American red oak wood

 American red oak wood

Oak tree is abundantly available in America. The oak wood is the most available commercial hardwood in US and maybe in the world. This wood has been widely used for various purposes since many century ago by many generation. Instead of his excellent ideal properties, the good forest management in Europe and America has encouraged the uses of oak wood in the woodworking industry.

There are several species of oak tree, but the commercially oak wood is classified into 2 groups, the American red oak and American white oak. The wood classification is made make according to need of the woodworking industry in there. Although the oak is seem very similar but there are some species with some specific different properties. The easiest to classify the oak wood is that the red oak wood is considered as open pores wood, while the white oak is close pores. The red oak is also more in the straight grain compare with  the white oak.

American red oak is lot available in America. This wood grows and can be found easily in all areas in this country. Even it is named as the red oak, does not mean that the wood has red base color. It is named as the red oak since he has red colored leaves in the autumn. It is the most popular wood used in the American woodworking industry. Some of them are also exported to various countries.\

oak veneer table

The properties of American red oak. 

The properties of the wood will vary depending on area where it  grew. The woods from northern region generally have more solid in the mass structure, harder and heavier than the wood from the south. In general, the oak wood is hard and heavy. This wood must be dried slowly to prevent the crack. This wood has a high volume shrinkage, it is better for use in the product which is susceptible to a movement in performance. This wood has strong grain character with large and big pores and grains. It has vary basic color from white in the sap wood to the reddish brown in the heartwood.

Various household products can be produced from the American red oak wood such as: furniture, flooring, architectural interiors, door, kitchen cabinets, paneling, etc. This wood is also a lot of use to the veneer manufacture to make plywood.  The wood is also has high durability that make it quite common for outdoor uses such as for garden furniture, fens, door, etc.

The properties of oak wood: 

Specific gravity (12% mc)                                          : 0.63 to 0.68
Average weight (12% mc)                                         : 705-753 kg/m3
Average volumetric shrinkage (green to 6% mc)    : 10.8
Modulus of elasticity                                                    : 12, 549 MPa - 15.721 MPa
Hardness                                                                      : 5738 N - 6583 N
The data are taken from: www.americanhardwood.org
 

Finishing for the American red oak wood.

This wood has grain and pore pattern that is unique and interesting. Therefore, the transparent colors are best suited finish for this wood. The transparent finish will enhance its beauty grain and pore. The light stain or no stain with sealer and top coat application to make natural finish is the most used finish for this wood. The transparent finish with dark colors is also much obtained.  With proper stain application, a dark transparent finish which show his beautiful grain and pores can be generated. .
This wood has a varied base color ranging from the white to the reddish brown. To produce an even color then a color equation is needed before it is coated with clear coating. The uses of  sap stain and equalizer stain is highly recommended to make even color finish.
This wood has deep, big and open grain and pores. Since that it is not very suitable for closed pores finish. Tough filling process is needed to fill its pores and grains in producing closed pores finish. The open pore finishes with accentuates the beauty of its grains and pores are more suitable for this wood. With the proper finishing, its unique grain and pores pattern can be enhanced to produce an unique, beautiful and attractive appearance wood product.
Some paint finishes is also good choice for the red oak. It has red big open pores and grains, the application of base coat or paint usually still show its pores and grain structure. The combination of base coat and glaze will produce a nice finished, life and attractive looked.
The paint finish with clean and closed pores is not recommended for this wood. Its big pores and grains will be big handicap to make close pores paint finish. Antique style solid color finish is better choice for this wood.