Red oak or white oak

[Rafael Herrera]

Hello,

Can you guys identify the oak species of this tree? It was cut in western Pennsylvania, US.

Thank you,

Rafael

oak 2.jpgoak 1.jpgoak 3.jpg

[Ted Calver]

Rafael, Take a look at a clean cut close up of the end grain with a hand lens. The pores of white oak will be plugged up with tyloses, red oak pores will be open.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Leaves are distinctly different, but looking like it’s too late for that.

[Art Mann]

The tiny samples of bark in one of the pictures look like white oak but I can't be sure. There is no way of telling for certain from the meager information you have provided so far.

[Prashun Patel]

Some more tricks:

Does it smell like ketchup/vinegar when milling (red oak) or more coffee/creamy (white oak)?

White is in general tighter grained than red.

If you have some scraps you can rive the end grain with a mallet and hatchet. A clean split suggests red oak, a stringier split suggests white.

You can also purchase sodium nitrite. A 10pct solution in water will turn white oak black, temporarily; red oak will turn only brown. Both will mellow to a fumed oak brown after weeks.

This being said, red and white oak are very broad categories. So the above are only guidelines for diy identification.

I see that kind of spalt pattern more on milled red than white oak. But the grain from a distance just looks a little more like white to me.

[John K Jordan]

Read this: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-a...rom-white-oak/

[Tom M King]

There are Many varieties of Oak in the U.S. I forget the exact number, but it's a lot. I believe every one is either a white oak, or a red oak, but probably an odd exception, or few. That doesn't mean that any one is either White Oak, or Red Oak. I know that might seem like a smart ass answer, but it's really not.

[John TenEyck]

If the colors on your photos are accurate it's red oak. White oak has no red tones anywhere.

John

[Rafael Herrera]

I haven't picked up the boards yet. The guy I'm getting them from doesn't know. He sent me a picture of the leaves.

received_1074703512867282.jpg

[Jamie Buxton]

One other way to tell the difference... Take a short piece of wood -- say a quarter inch along the grain. Put one end in your mouth and try to push spit through it. On red oak, you can. On white oak, you can't.

[Tim Janssen]

Those leaves are from white oak! Click on the image to enlarge it.
Snip of oak leaves.PNG
Cheers,

Tim

[Scott T Smith]

White oak based upon leaves and appearance.

[John K Jordan]

If the colors on your photos are accurate it's red oak. White oak has no red tones anywhere.

John

Could minerals in the soil cause some different coloration? A friend brought an oak log to my sawmill and said the guy who gave it to him said it was white oak. When we cut into it I told him it sure looked like red oak to me. Then later, with a closer look at the end grain pores and the rays I changed my mind. That's the only while oak I can remember with red tones.

JKJ

[Prashun Patel]

Rounded lobes on the leaves suggest white oak.

[Tom M King]

This is good for Oaks of the Eastern U.S.

https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/t...fieldguide.pdf