White Oak bowl. 7.5”h x 5.5”d

I prefer my bottoms not to be so flat. I roll the edges which help to lift the form a little.

Oak shows perpendicular grain lines....one of few woods that do show.

Emiliano Achaval said:

I prefer my bottoms not to be so flat. I roll the edges which help to lift the form a little.

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Noted. I usually do as well. This time I wanted the base to flare into the ground, and rolling it over would interrupt that. It’s hard to see in the photo, but I did flatten the edge (about 0.5mm) to reduced the sharpness.

Charlie Knighton said:

Oak shows perpendicular grain lines....one of few woods that do show.

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For sure. It can be fun to take advantage of that feature. The inside of this bowl is pretty neat, as it’s a contrast between concentric rings and perpendicular rays.

Emiliano Achaval said:

I prefer my bottoms not to be so flat. I roll the edges which help to lift the form a little.

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Or at least not flared.

Don Wattenhofer said:

Or at least not flared.

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Why?

Are you sure about the "White Oak"?
I have worked extensively with both red and white oaks turned or flat work and the color and texture of the grain looks to me to be red oak and relatively slow growing for your neck of the woods. The radial rays are typical in both red and white oak but in quarter sawn boards the rays are and will show up much larger. If you could see the leaves the red oaks have pointed loebs and on white have rounded loebs

Don Wattenhofer said:

Are you sure about the "White Oak"?

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It's interesting you say that. When I was cutting up the log, I initially thought it was a red oak species based on the slight reddish tint in the fresh wood. So, that's what I labeled it as. However, when I started working it, I took a closer look at the end grain, and was surprised to see nearly all closed pores:



I took the gallery photos right after applying the finish, but I think I should have waited a few days. The color has browned significantly, and now looks a bit more characteristic of white oak species. (see the following photo). I'm sure over the next several days/weeks, the color will darken even more.



I do have a few blanks that are quartersawn, though they still have a chainsaw surface. In the following photo you can see pretty darned large rays showing, even with the rough surface. I'm pretty excited to clean up the surface at some point. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to look at the leaves. This log was from a tree felled in a tornado, and the foliage had been cleaned before I got to it.



All that said, I'm 99% certain this is white oak, and I'm 100% certain that you have more experience with oaks than I do. That said, what do you think? Have you worked with species that fall somewhat in between white and red oak? Certainly the designation "white" and "red" is an oversimplification of the characteristics found in the myriad species available for woodworking.

Michael Anderson said:

It's interesting you say that. When I was cutting up the log, I initially thought it was a red oak species based on the slight reddish tint in the fresh wood. So, that's what I labeled it as. However, when I started working it, I took a closer look at the end grain, and was surprised to see nearly all closed pores:

I took the gallery photos right after applying the finish, but I think I should have waited a few days. The color has browned significantly, and now looks a bit more characteristic of white oak species. (see the following photo). I'm sure over the next several days/weeks, the color will darken even more.

I do have a few blanks that are quartersawn, though they still have a chainsaw surface. In the following photo you can see pretty darned large rays showing, even with the rough surface. I'm pretty excited to clean up the surface at some point. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to look at the leaves. This log was from a tree felled in a tornado, and the foliage had been cleaned before I got to it.

All that said, I'm 99% certain this is white oak, and I'm 100% certain that you have more experience with oaks than I do. That said, what do you think? Have you worked with species that fall somewhat in between white and red oak? Certainly the designation "white" and "red" is an oversimplification of the characteristics found in the myriad species available for woodworking.

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The 3rd photo definitely looks to me like a white so maybe the color is different in the original photo then what I am used to.
The 2nd photo shows the dark tones that are commonly seen in white, so consider me full of it.

All good @Don Wattenhofer like I said, it had a very reddish tone when fresh cut, as well as freshly finished. I would question it as well, if I didn’t have the evidence. I enjoy these conversations.