Red Oak or White Oak

[Larry Browning]

If it is this hard for you to tell whether it is red oak or white oak, what does it matter? Decide what you think it is, tell your wife that you are 100% sure, and go with it!

+1 for this answer! At the end of the day it really does not matter. You should be able to pretty well match the color of the floor with either. Around here RO is quite a bit cheaper than WO and eaiser to find as well.

I have a chest of drawers in our bedroom that I made with a mix or red and white oak. Only a real expert could tell which parts are which.

[Scott T Smith]

I read once to tell Red Oak from White Oak is to take a piece and dip one end grain side in water and blow from the opposite end, if you make bubbles its Red Oak. If I have this backwards someone tell me I wrong, Red Oak is more porus.

Ed, that is correct *most* of the time; however there are a few species of white oak (I recall three) that are also open pored (Chestnut oak being one of them).

[Scott T Smith]

If it is this hard for you to tell whether it is red oak or white oak, what does it matter? Decide what you think it is, tell your wife that you are 100% sure, and go with it!

Scott,

I have never done that test, but I need to try it!

It's a great way to be 100% sure. Sometimes it's hard to tell just by looking....

[Curt Harms]

And, if you decide to go with the RO ply..........I strongly recommend the few extra bucks per sheet to get flatsawn ply, rather than rotary....rotary always looks weird to me. But - if you are cutting it into chunks, like for cabinet sides, the rotary effect disappears.

I agree with flat sawn plywood vs. rotary cut. Rotary cut can have large cathedral grain which is pretty distinctive. Flat sawn ply can look like solid wood to the casual observer. Of course you're unlikely to get flat sawn ply at a borg for $39/sheet.