techniques on both...

Nick, I can't tell from that photo. But are you talking about these holes?

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That looks like normal earlywood porosity common to red oak which is strongly ring porous. The earlywood in red oak has huge pores and the latewood pores are tiny:

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Or is there more that I can't see? The center band does look entirely but that may just be differences in the wood.

Unlike white oak whose pores are filled with tyloses, red oak pores are open, kind of like soda straws and are sometimes huge. Pores from other trees and not so much. They can be filled with a paste filler or by wet sanding. If you are seeing something different, maybe a closer shot would help.

JKJ

[Nick Schepis]

Yes John, those were what I was referring to. I'm pretty new at this so I wasn't sure but it makes a lot of sense because it finished out really glossy and felt really smooth too, thanks. Wish I'd put that piece on the bottom when I glued 'em up ;)

[John K Jordan]

Yes John, those were what I was referring to. I'm pretty new at this so I wasn't sure but it makes a lot of sense because it finished out really glossy and felt really smooth too, thanks. Wish I'd put that piece on the bottom when I glued 'em up ;)

I think it looks great where it is!

JKJ

[Len Mullin]

Nick, if you had the top ring grain in the same orientation as the middle ring, the top ring would look the same as the middle one does. Yes, the tiny holes are just typical of red oak, like John has mentioned there are different ways to fill the holes.
Len

[Aaron Craven]

Red oak is so porous you can literally blow air through it. If your piece is meant for utility (as opposed to display), you'll want to tell the recipient not to put anything liquid in it.... it'll go right through!