Last spring, I bought a lot of white oak (mostly QS) for a project from an independent sawyer. I didn't get quite enough for my project (which is a 5-piece set), but I figured I would pick up more when I started the final piece. When I started milling it, I thought "gee, this looks a lot closer to red oak than I expected" (I've built several pieces recently from red oak and my wife and I agree we've got enough). But I thought: surely I must be wrong, certainly the sawyer knows what he's talking about.
Then in the spring, I won a batch of QS white oak (from The Woodworking Source, IIRC) and thought "great! now I'll have plenty to finish my project. When I picked it up, I thought "gee, this looks exactly like what I expect white oak to look like". I got it home and found that there was a pretty strong difference between that and the first batch. Too much difference to use them together on my project.
So I come seeking the collective wisdom of the group. I know there can be variation from one tree to the next...and possibly greater variation among a species harvested from different geographies. But I don't know how much. I've got pictures of typical pieces from each batch below (shown both raw and finished with 2 coats of blonde shellac).
Q1: Is my suspicion that one is red oak, rather than white, justified?
Q2: Is there any reasonable way for me to positively confirm that it is one or the other?
TIA!
Chris
Then in the spring, I won a batch of QS white oak (from The Woodworking Source, IIRC) and thought "great! now I'll have plenty to finish my project. When I picked it up, I thought "gee, this looks exactly like what I expect white oak to look like". I got it home and found that there was a pretty strong difference between that and the first batch. Too much difference to use them together on my project.
So I come seeking the collective wisdom of the group. I know there can be variation from one tree to the next...and possibly greater variation among a species harvested from different geographies. But I don't know how much. I've got pictures of typical pieces from each batch below (shown both raw and finished with 2 coats of blonde shellac).
Q1: Is my suspicion that one is red oak, rather than white, justified?
Q2: Is there any reasonable way for me to positively confirm that it is one or the other?
TIA!
Chris