How to tell the difference between Red and White Oak lumber

[John K Jordan]

Scott has you covered. Here's another view of end grain.

Attachment 400651

For those interested who didn't read the whole thread, those pictures and much more information are in the first link I posted in the first reply to this thread.

That page also covers the sodium nitrate method with instructions and photos for comparison. You can buy sodium nitrate at Walmart, some drug stores, Amazon, probably more than you and SMC can use in a lifetime.

Andrew, a distinctive smell is one excellent way to identify woods once you learn them. Unfortunately, a smell is a hard thing to quantify and relay to another person. I've always wanted a scratch-and-sniff card on each page of my favorite wood ID book! If you are exceptional at that I should send you some samples of some I have with distinctive smells but totally unfamiliar to me! Weight/density is another tell but doesn't help with the oaks. Fluorescence is great for some species such as the locusts.

JKJ

[mike v flaim]

I remember watching Roy Underhill take a small piece of each and stick it in a glass of water and blow on one end. The piece that would blow bubbles at the bottom would be red oak.

[John K Jordan]

I remember watching Roy Underhill take a small piece of each and stick it in a glass of water and blow on one end. The piece that would blow bubbles at the bottom would be red oak.

Just remember the caveat about tyloses in white oak heartwood vs sap wood and what Scott correctly mentioned about chestnut white oak.

[JohnM Martin]

Based on John Ks first response, I took a picture of the clean end grain of a couple of boards - seen through a 10x photographers loupe. Sure enough, just as expected.

WhiteOak.jpg

RedOak.jpg

[Andrew Hughes]

Andrew, a distinctive smell is one excellent way to identify woods once you learn them. Unfortunately, a smell is a hard thing to quantify and relay to another person. I've always wanted a scratch-and-sniff card on each page of my favorite wood ID book! If you are exceptional at that I should send you some samples of some I have with distinctive smells but totally unfamiliar to me! Weight/density is another tell but doesn't help with the oaks. Fluorescence is great for some species such as the locusts.

Ya your right John I was being self centered my post has no way of helping John figure out what wood his has. I’ll try to do better next time.

[Jeff Heath]

Cut off a 1/2" thick piece from the end of a board and try to blow through it. If you can it is red oak.

Best quick test there is. Put one end in your mouth, and the other end in water. Blow hard. If you see bubbles, it's red oak. White oak is non-porous. Red oak is very porous, and lets the air right through.

[Ted Phillips]

An interesting video on white oak vs red oak on YouTube:
”Wooden boat building - white oak vs red oak with Louis Sauzedde”

I was just getting ready to reply with this episode. Louis is a boatbuilder and *has* to know the difference!