any ideas?

[Nato]

i was woundering if anyone can identify these boards. is it red or white oak. these boards came from a shoring pit for a sewer pipeline that was put in in the mid 80's. they have been in the ground for over 20 years. i was going to pressure wash them, then dry, and then plane. i have never tried to do this with wood i've pulled out of the ground. i expect to go through some planner blades though. if it works then i'm going to try and get some more. the job i'm on has about 2500 linearal feet of shoring. (boy things were really different in the 80's) has anyone tried this before, to good or bad effect?

 

[kimosawboy]

Before you go wrecking planner blades, you might try running them thru your table saw with an old rip blade on.
My planner blades are mucho $$$ and I would rather sacrafice some sh$&@y old blades then trash my planner blades.
Just my two cents.
Whichever way you decide to go, pics would be nice

G Vavra

 

[Nato]

yeah thats a good idea. i hope pressure washing them does the trick. all i have is a dewalt 13 inch, and those blades aren't cheap@$60 something a set. they don't last to long on "clean" wood either. i figured i'd give this a shot. i hate to see what could turn out to be some cool lumber for furnature just loaded up on trucks and sent to the dump.

 

[mikeb1079]

that long in the ground it would almost have to be white oak. it's much more rot resistant than red. i think your plan will work but i would think you're still gonna have a bunch of grit in those boards. i guess you'll just have to see how many bf you can get out of those blades before they need resharpto see if it's worth it.
good luck

 

[Old Blue]

Would it be worth using a 60 grit belt sander on em before planing to remove more grit?

Old Blue
Subject to predatory taxation in.....
Kali-bone-ya

 

[Dave Boyt]

Probably white oak. I'm amazed it is in that good shape after all those years. Could probably do a positive i.d. if you take a sharp knife, clean up the end grain, and take a good clear close-up so I can see the ring structure. Hope it works out for you. Some people really go nuts for reclaimed lumber.

 

[qbilder]

Aside from the fact that it looks like white oak, it lasted a long time in the ground, which means white oak. White oak doesn't rot away like red oak. I have cut downed rotten logs that you could put your finger in, and they be hard as a rock & solid in the heart. The sapwood rots away but the heart lasts forever. It sinks into the ground before it rots. One of my plans for spring is to collect a load of the old rotted logs for quarter sawing. That property is near Chillicothe, Ohio. Something is killing the white oaks so there are a lot of down or standing dead trees.

 

[Nato]

thanks for the replies guys. my boss thinks it is white oak also.(he is a wood nut also.if i ever want to take a LONG brake at work all i have to do is bring up chainsaws or trees and there it starts! i hope you don't read this george he.he.he)he said that it was pretty common to use white oak for shoring back then. i tested with my meter and it read 45% mc. for red oak. i will try the white oak setting and see what it is. either way the stuff is wet and needs to dry. i will try and post a better picture of the end grain here when our little one goes to nap.(layoff time = dady daycare)

 

[Nato]

ok lignomat meter has only one setting for red or white so 45mc it is. i hope these pictures suffice in identifying. thanks for taking the time fellas, i love this web site!

 

[Dave Boyt]

The photos are pretty conclusive for white oak. Good luck with it. Might put any quarter sawn boards (there are bound to be a few) aside so you can double the price for them.

 

[Nato]

thanks dave, is it the smaller "pores" or the color that leads you to believe that it is white oak. to me it looks a much lighter color then a typical red oak also. although, i know i milled a shingle oak for the first time earlier this year and i never would have guessed it would be classified as a red oak. of the small amount of lumber this crew has pulled out of the ground, there have been just a few pieces that were rotten. there is some big stuff down there also. we pulled out 12"x12" cants also, but they got pretty buggered up from the hoe. i just hope to make some cool stuff from my score.

 

[qbilder]

The tight, consistent growth combined with bold medullary rays is how you easily differentiate between red and white oaks. Once you have seen enough of both woods, they do not look anything alike. Red oak also wouldn't last a year in the ground like that, let alone decades.

 

[Nato]

i'm googling medullary rays! i'm sorry man, i was laughing at "medullary rays" that wasn't the reply i thought i might get. it appears i have much to learn in the identifying tree department. Thanks Guys!

 

[qbilder]

i'm googling medullary rays! i'm sorry man, i was laughing at "medullary rays" that wasn't the reply i thought i might get. it appears i have much to learn in the identifying tree department. Thanks Guys!

LOL No worries. Medullary rays are the lines that give the sunburst look on the end grain. It's the tiger figure on quarter sawn oak.

 

[Nato]

ok googled medullary rays and got an education....well i advanced a grade at least. here is two pictures (one of red oak and one of white.) to help anyone else in the future.thanks qbilder. nate

 

[Nato]

i had to put this in there too. our 3 year old daughter reading my madsens catalog and singing jingle bells,while i was typing this.cheers!

 

[Dave Boyt]

Awwww, thanks for sharing. That's priceless!