White Oak Price; Good Deal or Not?

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  • Dan Nielsen
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2002
    • 106

    White Oak Price; Good Deal or Not?

    I bought some white oak from a nearby mill yesterday for the next boat project. The owner charged me $8 for a rough cut 1x8 that was 12 feet long. If I have it right, this comes to $1/bf. You have to pick through the piles yourself but the hunt will usually yield good quality stuff out in the yard. Some green and some 1 to 2 years old. Hard part is telling white from red oak on the aged wood. I am never certain, but try to pick the stuff that looks 'whitest' with a knife cut. Anyhow, seems like a deal to me. Whadda tink?
  • gary porter
    Senior Member
    • Jun 2001
    • 1435

    #2
    Originally posted by Dan Nielsen:
    I bought some white oak from a nearby mill yesterday for the next boat project. The owner charged me $8 for a rough cut 1x8 that was 12 feet long. If I have it right, this comes to $1/bf. You have to pick through the piles yourself but the hunt will usually yield good quality stuff out in the yard. Some green and some 1 to 2 years old. Hard part is telling white from red oak on the aged wood. I am never certain, but try to pick the stuff that looks 'whitest' with a knife cut. Anyhow, seems like a deal to me. Whadda tink?
    Dan, the $1 bdft is a good price if your getting the wood you want. Take a very sharp knife with you and just slice a bit off the end., There is a big difference between red and white oak that can easily be seen by eye or a small 10x lens. The red will have obvious pores (hollow) The white pores will be clogged. You can also smell a difference if you are at all familiar with the smell of cabernet wine,,,thats white oak.
    Gary

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    • Venchka
      Geezer #160something
      • Apr 2000
      • 6386

      #3
      I'm envious. That's about the same price as pine fresh off the mill in east Texas.

      Too bad he doesn't keep the red & white apart.

      Wayne
      In the Swmap.
      Wayne
      Somewhere in Texas

      Originally posted by Yeadon
      The Straight of Georgia looks big.
      http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/ven...isabeth+Grace/
      http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/venchka/

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      • Steven.Bauer
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2002
        • 2156

        #4
        Those little holes Gary is talking about make all the difference between red and white oak. If you take a piece of red oak say 1" by 1" and 6" long you can put one end in a cup of water and blow in the other end and bubbles will come out! Now think about that piece of wood in your boat.
        I told the guys down at the hardwood store about this and they didn't believe me. Good thing we were in a hardwood store. We took a piece of red oak but they didn't have a cup handy. So Mark, ever a resourceful guy sticks an end in the toilet and blows a bunch of bubbles. While we were all laughing our heads off we had to explain to the customers that walked in what we were doing. Sounds like a great deal, but make sure you're getting what you want.

        Steven

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        • kc8pql
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2004
          • 3510

          #5
          A buck a foot is about average around here for run of the log, green red oak. The price goes up for graded lumber. I'm a little suprised that the red and white mixed together. White is a bit rarer and usually brings a higher price. Be careful of the moisture content, depending on what you're going to do with it. Moisture in piles "out in the yard" can vary widely.

          Ken

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          • Ron Williamson
            Rocketman
            • Apr 2000
            • 7884

            #6
            The white part is sapwood,which you don't want.
            R
            Sleep with one eye open.

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