WOOD QUESTION

[preacher]

I fond some Red Oak yesterday, 1"X12"X10'

Absolutely beautiful wood with a dark rich color. I didn't buy it because it seems to be heavy but was wondering if it wouldn't be good for accenting a stripped deck or for some trim work on our boats?

[barditch]

Preacher, it is heavy, and it is harder than a banker's heart compared to WRC and white pine, or cypress. But, having said that, it would be beautiful trim, deck, and highlight material. I just finished a mantle for a guy's cabin a few months back that was made of red oak w/maple inlay, and it was really lovely.

[bowgarguide]

Preacher
Friends of mine had trouble with it checking.
I have never tried it.
Ron

[preacher]

Preacher
Friends of mine had trouble with it checking.
I have never tried it.
Ron

Uh oh! I read this too late. I just came back from Depot with a 1"X4"X6'. Maybe it won't be a big deal I want to run a 3/4"X1/4" strip on the top of Honey Bee's gunnels to cover where the rubrail and inner rail sandwich the sidewall. Is gunnel the right word for the side walls? Anyway I thought the hard wood would work better on top and experience less indention when banged around by all the fish TCF is going to catch.

Also. Please pray for the rain to stop for a while! My epoxy is taking days to cure out enough where I can do any sanding!!!!

[barditch]

Just my opinion, but the oak should do all right for that purpose...be pretty, sure enough!
Re: The prayer...can't help you there...I don't want to be on the record praying against rain, anytime...it's too much of a sometimes to occasional thing down here! Just 'cause there's mud on my boots tonight doesn't mean there won't be dust in everything in three days!

[Pogo]

Red oak isn't a what I think of as a boat building wood, but rather as a fabulous furniture/cabinet making stock. But depending on the application, it can be a decent choice. Your suggested use sounds like one of them to me; you need a harder wood that can take some punishment, but the sizes you state won't weigh you down. Looks great too. Perfect!

As far as I'm concerned, 'gunnel' is the term for the top edge of the side of an open boat. It would generally be called the 'sheer line' on a decked boat. Gunnels are generally thickened areas, for obvious reasons. On wood boats as we know them, they tend to be sandwiches of inwales, outwales, and the hull side as the center. But using just an inwale or outwale without the other is often done too. Still adds up to a gunnel. It would probably be called a 'weak gunnel' if it were just a plain unadorned hull side.

[gerald]

I have never used red oak for boat building EXCEPT on my marathon boat where it was used as a wear strip on the back section of the keel. During a particularly brutal Texas Water Safari (262 miles) the fiberglass was worn off all of the wood composite boats that finished the race. Mine and Doug Rhude's boats has similar wear patterns down to the wood. Both boats survived very well. When the red oak was exposed it just kept trucking along and suffered very little wear. So...in that case, about 2" wide 1/8" thick and 4' long, it worked very well. It is too heavy for anything else.

I've never seen a checking problem with red oak.