Red Or White Oak?

[Robert Feingold]

This looks like white oak to me but smells like a red oak log I turned a while ago.
Does white oak also have that sweet pukey gross smell? #1 is fresh cut. the tree fell during Sandy and has been where it is ever since. the small piece i cutoff seems fairly wet.
Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

 

[Richard Coers]

Looks like some leaves are still around. White oak leaves have rounded lobes, red oaks have pointed. Hundreds of species of oak, commercially reduced to red and white oaks.

 

[Gary Chapman]

I have found the white oak to smell more pungent,thick smelling than red oak. I really don't think the red oak has a bad smell at all.
I prefer to turn white oak for it has more character especially when it is a natural edge one. The sap wood on the outer edge has a spalting look and for a natural edge, it is beautiful. Gary

 

[robo hippy]

Split off a small billet. Stick one end in a bucket of water. Blow onto other end. Bubbles = red oak. No bubbles = white oak. Learned that one from Roy Underhill.

robo hippy

 

[MichaelMouse]

This looks like white oak to me but smells like a red oak log I turned a while ago.
Does white oak also have that sweet pukey gross smell? #1 is fresh cut. the tree fell during Sandy and has been where it is ever since. the small piece i cutoff seems fairly wet.

Smell probably related to the rot at the heart. Both reds and whites are rich in tannins, so they have that acid background smell. Open tyloses bubbling as Robo says will certainly tell the tale.

Looks like one of the whites to me. Looks a burl at the wide end, no?

 

[Robert Feingold]

I will be removing the burl this evening and will post some photos. I don't get many burls, some people get so many you'd think they grow on trees.
I will be storing this outside-any suggestions on how?
I enjoy Roy Underhill- he is calming.

 

[MichaelMouse]

I enjoy Roy Underhill- he is calming.

Yeah, real laid-back guy. 🙄

If you store the log outside, leave it long and cover the ends. Bagging will do short term. Harvest bowl pairs as you are able, making sure to examine for and allow some length for end checks you may not see. If it's going to be longer than a few months, or if there's a bunch of bark missing, get out the wedges and gluts and split up the middle. How long now depends on the distances between branch areas.

 

[Jerry Reynolds]

Bark looks like a Red Oak to me.

 

[Robert Feingold]

Finally got part of the burl out. My chain saw is only 16" and tried to cut it out in one piece by cutting around the burl. As you can see my son is trying to free it with a large crow bar. After a while with no success we decided to take it out in pieces. We got about 1/3 of it in 2 pieces about 15" x 15" each, which weighs a total of about 150 lbs. I will get the rest asap. I cut a thin wedge out so we cold pry the pieces loose and turned one face last night so i could see the figure-#4. It is quite spectacular. There also seems to be some nice regular wood some of which i will also harvest. It is some form of white oak.
I anchorsealed it and put it under a tarp outside while I figure out what to do with it.
Cant wait to start turning.
All comments welcome.
Are my photos too large or can I go larger?

 

[Gretch Flo]

oak burl

Be careful!!!! Looks like alot of voids/cracks. Your 15 inch "bowl" may end up 5". Make sure you use face shield/Kevlar. Maybe use duct/strapping tape when starting to hollow, Gretch

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Red Or White Oak

frankly i have a lot of trouble telling the differences in oak. my instant guide to trees list 30 spieces of oak. i look at the leaves mostly, because i only mess with oak that has been cut down that day. even with the leaves i sometimes have a hard time telling one from the other. take black oak and jack oak....what a mess....then there is pen oak.....a lot of that around here

 

[Gary Chapman]

I am amazed how many leaves I can remember from my two years in boy scouts as a youngster. We would have nature hikes and have to guess the types of trees. I got a merit badge for forestry and that was a stipulation to get it.
The pin oak has little pins or needles on each pointed end,the the black oak has u shapes between each lobe, the white oak has v's between the lobes or something like that.
Maybe I wouldn't get that badge today.

 

[robo hippy]

I do remember that the white oaks have rounded lobes, and the black and red oaks have pointed lobes. Then there are many different variations beyond that. I guess it is like telling the London Plane from the Sycamore, you just about have to be a tree expert.

robo hippy

 

[MichaelMouse]

You have to differentiate between the lumberman's "white" oaks which includes the eponymous species Quercus alba and "red" oaks which includes Quercus rubra. Sort of like yellow and white birches, they're the archetypes.

http://www.ibiblio.org/botnet/flora/images/Quercus_alba002.jpg

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/quercus_rubra_03.jpg

BTW Quercus palustris, the pin oak is a "red."

 

[hockenbery]

I do remember that the white oaks have rounded lobes, and the black and red oaks have pointed lobes. Then there are many different variations beyond that. I guess it is like telling the London Plane from the Sycamore, you just about have to be a tree expert.

robo hippy

According to Clark Davidson, they guy who knows more about trees in the mid Atlantic than anyone I know
The best field mark is the bark color.
Sycamores are whitish hence the name ghost tree
Plane trees are greenish.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The amount of decay in the burl and heart are indicators that it is probably red oak. Red oak will rot in a couple seasons while white oak can last for decades.

If you cut a thin cross grain section and hold it to the light, it is very easy to tell the difference if you don't want to try Roy Underhill's soda straw trick.

I love the smell of freshly cut post oak (a white oak) in the morning. When I was a kid, I cut and split lots of it for heater and cooking wood.

 

[Robert Feingold]

I don't think you would like the smell of this oak. It is nasty. Maybe because of the decay.

 

[bfwhitma]

oak

yes white oak stinks and looks exactly as described cheers