Ok folks...What is roasted oak?

[Matt Armstrong]

It's what you get when you try to cut 8/4 QSWO with my forrest blade

[harry strasil]

whiskey barrels are charred inside to give the aged liquid its color, butter churns and buckets and barrels are heated (toasted) so as to shrink the wood on the inside and make it curve to conform to the curvature of the barrel, Also there used to be dry coopers and wet coopers, dry coopers made flour, sugar and cracker barrels, wet coopers made barrels to hold liquid.

[harry strasil]

My Jointer plane is made of Burr Oak, which has a nice tan color.

[Matthew Hills]

My money would be on it being what other places call "toasted oak":

Mountain Lumber’s Toasted Oak takes a new approach to hardwood flooring. Using a carefully measured heating process, we slowly raise the wood’s temperature thus reducing the wood's moisture content. The finished product is harder than regular oak flooring and naturally resistant to moisture, mold and mildew. The heating process also enriches the oak’s natural color without the use of chemicals. Unlike a surface stain, our Toasted Oak’s dark luxurious color penetrates the wood and provides a consistent color throughout.

[John Callahan]

Ok folks...What is roasted oak?

Might have been the flooring my boss was trying to rip some years ago with a little wiener tablesaw and a way too dull blade- more than a little smoke and left a cut black as night.

[harry strasil]

Could be a typo, the "r" and "t" are right next to each other on the keyboard. And Toast is a nice light brown.

[harry strasil]

Enhanced picture.

[Brian J Page]

So, while reading this thread I was curious...and I Googled "roasted oak". One of the top 10 hits was this thread...doesn't help me with more information, but cool to see.

[Peter Quinn]

It really does exist, this toasted oak, or roasted oak, or what ever the seller prefers to call it. my boss has been using it for several years now, mostly in flooring, and it seems to be gaining in popularity. Mostly they have been using red oak, as the heating process obscures its otherwise putrid color and gives it an air of dignity. It makes one of the cheapest woods look stately.

I have also seen roasted/toasted birch, ash and poplar come through the shop. The birch is quite striking, like closed grain walnut. The poplar is being touted as good for exterior decking. Jury is still out on that one.

None of this stuff is a pleasure to work with for proper wood working. It stinks like a house fire or a mesquite potato chip factory on fire, it tends to fall apart now and then, and its so dry it doesn't always take glue well IME. Worth a look to draw your own conclusions, but if you don't fall in love, your not alone.

[harry strasil]

now you know why I don't use google, try a yahoo search

[Noble Bowes]

Well I haven't been woodworking that long yet but I do claim to know wood fairly well.

The wood was dark very dark like walnut. It did look like oak just the color was way to dark. So dark it could have passed for being stained. It was all rough lumber. It doubt it was fumed as I am working on a Morris chair right now an have been studying ammonia fumed wood rather extensively.

I challenge any of you to go to your local WC and see if they carry it. I wish I would have had my camera.

If the creek is stumped then I am writing it off as a gimmick!

I use Roasted Oak, Ash and figured maple in making guitars. the beauty of this wood is that it is consistently the same colour through and through. If you have a dark stained oak floor and scratch it deep enough the lighter wood shows through and is very hard to hide. Not so with roasted.
2 shops carry it near where I live

note that I roast my own in an ordinary electric oven. (1 piece at a time when I need it)

[Peter Quinn]

The commercial stuff is done in special high heat low oxygen kilns. The low oxygen is because they toast it hard, sort of like the first stage of making charcoal, briquets, and they don't want it to catch fire. It smells burnt. And it does't always absorb glue. I've had to size the joints with watered glue, then re-glue full strength on occasion. Not sure if its sucking the joint dry because the wood is so dry, or not allowing the glue to penetrate because the cells are totally closed. Its difficult in any event. I believe one accepted industry term is "torrified lumber", though I haven't seen it marketed that way in the US. Sounds too close to terrified, or tortured. Way less pleasant than "roasted", but more accurate too. Its handsome, I particularly like the birch, and lightly toasted ash is handsome too. Unfortunately what you gain in color and stability you lose in strength and workability IME. Nothing is perfect.

[ray hampton]

I use Roasted Oak, Ash and figured maple in making guitars. the beauty of this wood is that it is consistently the same colour through and through. If you have a dark stained oak floor and scratch it deep enough the lighter wood shows through and is very hard to hide. Not so with roasted.
2 shops carry it near where I live

note that I roast my own in an ordinary electric oven. (1 piece at a time when I need it)

Do you have smoke detectors in the same room ?
this sound like a good idea

[Grant Wilkinson]

My buddies use it here for furniture pieces. Most of that they use is maple or ash, but they have used some oak, too. As Peter stated, here at least it is called "torrified". It smells burnt and when you cut it, the smell is really strong. I did a bandsaw box from offcuts of the maple. Nice to work with, but stinky.

[Joe Spear]

Lee Valley has a set of chisels with wooden handles that are treated like that. It is supposed to harden and stabilize the wood.