Charliedog Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 Found a guy selling white oak 4x4's used for shipping drilling pipe. It sounds like its to good to be true 10 foot 4x4 white oak for $5. So my question is how can I make sure that it is indeed white oak and that it will be useable to make something other than firewood? He has almost 700 of them and he will let me pick through them, they are a older (how old I don't know) so no moisture issues, and other than avoiding any knots or broken boards what should I look for? Any info would be greatly appreciated I have never bought any reclaimed wood or white oak for that matter so this new to me. Thanks a bunch in advance for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdworking Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 If it looks like Oak, then it probably is. Pick out the best and as many as you can haul. Good luck. Let us know how you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 and other than avoiding any knots or broken boards what should I look for Embedded nails and other metal that would give your planer a traumatic surprise. -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 i have a hard time finding the difference between white and red oak i think red has open end grain white had closed end grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 i have a hard time finding the difference between white and red oak i think red has open end grain white had closed end grain. That's my understanding. You can blow air through a short piece of Red Oak end grain as if it was a bunch of very tiny straws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pants Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 i have a hard time finding the difference between white and red oak i think red has open end grain white had closed end grain. Make a barrel out of unknown oak. If it holds water it's not red oak . In my limited experience, red oak does seem to be a little more open in grain, and is typically a little lighter in colour. White oak seems to have less open grain and is a little more brown. I can generally tell them apart if they're side by side. As for the deal, it sounds like it could be a winner. If possible I'd look at the end grain to see if it includes the pith and how the grown rings are. From my understanding (which may be completely in left field) if the grown rings are fairly consistent (i.e. fairly round not oblong) the wood should be more workable as there wouldn't be a lot of compression hidden in it. Even if it's red oak though 10' of decent 4x4 stock for $5 would still be a good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Any oak sound like a good deal but its dunnage so nails and oil may be an issue. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 A 4" x 4" x 10' board is 13+ BF divided by $5.00 is .38 cents a BF (if my math is correct) how much of a ripoff do you think this is? Even as firewood it seems like a fairly safe buy to me. I cant even buy pine at that price! Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWW Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Its likely not high quality lumber, most likely the pith wood. But with that said, $5 each might be worth taking a peek for some folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VRuthRyan Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Check if its been treated with anything, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charliedog Posted December 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks for the info guys, I haven't look at the boards yet gona try in the next few days. I a going to asume that as NWW stated there is going to be pith wood in the boards, and I'll just have to work around it. An other concern that I had was that since they were used to bundle drilling pipe could the force of the weight that was excerted on them cause the boards to bow or cup excessively when I start to work them. My plan was to pick out a couple and take them home and work them a bit to make sure. Check if its been treated with anything, too. Other than a visual and a smell test is there any other good way to test this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 This was an interesting article... http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/ It has a video on the 'straw' test; has a good explanation (and close up photos) of what the end grain looks like for each; and has a chemical test (using sodium nitrite). if you are going to visually compare them, get a short piece of red oak as a reference, and bring some sharp chisels to clean up the end grain. you could also buy just one of them "to see how well it cleans up', and do all your testing in the safety of your shop. Beware any toxic chemicals that might have been spilled on them. That could warrant a call to a company that deals in that sort of material (drilling pipe) to see if it's likely anything might have leached into the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Also check it with a scraper. Most railway and trucking dunnage is Ash not Oak. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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