4 different kinds of oak ?

[Tom Jones III]

I am friends with a young couple who work in (church) missions and they are expecting their first child. I thought I would make them a changing table that is also a chest of drawers, so that when they no longer need the changing table, they take off the top and it looks like a normal chest of drawers. I thought, since I have to setup the tools to make this one, why not make 3 at once and donate the other two to the crisis pregnancy center or some other worthwhile cause.

Now the tougher part, I made my plans and then calculated the total cost of the project. I am looking at a price sheet from the lumber yard, and they list 4 types of oak, all at very different prices. For 4/4 rough oak they have:

Oak, Red (Southern) $2.90
Oak, Red #1 COM $1.75
Oak, R (Appalachian) $3.45
and finally,
Oak, White $2.85

I've never used oak for furniture before, which one is commonly used? I don't want to use junk wood, but I am looking to reduce cost where I can.

[jack duren]

appalachian most common in the north for furniture/cabinetry.

right now white oak is cheaper than red oak(Kansas City) its another good option. browns and greys versus the common red.....jack

[Steve Cox]

#1 common is a grade. It will have more knots, checks, pitch pockets etc than the other ones, hence the cheaper price. I don't understand the difference between Southern and Appalachian, that's not a distinction I see here in the PNW. All of these are Red Oak as far as species go. White Oak is a different wood altogether. Personally I would consider Whte to be superior to Red because I like its' color and because it can be used in boats (I trained as a boatbuilder). Red Oak is the more common wood used in furniture and if you go to a furniture store and look for "oak furniture" chances are it'll be red.

[Mike Cutler]

Those are some good prices for oak, at least compared to New England.
If the decision of the choice of material were mine, it would be white oak, preferably quartersawn white oak, or riff sawn white oak. Red oak is considered to be an economical alternative to white oak, but is has some subtle nuances that need to be considered.
The tanin content of Red Oak can be significantly different from white oak. The grain structure is also the reverse. This can cause some undesirable results with the finish process. It tends to present itself as monochromatic, the dark grain becomes light and the light grain dark.
I've found that Red Oak tends to present a slight greenish hue to it when finished, and it also has a flat depth to it. It will finish well with Gel Stains, eg.. Bartleys. It also paints well, but the grain will require a primer sealer and a sanding sealer coat.
White Oak finishes better in my opinion, and offers a differing range of options for finish.
It all comes down to the finish. If you are looking for the "fumed oak" look or the "antique oak" look. I would steer towards the white oak to start off. My .02 fwiw

[Lamar Horton]

The Appalachian is clearer and has much more usable wood per board and also has a more even color, thus the higher price. The #1 common is, as has been said, has more defects. If you have the patience and the lumber yard will let you, you can pick through the stack and usually find plenty of good usable wood to make your projects.

All the wood in my oak furniture projects has been #1 common. See for yourself here.

Lamar

[Dale Rodabaugh]

I have used both white and red oak.They are both fine woods for furniture.If you are going to stain them there is no difference that I can see.I was paying about $2.25 for red oak,in NW PA.Started buying in OH Amish country,prices much better.The last load of white oak was $.80 a bd.ft.I am currently building an entertainment center with it,and everything is working just fine.

[Tom Jones III]

Thanks for all the help. It sounds like I could go with primarily #1 Common and if I can't find enough good wood there then use a little Southern Red to finish out the project.

Qtr Sawn Oak is $5.00, so that option is out.

In looking at the price sheet, virola and pecan/hickory are the same price as Southern Red Oak. Since I am not tied to oak and am simply trying to reduce the price while keeping quality high would one of these woods be a good choice? It seems like pecan would give a more rustic look while virola would look more like cherry and would be easier to finish, is this correct?

[Lamar Horton]

Tom, I don't know anything about virola but have worked with pecan/hickory, my advice with p/h is that you use one or the other, not both. While some suppliers make no distinction between the two species, there are differences, however slight they may be and they may show up in the finished project. I started a kitchen project with hickory and when I went to get some more wood for the next phase, the supplier gave me pecan. After installing the pecan next to the hickory, the differences in color and grain pattern were such that I had to redo the smaller phase of hickory with the pecan to make it match. HTH

Lamar

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I'm no expert, and I don't play one on TV, but have you considered Ash?

I get 1/4 sawn Ash here in Japan a lot cheaper than normal rift sawn red Oak, and once it is stained you will be hard pressed to tell the diff.

Here in Japan white Oak is fairly common, but it is expensive. It sure is nice wood!

One other thing to consider is mixing you wood with rift and 1/4 sawn, find some nice 1/4 sawn wood for the high vis areas and use the normal rift sawn for the out of sight areas.

One more thing, if you are going to stain it, use a dye type stain, you will get a much nicer finish, IMHO, as the pigment stain really gathers in the new wood areas and becomes dark bands of color, while the old wood areas, take much less pigment, and remain lighter in color. Now some like this kind of finish, with a huge contrast between the dark new wood and the light old wood, I personally think it looks cheap, but hey, that is just me, and each to his own.

Where did you get the idea/plan for this project, it sound like a winner to me, I'd sure like to see some pics when it is done.

Cheers!

[Tom Jones III]

I had not considered ash. Ash is $2.25 compared to Southern Red Oak at $2.90. I didn't know that it was furniture grade wood. I'll look at it when I go to the lumberyard.

I got the idea from here:
http://ww1.potterybarnkids.com/cat/p...Cab&gids=k5067

However, I think it is pretty ugly. I've modified it to have 4 levels of drawers so that they will be a little smaller. I think it will look better and be more useful with 4 levels rather than 3. The design for the chest of drawers is adapted from what I have learned out of Taunton Press's book on Chests of Drawers.