Why use Oak Wood for Woodworking?

Oak wood is among the most popular options used in woodworking for furniture and flooring. Oak wood offers a clear and natural finish, thereby ensuring that your woodworking project, furniture and flooring get a sleek and elegant look. Apart from woodworking, it is also efficient for burning as it has a high content of BTU.

The oak wood is easy to recognize due to the unique grain pattern. It is quite versatile, which is one of the main reasons that it has managed to retain its popularity for such a long time and continues to be the preferable option today as well.

Oak can take on various looks since there are more than 600 species of the tree. It is usually red and white oak, which are commonly used in woodworks but there are plenty of other options as well.

Why oak wood?

You might be wondering why this hardwood is preferred to such an extent in the industry of woodworks. There are a lot of features of oak that contribute to its popularity.

For one thing, it is highly durable and can withstand rough weather conditions. Its resistance to external factors allows it to be used for flooring or outdoor furniture. The material is heavy with a rugged look, which makes for quite stylish and attractive furniture.

There is a chance of the wood discoloring, but it can be glazed and stained easily as the surface can absorb the preservatives efficiently.

Types of Oak Wood

As mentioned, oak is among the sturdiest hardwoods you will come across. It has a rich tone along with steel-like resilience. The best thing is that it is highly versatile due to the various types available. Let us look at some of the options you will come across.

Red Oak

This is one of the most used oak wood types. It has a coarse texture with a straight-grained feature. This material is used for furniture, home fixtures, and shelving and has a pinkish-red color.

The best thing about this material is that it is capable of withstanding pollution much better than other wood types. In the wild, the tree has broad and lobed leaves and is easy to recognize.

White Oak

This variant is also found mostly in North America like red oak. Having medium-to-course texture, white oak is commonly used in flooring and construction. This wood type does not allow much water to penetrate and has longer grain rays compared to red oak.

English Oak

This material is highly popular owing to its consistency, which is similar to steel.  Straight grained and course, this wood is pale brown in color and is mostly used for outdoor woodworking.

Other options

Plenty of other oak wood variants are found as well, which are named as per their grain appearance. Examples include tiger oak, which features brown stripy hue, pippy oak with a grain pattern like cat paws, and burr oak, among others. Bog oak is also quite a rare type of oak wood, which is highly expensive and has vibrant dark colors.

How to work with oak wood?

Working with oak requires plenty of patience and skill. Let us provide you with an example. When an edge on a piece of oak is being routed, it is advisable to cut the profile in multiple passes instead of trying to go about the entire thing in one go. The factor that needs to be kept in mind is that oak has quite heavy graining which can chip or split easily, and large chunks of it can be removed accidentally. Thus, you would not get the results you are looking for if you are not careful with your handling.

Another thing that needs to be made sure while working with oak is that the tools are incredibly sharp. Since oak is a hardwood, it can dull tools. Therefore, it is vital to keep the tools you will be working with sharp.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that oak can burn quite easily. Your bits and blades might not be able to bear the brunt of it. To avoid this problem, you need to make sure that your tools are sharp, and you use them at an appropriate speed. It can be tricky to remove the burn marks from the wood. Sanding will have to be done.

Most professional woodworkers prefer minimal finishing on oak so that the character of the wood is not lost. This minimalist approach works quite well but takes up extra time as additional steps of sanding must be added.

Final words

There is no denying that oak wood is one of the best materials to work with. The most appealing thing about the material is that it has the ability to provide both modern and vintage look to your flooring and furniture. Maintenance is not something you will have to worry about either. Therefore, if you are contemplating on getting your house renovated and are inclined to have wooden flooring installed, this is one material you will find particularly appealing.

The only thing you need to make sure is that the material is only handled by professionals. Oakwood can be tricky to work with, and amateurs might not be able to provide you with the desired results. If you are looking for such a place, one option that would not let you down is The Original Workshop. They offer CNC woodworking services, and you can be confident that you will find optimal precision and finesse in their work.