Is oak good for turning?

Tom Baugues

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Lafayette, Indiana
So yesterday my brother tells me that an oak tree fell down for some reason out on his property. This is Indiana so I assume that it isn't anything exotic, just plain oak. I have read that the cells in oak are too big and it doesn't turn very well. Does anyone have any experience turning plain oak? I can't get out to it until this winter when all the poison ivy is dead, but he said it is a good size tree.

Tom
 
I really like turning Oak -- Red oak is my favorite - white oak next-- I turn most species found in Missouri which are many with many hybridized species also.

It does have an open grain but takes a beautiful finish.:thumb:

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Oak, Hickory are plentiful in the Ozarks so I am glad that I like to turn them.:rofl:

~~~~~~~ NOTE ~~~~~~~~~~~
leafless poison ivy may not be dead - the oil is found in all stages and very potent still.
Oak splits and when oak dries it splits and becomes very hard..
Go get it cut up now and anchorseal it.. Take a long shower with plenty of soap -- helps with the removal of the poison ivy.
 
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Dissenting voice here.
I don't like turning oak, too stringy and grainy for my tastes.
Rounded stuff hard to sand and finish smoothly. Love it for flat stuff.

Here too. Oak makes great floors. I have heard that Red Oak burl is very pretty. I got some layered White Oak burl once. I fought my way through one bowl and gave the rest away.
 
PuShaw... Oak is an excellant turning wood. (Unless you are a greenwood turner) Look at all the Victorian furniture turned when duplicators were invented. Round Tables, Spindled chairs etc. all Oak and beautifully turned. A skew is reccommended then slicing open pores of the wood. Green wood turners are turned off by the fuzzy effect snd the splintering of the open grain but for us Dry wood turners, Oak is a pleasent wood to turn... :thumb:
 
I love to turn burr oak, even wet it is fresh cut. As long as you get the thickness uniform it will end up moving/warping all over without much cracking. Makes beautiful stuff. Makes a mess of things in the shop though because of all the tanin in it...:doh:
 
I just finish turned my first oak bowl, and although the green wood was a bit stringy, the dried wood was pretty easy to handle. No tearout, and although is was a bit more resistant to sandpaper, it finished out nicely.

I'd say if it's available, get some and try it. At the very worst you'll have some good firewood.
 
It looks like some love turning oak and some hate it. I find that its not the easiest wood to turn but can be beautiful. My favorite oak to turn is live-oak, very hard but resists cracking. Post oak is my least favorite, but even that can look really good if you use crotch sections or burls. There are many varieties of red oak, I would not turn down any of them if freshly felled.
 
It looks like some love turning oak and some hate it. I find that its not the easiest wood to turn but can be beautiful. My favorite oak to turn is live-oak, very hard but resists cracking. Post oak is my least favorite, but even that can look really good if you use crotch sections or burls. There are many varieties of red oak, I would not turn down any of them if freshly felled.



Well, for me, oak is a tossup. Spalted white oak can be gorgeous, and I'll take what I can get. Red oak, ehh, maybe if I don't have a lot of other turning wood around. I've only turned a couple logs of live oak, and would take any more I could get. All oak is a PITA as far as hand staining and inducing rust on any metal surface, but live oak is so dense that it cuts incredibly smooth with a well executed shear cut. I found it to actually crack pretty easily even when turned less than 1/4" thickness, DNA soaked, then bagged, but to be fair, the piece of wood I got was a little checked on the ends, but I did cut off a few inches off each end and meticulously check it and soak any micro cracks I found with CA glue. I filled the cracks with black CA glue and it looked great.
 
I like turning oak... got some oak burl from a friend... hard as a rock, but turned a great bowl... I left it pretty thick as there were lots of voids and unusual grain patterns....

also picked up some red oak that had fallen across the road and the local farmer was cutting it up to clear the road... it was still a little green... the grain was open, but not much of a problem to turn... made some beautiful bowls too.


BTW Tom, even in winter poison ivy and poison oak can still give you problems if you're very allergic to it... it gives me fits and even dead and dried vines can still have the urushal (sp) oils...
 
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I love to turn green oak and watch the movement, quite dramatic. The trick is to not get it too close to finished thickness else it will have moved so much that you'll not be able to finish it. When turned on the end grain, the radial annular rings make a great pattern.

fwiw Tom
 
just came across this thread and i may start a riot but i dislike oak period. flat, round, quartersawn, in any shape, form, or fashion. to stringy on the lathe and to me it's just plain boring when flat. just my 2 cents.:p
 
Stephen,

Glad it was only 2 cents worth. I have some spectacular Oak turned bowls.
:rofl:

Come to the Ozarks and share some of the wonderful Oaks, and hickory trees...

Paul

My oaks that I have turned or have access to.

White Oak (Quercus alba), Post Oak (Quercus stellata), Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor),Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus michauxii), Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata)-- Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii), Blackjack Oak (Quercus marilandica),Pin Oak (Quercus Palustris), Black Oak (Quercus velutina), Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea), Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata), Cherrybark Oak (Quercus falcata var. pagodifolia), Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria), Willow Oak (Quercus phellos),Water Oak (Quercus nigra)... wish we had live oak species like we had in Florida.. but these keep me busy.
 
I only turned for one week, and I turned red oak and maple(some soft wood also) All was dried for flatwork, 8/4 stuff.
What was I doing wrong, cause it was coming off and burning my hands. I had to stop a few times it was so hot.
 
This is normal for some very dry wood.
I try to turn most of my bowls while it is green (wet wood).

I will not suggest a fingerless glove to protect your hand -- I will let others do that/

paul
 
I only turned for one week, and I turned red oak and maple(some soft wood also) All was dried for flatwork, 8/4 stuff.
What was I doing wrong, cause it was coming off and burning my hands. I had to stop a few times it was so hot.

As Paul said, this is pretty common with dry wood. It's even worse if your tools are dull. Due to a bad personal experience, I'm real leery of wearing gloves around machinery, but there are occasions where I feel it's necessary. The safety benefits outweigh the risks, IMHO. I do wear a leather buckskin glove on my left hand when I'm roughing a green piece (to protect from flying chunks and to keep long slivers out of my skin) or if chips from a dried piece are burning my hand. I'm very cognizant of where that hand is in relation to the moving parts at all times. With dried wood, though, in a lot of cases you can change your approach to the cut and get the chips to fly somewhere other than on your hand. That's better than a glove. ;)
 
I only turned for one week, and I turned red oak and maple(some soft wood also) All was dried for flatwork, 8/4 stuff.
What was I doing wrong, cause it was coming off and burning my hands. I had to stop a few times it was so hot.

I got to the point I couldn't stand the sensation of the wood coming off the tool and hitting my left hand... it just plain hurt. So now I wear a cut off leather glove on my left hand... I took the fingers out so I can still feel the wood and the tool, but cover the palm, and the side of my hand.

And I'm not sure if I'm correct here, some of you more experience turners correct me if I'm wrong, but if your tool gets hot and the woods feel hot, you tool may not be sharp enough... I know I have problems getting and keeping my tools as sharp as I think they should be.

Okay-- I jumped in before I read Vaughn's post... he pointed out the dull tool thing too....
I watched a demo by Nick Cook last summer... he worked with the glove... mine is relatively close fitting, without fingers and like Vaughn.. I watch where I put my fingers. Spinning wood hurts when it raps the knuckles.. you'll usually get a couple of raps before you get your hand back if it's spinning quick.
 
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