adams,b

Sometimes in old remodeling jobs you may be asked to do some patching. Maybe an old floor furnice or rotten boards or something of that nature. Even though you may beable to determine that the wood is infact oak, it is sometimes hard to tell what kind of oak just by the "visual test". In posting this thread I just wanted to be helpful and point out my trick in telling the for sure difference. You may already know but if you do not, it WILL come in handy for you somewhere down the line. Just remove some of the wood that needs to be replaced. Reveal some of the center of the wood by cutting it or actually splitting it somehow, sometimes you can kinda pull it apart. IT works better if you can get it kinda rough rather than being cut. Anyway take it outside and look at the fresh part of the board in the sunlight. If it is white oak it will sparkle a lot because there is a lot of little crystals inside of it. If it does not sparkle than it is red oak. It has worked for me for years and has never failed. Practice on some new stuff first so youll know what im talking about. I beleive that is why white oak is so much harder than red oak. I hope this helps to better you craftsmanship and makes your jobs go by better.

K2

Thanks for the info Adam. I'll try to put that in my memory banks because I run into that once in awhile.

King of Crown

Red oak is more porous (spellng?) than White oak, that is why white oak is harder.

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Teetorbilt

Go to an inconspicuous place and hit it with a small rotary tool (dental drill size), red oak stinks.

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adams,b

There are so many different grain patterns in oak, tight grain, loose grain. Im sure the little crystals are why w/oak is harder.

King of Crown

you can quarter saw oak, but white oaks pores are smaller. and the grain is tighter. so no. that is not why.

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ccoffer

The difference between red and white oak can be seen by looking at the vessels. In red oak, the vessels are hollow. If you cut an 1/8in slice of red oak you can see daylight through the vessels. With white oak, on the other hand, the vessels are filled with a silica type material. This is why white is heavier than red. As far as hardness goes, there are a ton of variables involved. You can bet your ass that northern red oak felled in Canada will be an awful lot harder than white oak felled in Alabama.

King of Crown

so now we are seperating them geographically too?
grown in the same place, white will always be harder.

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Robie

Some more stuff on telling the difference...
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas..._from_Red.html
Teetor, around here, we call that "piss" oak. I use a lot of red oak and only seldom get a batch that has that aroma to it. But, when you get some and cut it, you sure know that smell.

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ccoffer

Red oak, pig scat, and fresh topsoil all have a similar odor.

adams,b

our distributer sells a test kit. I can usually tell the diff. by just looking at the wood but on rare occasions I have to look at it by looking at the white little sparkels in w/oak. plain sawn, rift sawn, quarter sawn it does'nt matter white oak is harder. who cares though.

Floorwizard

NO doubt. Who cares.
The second I start talking to clients about which wood is harder, all they hear is "this will not scratch"

total B.S.

Wood, no matter the hardness will scratch, gauge, move, and have issues with water.

Always be careful when talking about hardness with clients.
They can very easily get the wrong impression.

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Always be careful when talking about hardness with clients.
They can very easily get the wrong impression

We are still talking flooring here right?

Floorwizard

good one.

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ccoffer

The hardness discussion is a great way to qualify a customer. Some folks who think they want wood really don't.

adams,b

In most cases it is the finish that scratches, not the wood. Hardness is not really an issue because all wood floors will scratch.

Riversong

Hmmm... that's just what a moonshiner told me down near White Oak Tennessee. The "good stuff" will sparkle when you hold it up to the light because "it's full of the devil".

- Robert

Donedat

I've seen even old timers get the two mixed up. Sometimes it get pretty hard to tell the difference when it is covered in several coats of poly or lacquer or even shellac.

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bassfisher

Great info, thanx, will try to remember.
The canadian or northern wood is always slower growth and tighter grained, that is why canadian lumber is preferred by most.

Now here is some useless trivia to share with you, red oak and chestnut
outlast white cedar when used as rails for fencing.

PrecisionFloors

Revival of the dead thread!

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