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White Oak Bowl

Bruce L Jones

Bruce L Jones

Joined
Aug 4, 2015
Messages
80
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1,333
Location
Pleasant Valley MD. U.S.A
Well hello everybody I had picked up a few pieces of figured White Oak the last time to the mill and thought I would try for a very thin shallow bowl
with an inward curving lip here's what I came up with.
First time turning Oak,

Bruce
 

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Very nice turning! I wasn't aware that oak was good for turning due to a lack of figured grain. Anyone done red oak before?
 
John Torchick said:
Very nice turning! I wasn't aware that oak was good for turning due to a lack of figured grain. Anyone done red oak before?
Click to expand...

I haven't turned red oak because it isn't common around here. However, I have turned post oak (white oak) and live oak. They both have beautiful figure.
 
John Torchick said:
Very nice turning! I wasn't aware that oak was good for turning due to a lack of figured grain. Anyone done red oak before?
Click to expand...

I have turned northern red oak, Quercius Rubra, on occasion. Made a neighbor a 14" bowl from a tree that fell in his yard.
And I have done a few hollow vessel from it too.
Northern Red oak has little figure but the grain lines are prominent and can provide a lot of interest if the bowl is centered on the grain in both directions.
Red oak has large pores and will leak like a sieve. When using Waterlox as a finish you only need to wipe it on the inside as enough will run through the pores to coat the outside.

I much prefer white oak, Quercus alba, for turning it has closer grain and often more figure. I like the southern live oak, Quercus virginiani, more than white oak?
I turn some laurel oak, Quercus laurifolia, which is in the red oak family, but has small pores and behaves more like white oak.

Northern Red oak is low on my priority list. worth turning if you have it and nothing else better like cherry.
I rarely turn tulip polar, red oak, willow, cedar, or cypress because I can usually find wood that I like to turn better.
I used a lot of red oak and poplar in classes in Maryland because it was easy to get and worked well for students.

If I found any of those woods,with burls or other special grain maybe even a prominent water stain an I would likely work with it.

Al
 
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John Torchick said:
Very nice turning! I wasn't aware that oak was good for turning due to a lack of figured grain. Anyone done red oak before?
Click to expand...

I like turning oak, although white oak is usually easier to deal with than red. There are many varieties of red and white oak in Kentucky. I particularly like curly white oak for things like plates, but I haven't managed to find much white oak in log form for other turning. I've turned several varieties of red oak, using it for bowls, plates, hollow forms, and some spindle work. Nice grain.
 
This White Oak I've been working w/ is very hard and curly; and has been difficult to turn, I have a small bowl that I got a catch on and cracked the tenon I'll have to fix that one. I've been packing to move and haven't had time to get in to the shop but think i'll have a chance to get in there before the move closing is Sept. 30 and we have most of the house ready to go already. I have a segmented White oak bowl glued up in my press for over a week now and want to get down there and see what I can do w/ it.
I really like the swirl and grain pattern in this board I'm making these bowls from I just hope this larger one will turn out well.

Bruce
 
I have access to alot of red oak and crotch figure (my firewood logs bought from central mich by the 20 cord loads), and oak is easy to turn ,easy to sand and easy to crack!!!!.
I find red oak, even if it has spalted in the sap wood, boring. Crotch and burl are of course different. And has been said, oak moves quite a bit. I like white oak somewhat better than red oak. Dries quicker when green turning , and less boring, and maybe less cracking, less warping. Gretch
 
Gretch Flo said:
.... I find red oak, even if it has spalted in the sap wood, boring. Crotch and burl are of course different. And has been said, oak moves quite a bit. I like white oak somewhat better than red oak. Dries quicker when green turning , and less boring, and maybe less cracking, less warping. Gretch
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I'm a boring old guy, have a boring bar rig, and love boring old white oak. Yawn. 🙄 I won't bore everybody with the picture since I've posted it here before, but here is a link to my favorite boring old oak hollowform that was full of borers. Despite it all, I still feel Robust.
 
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