Oak is among the most beautiful woods for all types of woodworking projects. It’s known for being tough, durable, and when finished properly it can look amazing! However, if you haven’t heard yet, working with oak wood can be a real pain.

Fear not! If you’re really up to the challenge, there are a few things you can do to help you get the results you want with minimal effort.

Oak types:

There is a lot of difference between oak species. For example, European oak is usually of a higher grade than the American variety that even churches and ships since ancient times have mainly used. English oak has always been known to be durable and beautiful; today, different concentrations are available between species. American oak, on the other hand, doesn’t always have the best notes. In some cases, however, American white oak is preferred to red oak because the latter tends to shrink as it has open grains that make it porous. In contrast, white oak has firmer grains and is almost waterproof.

Carpentry with Oak:

Now that you’ve learned a bit about the differences between varieties, the first rule of thumb is to remember that working with this type of wood requires a lot of patience. Oak requires more finesse than relying on brute force. To give you a better idea, when you are routing the edge of the wood, instead of going through its entire profile in one pass, it is better to cut it in two or even make three passes. Due to its graininess, oak splinters or splits easily when you are routing its edges and you will end up removing unnecessary chunks of the material instead of just a few tiny chips. This result can often be frustrating.

The second tip if you are working with oak is to always make sure all your tools are very sharp. Since oak is a hardwood, you can easily dull tools more often than other materials, so always make sure your woodworking tools have been finely sharpened every time you work with oak.

Oak also has a history of being susceptible to burning, so in addition to keeping all your woodworking tools at their sharpest point, modify operating tools, such as the router bit, to the proper speed to avoid this problem.

Oak finish:

Most carpenters prefer to have a minimal finish to fully show the character of the oak. Anyone who opts for the minimalist approach should also consider taking some time to sand. You should use fine-grit sandpaper and do a progressive job to prevent sanding lines from forming. As for shellac, it is commonly used to seal oak. In most cases, you can apply the shellac after oil staining to better seal your color. Once you have done this, you can cover the visible blemishes with the help of a grain filler paste, followed by the gel stain. The final touch that you can make when working with oak wood is usually an application of a few coats of polyurethane to perfect the look.