RED OAK

[RusticJoy]

I know you all think I am a MASTER woodworker, but yes yes I too need help every so often.

So I have never finished anything before, I have made a coffee table for my wife out of red oak. I know it is a very poris wood and if I remember right it needs to be filled before finishing. Am I right or wrong? I want to stain it to make it darker because my wife likes a darker look. Please help me out here guys, I have put a lot of time into this table and want it to turn out right.

[Clint Brickl]

I have finished a couple of projects now that were made out of oak. Some I have stained, some I have not, but I used a wipe-on poly for all of them. Since I have only been woodworking for a few years now, I am still new to all of this, but my understanding is that if you want a glass-like finish that is really smooth then you should use something to fill the pores. If you want the feel of the wood grain left in your project, then you do not. Personally I like having the wood grain look and feel to my projects. I understand your worrying about messing up a project that you have put a lot of work into. I always get nervous, especially when I am staining the piece. So far I am pleased with the way each one has turned out, but I still get nervous.

[PaulMarcel]

But you are a Master woodworker (but only an apprentice poster for the moment ).

Okay, sensei-RJ, red oak is porous, yes, but you don't need to fill it to finish it. Well, unless you plan on putting a lacquer or other mirror-flat finish on it. Personally, grain-filled red oak with lacquer on it looks like, uhm, what do you call that vinyl wallpaper people in the '70s would line their kitchen drawers with? Yeah, that.

I've never stained oak before so no help there. Usually just clear coat it. I think stains are going to super highlight the grain. If you go pretty dark (like General Finishes Java), the contrast won't be so harsh (and likely will be quite nice).

You can get a pretty good idea what the General Finishes stains will look like on oak if you go to the store and look at the stain placards. They have one row of oak itself. While relatively small, you should be able to see how much it darkens the cathedral lines.

-- grasshopper

[Sac]

If you are looking to stain an fill it, the Aug 2010 issue if Popular Woodworking has an article about filling pores. I know that recently there was something else that also talked about it but I cant think what it is right now. I have stained red oak before and it does look nice. I guess it just depends on what you are trying to do with it and what kind of surface you want. If it is a cofffee thable and there is the possibility of food being put o it, I think thaty it might be a good idea to fill the pores. This will fill up with dust, dirt and anything small enough to fit in there. Is it going to have water that might get onit, you might want to use something that is going to be very durable, like poly. There is a process that uses Poly and sandpaper to fill the pores.. you can also use a grain filler. Good luck, let us know what you do or if you have more questions..

[Vic]

But you are a Master woodworker (but only an apprentice poster for the moment ).

Okay, sensei-RJ, red oak is porous, yes, but you don't need to fill it to finish it. Well, unless you plan on putting a lacquer or other mirror-flat finish on it. Personally, grain-filled red oak with lacquer on it looks like, uhm, what do you call that vinyl wallpaper people in the '70s would line their kitchen drawers with? Yeah, that.

I've never stained oak before so no help there. Usually just clear coat it. I think stains are going to super highlight the grain. If you go pretty dark (like General Finishes Java), the contrast won't be so harsh (and likely will be quite nice).

You can get a pretty good idea what the General Finishes stains will look like on oak if you go to the store and look at the stain placards. They have one row of oak itself. While relatively small, you should be able to see how much it darkens the cathedral lines.

-- grasshopper

Hey Paul,

I was talking with RJ earlier in the chatroom and, yes, he wants a high gloss finish. I don't remember the pore filler Marc likes to use, but hopefully someone will.

[Beechwood Chip]

I'm good at remembering. For Red Oak and other open pored woods, Marc recommends either a flat (non-gloss) finish, or filling the pores by wet sanding with shellac and wet/dry sandpaper. If I remember correctly.

[billboard]

I have made a few red oak bowls recently from a tree my Dad cut down. I used 3 coats of a 1/3 mix of shellac, BLO and mineral spirits. Then 2 coats of shellac on top of that. I actually like the grain.

[DeanJackson]

I know you all think I am a MASTER woodworker, but yes yes I too need help every so often.

So I have never finished anything before, I have made a coffee table for my wife out of red oak. I know it is a very poris wood and if I remember right it needs to be filled before finishing. Am I right or wrong? I want to stain it to make it darker because my wife likes a darker look. Please help me out here guys, I have put a lot of time into this table and want it to turn out right.

Get the stain you want, and try a test coat on a scrap piece of the same wood. A dark pigment-based stain on raw oak will probably look bad; I've ruined a project that way. You'll ideally want to do a wash coat of thinned varnish or dewaxed shellac, let it dry, sand lightly, stain over top of that, let it dry, then apply the finish as usual.

Generally, you don't need to completely seal the wood before the stain; if you do that, oak tends to look plastic-y or fake, as with that much grain, you should feel some of it.

[RusticJoy]

would the pre color conditioner from Charles Neal be a good thing to put on before staining my project?

[PaulMarcel]

His conditioner is for blotch control. Oak isn't blotchy so it doesn't have any blotch to deal with, but it will partially seal the pores resulting in a lighter staining. If you wanted to partially seal the surface to lighten up the stain, I think I'd opt for dusting it with shellac before the blotch control. By spraying the shellac, you'd get an even distribution. Wiping on the conditioner will pretty much fill the pores with it and mostly seal them (filled in the sense of with the liquid conditioner; by the time it soaks in and dries, it will be at the pore's surface; I'm not implying a pore filling).

[Karl Bauer]

I have had very good results filling the pores on red oak with this: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2003&filter=wunderfil

[jcm44]

I made this bookshelf from red oak:

http://niblet.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=10723&g2_serialNumber=2

I didn't use a pore filler on it as it is so dark the filler would have made it look like plastic, I think, or at least fake wood. The unfilled pores allow light to reflect differently and I like the look. I wish I would have made it a shade lighter though. It was an espresso stain followed by a java gel stain. It looks black, but in reality, it is a very dark brown. I am going to experiment with dyes. My wife is looking for that pottery barn look, but its rather hard to copy.

[kep1019]

I had good luck filling the pores by wet sanding in Watco oil and using a plastic spreader to pull the slurry across the grain. Let dry a day and applied 2 more coats as normal and topped off with a coat of wax applied with 0000 steel wool.

[CJC5151]

I'm good at remembering. For Red Oak and other open pored woods, Marc recommends either a flat (non-gloss) finish, or filling the pores by wet sanding with shellac and wet/dry sandpaper. If I remember correctly.

you remembered right almost. one key mistake. do not dry sand with shelac. you would have absolutly no time to work, you need to use a poly

[mdbuilder]

you remembered right almost. one key mistake. do not dry sand with shelac. you would have absolutly no time to work, you need to use a poly

This table and chairs is red oak(actually 6 total chairs in the set), I did it about 3 years ago. I think I'd do a different finish if I were doing it today but at the time I was new to finishing and didn't know much. It is Minwax waterbased poly in golden oak. The problem with it is the color changes with each additional coat, it has held up well but the finish muddies the grain a bit. It was easy though, 4 coats applied with a foam brush if I remeber right...