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Thread: White oak furniture examples?

  1. #1
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    White oak furniture examples?

    My wife and I just don't like the look of red oak. It seems like it's everywhere, and the dark, sharp-angled rays make it look a little too rough for our taste. We have some cherry-stained red oak woodwork in our house already. I guess I would prefer to build everything out of cherry, and sometimes maple, but I can get white oak for 1/2 the price of cherry ($2/bf vs. $4.50/bf). White oak is also $0.50 cheaper than red oak here.

    I'm considering using stained white oak to get somewhat of a cherry color and smoothness. Finish will probably be shellac. Does anyone have any photos of white oak furniture they've made?

  2. #2
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    Andy,

    I recently posted this picture of a bookcase I made. Its quartersawn white oak with a General Warm Cherry Oil stain.

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...5&d=1149476225

    ~mark

  3. #3
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    Andy,
    It’s a personal taste thing but I don’t like the look of the flat or plain sawn oak, red or white. Rift sawn is a little better cut. Quarter sawn, IMHO, looks great, is very stable and is what is used in the higher quality pieces. When I’m buying QS I look for a nice tight ring growth of 12-14 rings per inch.
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  4. Wht Oak Example

    Andy:

    Here's white oak solids with an English oak burl.

    Legs, topr rims, edge banding, and drawer knobs all white oak with Poly oil and wax.

    SMC Oak Burl.jpg


    Hope that helps.........Neil

  5. #5
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    very nice oak example neil!

    lou

  6. #6
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    Thanks Mark and Neal, really fine examples. I just might have to try to include some burl in my next project now.

  7. #7
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    Andy
    Here is a pic of a white oak table I built a few years ago. Finished with Watco natural and poly
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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Andy Fox
    Does anyone have any photos of white oak furniture they've made?
    hi andy,

    here's a pic of a mission style coffee table i made from q/s white oak:

    coffee_table_0942_sm.jpg
    Rick in Cowichan Bay, B.C. Canada - 30 miles north of Victoria, B.C.

  9. #9
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    Here's an endtable I made last year, modeled after an old Stickley version. It's quartered WO, dyed with transtint Brown Mahogany.

    endtable.jpg

  10. #10
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    No matter how you stain oak, red or white, it will never look like cherry. If you don't want to spend the money on cherry, poplar WILL look like cherry after you dye or stain it. It might also be your cheapest option as well. But it's not nearly as hard as cherry or oak, so if that's a concern, maple would be next on the list of being most like cherry in grain structure.

  11. #11
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    I agree with those who have posted about QSWO as opposed to flat sawn oak but the price will probably put you at or above the price of cherry.

  12. #12
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    Coffee Table 010.jpgMorris#5.jpgStool#1.jpg

    Some QSWO furniture I've made.................Rod.

  13. #13
    I've used quite a bit of white oak, grown local and milled by me and others. No way you can make the oak grain look like cherry. People have weird ideas about stains and finishes, using one wood stained to look like another. The craziest example I can think of was at a shop I worked, a customer wanted cherry stained to look like walnut. Didn't figure out what they were doing till they got an approved sample. Took the finish guy a couple days of sampling to pull that off. My question, why didn't they just use walnut?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    No matter how you stain oak, red or white, it will never look like cherry. If you don't want to spend the money on cherry, poplar WILL look like cherry after you dye or stain it.
    I've never found poplar to be a very convincing substitute for cherry. (Just a personal antipathy to poplar as a primary wood, particularly when stained.)

    I'd consider dyed or stained birch a closer match, if you've got to have the color and general grain appearance of cherry.

    But if you really want cherry, get some cherry. The wood adds relatively little to the overall cost of a piece of furniture when you figure in your time and other factors. And in the end you have your cherry piece, not some stained something or other.
    Last edited by Frank Drew; 09-26-2012 at 3:32 PM.

  15. #15
    I agree with you. I hope this pic will help you.

    Pine furniture

    White Oak Bedside Table.jpg

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