White Oak??????

[Reg Mitchell]

Don't ever recall seeing any white oak but I have access to a large pile of it for the takeing if I want to go get it. Already sawed onto planks. Anyone know the char. of this.Same as black walnut.
Reg
Thanks for you input guys but I made a mistake on the type of wood. It is actually White Walnut. I reread my post and thought what are they telling me about OAK for. Well I was half asleep I guess when I posted my qusetion I guess.

[chris fox]

Reg,
I recently built a office filing cab. and book shelf out of white oak. I finished it in BLO and wax. I liked the light yellow/tan color and straight grain of it compared to the readily aval. red oak.
I dont care for the checking I got especially after resawing, luckily I was able to return it for better boards. But most of the boards from pile were checked and end splits. I was told its finiky on how its dried compared to other speicies, but assume this is an excuse and blame on how fast it was dried.

I didnt care for the blotchiness I got while finishing a walnut dresser. Still turned out nice for being one of my first major projects.
The workability was about the same.

I am still a newbie so cant offer any more insight hope this helps.

chris

[lou sansone]

white oak is a very nice wood. my kitchen floor is made of 18" + wide white oak planks. it is a straw colored wood that finishes well. oaks are harder to air dry than other NE woods, but they seem pretty stable to me. the one wood I stay away from is beech, which really moves and checks. get the wood. it is not at all like walnut though.

lou

[Neil Lamens]

Don't be waiting around for our replies..........Lou's on it.....Go get it!!!!!

[Jack Dickey]

I keep several hundred feet at all times , is my main source , mainly cause I can get it dirt cheep from a little mill , and it's rough sawn butts or first cuts , whichever you wanna call them ..
Easy to work , and I even think it looks good ..

[Doug Gilluley]

White oak is renowned as a boatbuilding wood due to it's resistance to rot and overall stability. As a comparison, red oak will turn black when exposed to a wet enviroment and begin to deteriorate quickly. Most find that white oak is difficult to use in conjuction with epoxy(others disagree). Get the wood and build a boat. What you don't use, others will be glad to take off your hands.

Doug

[Ralph Barhorst]

Most all of the original "ARTS & CRAFTS" furniture was made from quarter sawn white oak and looks great. I recently made two garden chairs for outdoors use and they also turned out nice. I like white oak and use it alot.

[Al Willits]

Just picked up about 250 bf of it to do our kitchen and a sideboard in, we were looking for a lighter wood as we're using black appliances and black granite counter tops, and we both like the look of white oak.
I used a thinned Dainish Nat with a water based poly over it on a test piece and it came out quite nice (we think)
Personally I like the grain over red oak.

Wanted to use QS for the cabinet door and drawer centers, but seems Beasty has no taste in wood and doesn't like QS...go figure...:)

Seems like a nice wood to work with, I haven't seem any blotchiness yet, but have only played with a few board foot so far.

Al

[Gary Keedwell]

Hi all,

90% of my wood purchases is QSWO. Love the stuff. Very stable and finishes great with BLO and wax or BLO and shellac. Just got through with 2 ottomans and finished with Waterlox. First time I used it on QSWO and it is coming out great. I'm rubbing it out now with wax and steel wool.

My, my...that Waterlox comes out good. No brush marks at all. I think I have found my permanent Varnish!!!

Gary K.

[Jim Becker]

I don't work in oak much, if ever, but if I did, it would be white oak, especially QS. Beautiful stuff...I even like the smell of it. Oh, and it's also excellent for outdoor projects, too. (never use red oak outside...)

[Bill White]

Gary,
Why don't ya give us a review/application tutor on Waterlox? Would like to hear how you use it. I am moving to water borne more and more.
Bill

[Gary Keedwell]

Bill,

Waterlox is not a water based varnish. It is varnish with tung oil. It is self-leveling so it goes on with brush,cloth etc.
So far...so good. Been waiting for it to cure. Tried it out in inconspicuous place with wax rubbed with steel wool. looks great.

Gary K.

[Charlie Plesums]

...
Thanks for you input guys but I made a mistake on the type of wood. It is actually White Walnut...

I see lots of good answers for white oak. White Walnut is a nicknake for Butternut. I have not worked with it, but you may need to restart the thread with a question on the character of butternut.

[Doug Gilluley]

If you're ever confused about the difference between white oak and butternut- get a piece of maple and a 16p nail - if you can drive the nail with a stick of the wood it's white oak if you destroy the stick of wood it's butternut. If you are still unsure make a nice little campfire. If it kicks enough heat to grill a thick steak- it's oak. If it makes a nice little fire that any Girl Scout would be proud of- it's butternut.
Ignoring all the aforementioned- butternut is quite a bit softer than white oak.

Doug

[Henry Cavanaugh]

Ive seen the ray flexs in white oak that look beautiful. Is that only in the quarter sawn boards or can it be found in plain sliced. Unfortunatly I need to take down a bunch of large red oaks this winter. I sure wish they were white oak.

[Jim Becker]

Henry, the rays are mostly visible on the Qs and rift-sawn boards. You will also get them in red oak, although IMHO, they are not as pronounced as in white oak. But there are no absolutes.