Red Oak?

[JoeinWestMich]

I am new to carving with the ShopBot and have used almost exclusively select pine or maple in the few carves I have done as I am learning. I just saw an ad on Craigslist for the Muskegon, Michigan area for red oak, looks like 1 and 1/16 inch thick quarter sawn red oak in 5 to 9 inch widths with almost no blemishes. He is selling for $2.75 a board foot. 2 questions.. Does red oak carve well? And... is the price reasonable? If yes on both, I might invest in some of this with the future carvings in mind. Thanks for any advice you can give.
Joe

[myxpykalix]

My experience is that both red oak and white oak carve nicely. As far as price, i never pay retail, but then again i don't buy surfaced planed, kiln dried wood either. Go ahead a buy a few boards and try it. You will find that different species carve differently and present differing problems. Cherry, I love but it burns easily if you go too fast.
I personally like maple and poplar, cherry, walnut then oak only because I like species that don't have a lot of grain in the face. You need to start somewhere and cheap oak is better then ruining a expensive piece of cherry or walnut.:D

[MogulTx]

It carves fairly OK, however it has so much grain to it that it is difficult to see precise patterns such as signs and what not... that is why I like Maple much better. It carves well and it has a sublt grain so it is great to see as a carved material.

Quarter sawn oak is great for Stickley /or Mission style furniture and places where you are going to see open expanses of the grain. White oak and golden oak are more common in OLD quarter sawn projects- but you will find little of it today...

The price seems good.

[srwtlc]

Joe,

While the price is on average for quarter sawn red oak (my supplier in WI has it at $3.00/bdft for select & better), the bold grain of any oak tends to distract from designs that are v-carved or relief carved. If you put a stain on it, it can be even more pronounced. Also, the grain of red oak doesn't hold up well to small detail in carvings.

On the other hand, it would be great for some mission style furniture! You would also want to make sure that it has been kiln dried at that price. I bought 250 bdft several years ago for some furniture projects at $2.42/bdft.

[JoeinWestMich]

Thanks guys. That gives me the information I needed. I think I will pick some up for some non-CNC projects and then try a piece when the grain will not be too bothersome. I appreciate your help and thoughts.

[Chuck Keysor]

Joe, as a note, you didn't say if your possible uses for this red oak may be outside..... But please note, do NOT use red oak outside! It rots quickly, even with a reasonable paint job.

White oak on the other hand, is super weather resistant. Chuck

[bryan]

I do a lot of v-carving in red oak, but I do cheat a bit as I paint the carved out areas to make them stand out more.

[Bob Eustace]

Agree with Bryan - fill it with lots of paint and you get away with it! Learnt from this forum how porous oak is - suck on the end! Yes we USED to use it outside.

[cowboy1296]

I always thought that this was red oak but to be honest I am not really that sure. The wood was scraps left over from a project that was given to me. Somewhat grainy but I liked it. Nothing but oil was added to the sealcoat.

[genek]

Joe and others here is a price sheet from the saw mill I buy from... this wood is kiln dried. and has the price of fas down to #2 common and shorts. for those who do not know what fas is it means that is is furniture grade.

Prices will vary from location to location.

[genek]

to calculate board foot you take the thickness times the width times the length divided by 144 this gives you the board foot of a board. some people charge you linear foot for board foot if they can get away with it.

always measure and do your math. when buying from individuals.

example of a board that is 1 inch thick (4/4) 10 inches wide 8 (96") foot long
you have 6.6 board feet. always use inches in this calculations.

if you buy a lot of rough kiln dried wood invest in a timber measuring stick (i for got what it is called.) but it give you the board foot at a glance. it has a hook on it to catch the board and the measurements on it.

[Ajcoholic]

if you buy a lot of rough kiln dried wood invest in a timber measuring stick (i for got what it is called.) but it give you the board foot at a glance. it has a hook on it to catch the board and the measurements on it.

I board foot = 144 cubic inches, measured GREEN

Just remember, when you are buying kiln dried wood you will (in most areas of North America) actually be getting 5 to 7% LESS wood than you measure - since the board footage is calculated after the logs are milled into lumber and still green/wet.

Another reason why I always order 10% more than I will be using for a job.

JFYI..