Pin Oak


Cliff

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Anyone worked with pin oak? Thoughts?

A guy called me up, he has 24 foot long pin oak log, 12 inches thick at it's thinnest, 18 at the thickest. I said, sure no prob. I mean, should be interesting. Got a couple of guys local that can cut it up for me. And can store out in my parents machine shed while it dries. 

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I've read a lot here in the last hour or so about how it's very undesirable. But that just means I'm not going to build any furniture for my house. I should be able to find other uses for it. 

He said it's a real good looking log, so it might not be extra stupid. We'll see. I am keeping my expectations low. 

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I wish I had a fireplace or wood burning stove.

One possible use I've thought of is comic book frames. That would be a lot of 1.5-2" wide pieces so I could easily chop out knots. I guess I'll see. If I must, I can chuck it out the side of the machine shed into the pile of random wood pieces slowly rotting away out at the farm.

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I was considering something very similar. I want my comic book frames (and I'd like to sell these, I am friends with comic book store owner) to not have a wood grain at all. I originally wanted to do them with mdf and powder paint but I lack the oven to cure the paint.

Of course, I wanted to bang out lots this year, and I'm quite sure this wood won't be dry that fast unless I find someone with a kiln. One thing is certain on that front: time to buy a moisture meter.

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Well if you don't want wood grain then oak is the wrong species.  As others have mentioned, pin oak is a red oak and they all pretty much look the same to me.  Coarse grain, deep pores. 

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After finishing my shop walls, I used the leftovers for stickers, and jigs. I also use it to make some tool holders and run through the planer in front and behind good boards to avoid snipe. It's used to make sure my bandsaw is resawing well after a blade change. It's been very useful and handy to have around.

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38 minutes ago, Mike. said:

Well if you don't want wood grain then oak is the wrong species.  As others have mentioned, pin oak is a red oak and they all pretty much look the same to me.  Coarse grain, deep pores. 

If it's between getting turned into firewood or painting it then I'll paint it black and then gloss it up. Is what I'm saying. If it isn't up to par for furniture then it will really only be handy for scrap and little things here or there. It's sad that it isn't already dried cause I could find more uses for it right now than I will in however long it will take to dry.

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With the level of tannins in that, I would have a go at a real ebonizing process.  It's less smelly and cheaper than painting.  Get some ferrous sulfate and dissolve it in distilled water.   You can buy the sulfate nearly anywhere - it's dietary iron and people make it into supplements.

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  • 1 month later...
On January 5, 2016 at 10:46 AM, Janello said:

After finishing my shop walls, I used the leftovers for stickers

 

On January 5, 2016 at 11:32 AM, Lee Bussy said:

With the level of tannins in that

When used for stickers, wouldn't oak stain the drying lumber because of the tannins in it?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Got this thing cut up today. $140 total, includes the cost of him driving 60 miles round trip. 

I'm pretty happy with the results. Shout out to @MatthewCremona for making great videos on this subject and also answering my questions about stacking these things when I bugged him. We're going to strap them down with some wire next. 

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The first couple we carried 40 feet. The first 2 I carried by myself (20" wide, 8/4, 8.5' long) Then I was pooped out so it was tractor time.0XLcLKq.jpg

 

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Painted the ends with old latex paint, brick red.

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Neat deal Cliff. When I stickered my walnut, I put 11/4" angle iron across the top and bottom at 3 locations and joined them with 3/8" threaded rod. Over the last 16 months I've tightened the nuts on the rods 4 or 5 times. I'm amazed at how much they shrink. Good luck with yours.

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Are you going to cover it? I've seen pics and videos where some did and some didn't. I made 1x4 frames that fit over mine, wrapped the sides with ground cover cloth and put corregated metal sheets, held down with bricks over the top.

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