Help With Wood Species ID

Bergstrom

I am working on a job where I need to match some existing cabinets. I can't decide if it is red or white quarter sawn oak. I think it is a little too light to be red. What do you guys think?

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basswood

Quercus alba.

Bergstrom

How can you tell it from the red headed step child Quercus rubra ?

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woodtradesman

Thats a tough one, I see a touch of color but your right, It doesn't seem to be colored enough to be out right RQSO.

Have you thought of experimenting with some scraps of both red and white to try and match the finish?

basswood

According to Hoadley, (Identifying Wood, pages 103-104) this is best determined by looking at the rays on the outside of the board. White oak rays are abundant and many of them are over 1 1/4 to 2 inches long. Red oak rays are less than 1" and few and far between.

Bergstrom

Gratias ago vos.The White oak is the top picture you can see the rays are longer

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neolitic

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Bergstrom

I'll have to give that a try

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spdtrx

Let us know if that works

woodtradesman

Sweet, I learned something new today.

Gus Dering

How short is that stick that I have to blow, Neo?

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ChrWright

Wow... is that a loaded question...

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neolitic

Assuming that we are still talking
about lumber....

When Grampa did it it was usually
just about 2½ or 3".

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bert0168

Isn't it all wood?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CCCo. Yep, you guessed, sold by a fancy white guy, installed by the brown army.

Gus Dering

[quote=neolitic;773209
When Grampa did it it was usually
just about 2½ or 3". [/quote]

That is the answer I was after. That is a good tip.



I hear that infliction skips a generation.

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WarnerConstInc.

You old men and your wood!!

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Gus Dering

Thats Hard wood too, Sunny. A cat couldn't scratch it.

None of that finger jointed soft wood.

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UpNorth

This is what I was going to report, but I was lazy and just snipped it from a discussion similar to this at Woodweb.

"The way to tell for sure is to look at the large pores in the end grain. If they are open (you might have to use a razor blade and make a clean slice across the end grain surface), it is a red oak. If they are totally plugged up with a white crystalline substance (tyloses), then it is white oak. "

Which is why you will want a grain filler if doing fine stain work on red oak, while for white oak, it is not needed.

Gary L

I agree with upnorth and build most of my furniture in QSWO.

White has a much tighter or more dense end grain. You can't really tell squat from the face of the board or the Medulary Rays with QS wood because it all depends upon the axis of the blade in each particular slab.

Red will have a more open pore while white will be very tight and heavier.

From what I see in your pics I would cast my vote for QS Red Oak.

Also keep in mind that in every tree being cut to lumber there is always a few pieces that have to end up as Quarter Sawn and also a few that end up as Rift Sawn. Growth rings circle the log while Medulary rays go from center outward. There is a few boards in every milling that have to end up as QS.

Make a + sign at the end of the log and the boards on either side of the lines of a full log will always be QS and highly prised. As the blade goes away from center we get Rift sawn lumber.

Gary