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Thread: Acid in Oak Bookcases

  1. #1

    Question Acid in Oak Bookcases

    Howdy. I heard many years ago that oak in bookcases may have an acid that eats or stains books kept in them. Anyone else heard of that?
    I am about to buy some 3 or 4 bookcases, and the oak ones are cheaper.
    I haven't made a final decision on which ones to get, so if anyone has bookcases for sale (or a stereo component cabinet), in the arts and crafts style, brown, light brown or redish brown, new or old, please let me know.

    Thanks,
    John Templeman

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    Welcome to the 'Creek, John!

    Oak is heavy in tanic acid, as are many other commonly used woods. IMHO, it shouldn't be an issue once a finish is applied...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Mt. Pleasant, MI
    Posts
    2,924
    Ditto Jim.

    The Tannic acid can play heck with getting the finish on especially waterbased but once it is on it shouldn't be any worse then any other wood.

    Joe
    JC Custom WoodWorks

    For best results, try not to do anything stupid.

    "So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause." - Padmé Amidala "Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Dumfries, Virginia
    Posts
    425
    Finish on wood only acts as a détente on moisture moving in and out of it. Plywood, even when finished, exhales acidic moisture. That's why you should store metal tools on solid wood shelves not high with acid content.

    It is possible that some of the tanic acid could migrate as the finished book case breaths.
    Possumpoint

  5. #5

    Oak Acid

    Thank you all for your input on the Tannic Acid bookcase problem.
    It is truely fine to find a forum where woodworkers can talk to woodworkers without the static of sales biases. Truth, at last!
    John Templeman

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Shoreline, CT
    Posts
    2,923
    In closed spaces, such as barriesters bookcases, the acid from oak could be a problem, and most finishes, including one part polyurethane finishes are not good blockers of it, and some contribute their own problems. Short of specialized conservator's products, such as foil laminate systems, shellac is the superior blocking finish. Strongly recommended for closed bookcases housing valuable books, or any books you mean to keep for a few decades.

  7. #7
    Welcome John!!


  8. #8
    Oh Yea John, Welcome to the creek

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