Laminating with dry clear red oak

[Mac Harriman]

Looking for comments on using red oak for floors and laminating repair on white oak frames

[Venchka]

Don't take my word for it because I haven't done it.

Use the Search feature. Look for red oak. Most folks here don't care for it.

For what it's worth, I had to have a huge red oak tree removed from my yard. About 4' across at chest high-rotten, rotten, rotten! There was maybe 6" of wood around the perimeter holding the thing up.

[Stephen Hutchins]

I once asked the same question on this forum-never got an answer. It seems to me that if the red oak was sealed completley with epoxy that it would work. If you resaw the dry oak thin enough, you could bend laminated frames. I don't know for sure though, because I haven't done it. Besides, I can get douglas fir for less than the red oak, and I know that works. As far as your question: my answer is I dont know. Let us know how it goes if you try it.

[Bob Smalser]

The Red Oak group has open pores and low decay resistance...the direct opposite of White Oak.

Epoxy might fill the pores but won't do squat about decay resistance after age/checks/scuffs/fasteners let water in.

You'd be much better served by DF heartwood for floors if you can't get White Oak, IMO.

Think 50 years ahead.

[ 09-27-2003, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[L.W. Baxter]

Mac-- in his book, "Go Build Your Own Boat," H. Payson claims that all he's ever used for framing is red oak...and that after decades of experience, he hasn't found it to be a problem. Ol' Dynamite may not be the foremost expert in his field, but he is an experienced builder and user of boats, and I think the point is that one should not turn down his nose at the materials he has on hand...he also says, however, that when buying oak of either red or white, if you see any rot in any of the stock, don't buy any of it!... for what its worth...

[imported_Steven Bauer]

If you take a small piece of red oak - say 3/4" x 3/4" that is 6" - 12' long, and you stick one end in a glass of water and blow on the other end you see lots of little tiny bubbles come out the end that's in the water! - Is that what you want the floors of your boat made out of? Down there in the bilge?
White oak - no bubbles.

Steven

[Scott Rosen]

I wouldn't consider it except for a small boat that would be dry-sailed and stored under cover. Even then, I would try to use something else.

[ishmael]

Members of the red oak family, there are several in NA, really aren't suitable for framing in a closed boat. They've been used successfully in open boats in northern climes, but for the reasons of porosity mentioned I would look for something different.

There's a temptation to use it in new construction that is laminated, but there remain enough questions re how well it laminates that I would pick something else even for that.

In Minn. you are outside the normal range for WO, but you might be able to find some sawyers in Indiana or Ohio or even S. Wisconsin who saw it.

Good luck. Mahogany, or Fir would be suitable for what you propose, and are likely available, at much higer costs, at a good lumberyard. But you aren't talking a lot of stock so...

[Mrleft8]

"The closer a plank of oak gets to the water, the whiter it gets"
If you treat the Red oak with an appropriate fungicide, you'll be fine. Determining what an appropriate fungicide is, however, is another question.

[imported_Steven Bauer]

I still stand by my bubble statement. Once you've blown bubbles through a piece of solid hardwood you will never want to use that hardwood in a boat of any kind.

Steven

[RGM]

How's this for a bumper sticker; "Friends Don't Let Friends Build with Red Oak". Remember, the boat you save may be your own. Use a different species of wood that is more suitable for that task. Good luck.

[Lucky Luke]

I have done repair of broken 2"x2" oak frames by laminating in situ with 1/8 thk white oak on 1914 schooner "Morwenna". That was (and still is) OK. I would like to send you pictures and comments, as I think that these would be of some interest for a few people, but I have no idea of how to post the pics here. Can anybody tell me the way to do, here or on my E-mail adress?

[Pernicious Atavist]

i find that the west system i applied over my red oak rails keeps lifting off, almost like i had applied. over oily wood. i called west techies and, though they did their best--even had it as a topic at one of their meetings--they had suggestions, but no answers as to the cause.

my response is not to use epoxy on red oak, only because i can't make it work for me. maybe it's god's way of telling me to stick with varnish, just like when i tried running a powerboat and it kept conking out--i should stick with sails, oars, swimming, whatever....

[Venchka]

Let's throw in not mixing dissimilar woods glued together and I think we have a quorum against red oak to fix white oak. I'll vote for white oak repairing white oak.

[Bob Miller]

Mac, do not do a thing to regreat. NEVER. and I mean Never!, use red oak for anything other than furiture. In boats, the grain must be closed to the capulariy migration of water. White oak has tylos to fill and block the grain so that water is not wicked up to the zone where rot can take place. Besides, white oak is so easy to find, why would you want to use anything else! Just to see if anyone is watching what we say here, let's see if we git a rise to the free oak! RWM