Red Oak

Although a beginner, I've had the opportunity to turn quite a few different species of wood over the past 9 months. Some have become favorites, some simply acceptable, and a few unacceptable, at least in my limited lexicon of woodturning experiences. Red oak would definitely fall in the latter category. I successfully turned a pair of candlesticks for my cousin to match her red oak mantle, but bowls have been an unmitigated failure due to splitting and cracking. I'm not a fan.

Max

turn it wet, turn it thin, allow a natural edge, and let it warp - it makes a pretty presentation - turn to 1/8 inch or less and it won't crack.

Hi George

Yes I do turn red oak and happen to be turning some small bowls 6" to 7" today and have turned some bigger one's . I normally don't have any more problems with red oak than most other woods. But I think that the way you are treating your wood is wrong, and not just for oak but almost any kind of wood. Basically, as wood dries it gets thinner in width ( approx. 8%) not shorter in length (1/10th of 1%). If the outside layer of your wood dries it wants to get thinner but is unable to do so because there is no room for it if it is solid wood, and so it splits. That is the reason for wet rough turning or wet thin finished turning, so that when the wood dries, the wood can get thinner, because there is room for it. Now the problem is we cannot turn all that wood at ones and some of it will have to wait, however it is already drying as soon as the log is cut, so we have to try to stop or slow down the drying right away, seal it, keep it out of the sun and wind, bag it, etc. For that reason I think keeping it indoors in a dehumidified and dry location is wrong. I got my red oak in june and sealed it with anchor seal then bagged some of it in plastic bags, they where mostly smaller pieces in the one to two feet chunks that I cut from a 5'D log that had lost a large strip ripped out some years ago and the new wood that was growing over it looked like there might be some nice burley, curly and spalted pieces. But even after sealing and bagging it, 4 months is to long and I had to cut up the chunks that where not in plastic bags. My advice is start cutting the bad wood off of your chunk's, rough turn and seal and bag the rest, as soon as you have a piece rough turned place it in a paper bag and leave it there for a couple of weeks, check it occasionally and when it feels dry take it out of the paper bag and let it finnish drying, won't take long with red oak it is an open grain wood and dries fast.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Frosty Thunder wrote:

You can turn it without cracking easily, and should, as soon as is practicable. It's drying without that counts, and you're not treating it properly for that. Dehumidifier maintains your equipment and dry stock, it does not help your bowl.

Couple of problems I've noted from firewood - red oak does not dry as rapidly as other woods through loss from endgrain, and the ray figure makes excellent points of cleavage to make the smallest check into a disaster. I think the two explain why oaks require special care in a dry kiln to avoid degrade, and suggest that we might want to keep oak damp a bit longer to keep the gradient low. I left mine in the log with bark on, and suffered only sapwood degrade.

I'm fortunate enough to have a basement, where I can put freshly cut stuff on or near the concrete floor, but I have also used large cardboard boxes to keep roughs drying slowly. You might want to consider cool and cover for your blanks - I never coat, so no recommendation there. Just take care in the early stages not to keep things too wet, or the black mildew can ruin your blank. Put newsprint in the box, pull it every few days for the first few weeks, and replace with fresh dry. Used to do that out in the garage before I learned I could throw stuff in a corner and get the same result.

All the red oak I've turned has been wet, but I've generally kept thickness to 3/8" or more. I'll try a thinner section, but I'm not optimistic. Then again I'm new to this and don't have yours or others skills yet. THAT is probably my problem.

Max

Thanks everybody for your help. Looks like I'll get a little more room in my shop when I move this stuff out. I'll sure try the things I read.

George

Thanks George

Hello George,

Red Oak... Ah, the stories I could tell... :-o In my neck of the woods, (Texas) Red Oak is quite common. Years ago when I first opened my studio, I turned lots of Red Oak. Just as you experienced, quite a bit of it checked and it was not uncommon to loose 75% of the roughed out bowls, per hundred to checking.

When I perfected my boiling technique, I reduced the average loss rate on Red Oak to 1.0%, per hundred bowls. These days, I would not even consider turning Red Oak without using my boiling protocol. Boiling also reduces the overall drying time on average 50%, up to 78.3%, depending on the species.

If you would like some more information on my boiling protocol to reduce drying degrade and speed drying, please let me know. Take care and all the best to you and yours!