Your guide to solid quarter sawn white oak furniture

Strong and true: the solidness of quarter sawn white oak looks equally beautiful on a Mission style dining table with bench or Arts & Craft style round pedestal dining table as it does on a farmhouse style dining table. With its intrinsic durability and unique open grain pattern, it is the perfect solid wood choice for an active family, busy work place or a dining room centerpiece.

Description of quarter sawn white oak

With a straight cut the white oak grain pattern is straight with a coarse, uneven texture. Adding the quarter turn cut to the white oak reveals a wonderfully different and stunningly unique grain pattern. Similar to a tigers stripes, quarter sawn white oak sections will display the beautiful ray fleck patterns that are hidden in a straight cut. The longer rays also gives white oak more figure* than other species of oak.  

While the heartwood of white oak is a light to medium brown, the sapwood is nearly white to a light brown and is not always easily delineated from the heartwood. When left with a natural finish, white oak can sometimes appear to have a very slight olive cast to it that tends to disappear with age.

Rated as a very durable hardwood, it remains one of the easiest to work with of the hardest hardwoods. This makes white oak an exceptional value and a true favorite or both woodworkers and customers alike.

*In wood, figure refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface (side-grain): a "figured wood" is not plain. The figure of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and, in part, due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood. Figure (wood), Wikipedia

Quarter sawn white oak grain

   

History of quarter sawn white oak

Commonly found growing through the eastern part of the United States, the white oak classification is actually made up of several different species of trees. Preferring rich and well drained soil, white oak trees will reach an average height of 60 to 80 feet.

Being naturally resistant to liquids and extremely rot resistant, white oak has been used extensively for ship building and the construction of barrels and casks.  

White oak is the state tree of Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland. Connecticut’s state quarter was minted in 1999 and features its famous white oak tree, The Charter Oak.

The Charter Oak got its name is 1687 when Captain Joseph Wadsworth saved the Connecticut Charter from the British by hiding the original Charter in the oak tree after a British representative for King James II challenged Connecticut's government.

In 1856 The Charter Oak tree fell during a violent storm. The oak was then crafted into a number of chairs that are still on display in the Hartford capitol building.

 Quarter Sawn White Oak Stain Colors

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Janka Hardness Scale

The Janka Hardness Scale measures the relative hardness of a wood species. The higher the number, the harder the wood species. This test measures the force required to push a .444” steel ball halfway into the wood. The Janka hardness scale is one of the best measures of a wood species ability to naturally resist denting and wear. In addition, all of Home and Timber’s solid wood furniture is finished with a Catalyzed Varnish adding an additional layer of protection.

Janka Rating	Wood Species
660	Douglas Fir
860	American Red Elm
950	American Cherry
1010	Black Walnut
1360	Quarter Sawn White Oak
1450	Sugar Maple
1820	Hickory

Quarter sawn white oak furniture examples