Red Oak – What is the red oak wood used for?

Every region has a unique ecosystem; the plants and trees that grow in these ecosystems are usually not the same.

They can be from the same family or resemblances; however, they would also have significant characteristics.

For example, the cherry tree grows in almost every corner of the world; however, the cherry trees in America are black or dark brown, while the Japanese cherries are lighter colored and pink-hued.

Although they are the same tree, the ecosystem has changed them.

In this article, we will be talking about one of the most popular wood types in America:

The Red Oak, and what are the red oaks used for?

Keep reading this article to get a general knowledge about the red oak and its tree and the connection of red oak to Scandinavia mythical gods.

Let’s get started with the article, shall we?

The Red Oak: (History & Myths)

The red oak tree grows in the southern and northern parts of the US and Canada; you can also find some breeds of Red Oak in Great Britain and Scandinavia.

Because this wood is one of the most durable woods in the region, it is usually used to craft furniture and decorative objects.

The red oak has a light-colored wood, and the weight of the wood is at the average level.

The red oak sometimes has red leaves; that’s why it is called the red oak.

The local Indians of America used to create items to worship and carry with them as protective totems.

However, the red oak is considered a mythical tree, and let us tell you why.

They say that nature finds a loop hole for every imbalanced incident, meaning that if something is unnatural, the mother earth always finds a way to balance the order.

For example, Europeans and Americans have the myth of werewolves, humans that turn into wolfs on the full moon; needless to say, this fact will disturb the balance of nature, so there is a curse on these creatures that allows them to turn only when the full is the moon.

The same goes with the red oak; legends say that once there was an entity named the blood woman, and legends suggest that when she died, she sold her soul to the devil, which made her nothing human.

However, the blood of the woman created a tree named the red oak, the leaves of the tree were as red as her blood, and the wood from that tree was the only way to destroy her.

This was nature’s way of balancing nature.

A similar myth goes for the American legend, the vendigo.

Vendigo was a human that starved to death and then fed on the human flesh to survive, and this action made them a monster that could be killed only with a spike of red oak.

Now that you have a basic knowledge about the red oak and its history, let’s get to the next section of the article and see the uses of red oak in carpentry?

What are the uses of red oak?

The red oak is considered a hardwood.

Therefore it is the perfect substance for craft cabinets and outdoor projects; however, some carpenters use the red oak wood to craft decorative items like sculptures and furniture.

We might say that UK royals usually use this wood to build their royal furniture.

The grains on the red oak wood are much straighter than the traditional oak, so it is much easier to cut into pieces.

Finishing the red oak wood, however, is not that easy.

The wood is dense and complex, meaning it might take double the time to dry out.

Besides, some of the regular finishes on the red oak wood might not be permanent.

The other use of the red oak tree is the ability to be used in flooring.

We are sure you have seen some vast houses with wood flooring, which looks stunning because the red oak is hardwood. It is kind of perfect for flooring jobs.

Some individuals even use the red oak to build walls for their homes and forest cabins.

Because the red oak is a hardwood, it performs much better with machine tools. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot use hand tools like chisels or hand saws such as dovetail.

But it would be so much better if you used a machine tool to alter the structure of the wood.

Here is a graph comparing walnut to red oak in the matter of tools:

Comparison: Red Oak & Walnut

Red Oak	Walnut
Best for machine tools	Best for hand tools
Hardwood (outdoor, indoor projects)	Softwood (indoor projects only)
cheap	Much more expensive than red oak

You have to keep an eye out for the red oak dust when working on it; although this wood doesn’t have any severe reactions to the human body, it can cause skin and eye rash, which can be dangerous.

Now that you know the main uses for a piece of red oak wood let’s conclude and summarize all of the statements in this article.

In the end

There are so many types of woods that carpenters usually use to craft wood craftsmanship.

But in this article, we talked about wood, which is popular almost in every location of the world.

The Red oak tree.

The wood extracted from the red oak tree is hardwood, meaning that it is hard to shape; however, you have to consider that this wood is perfect for projects that demand the most durability in a piece of wood.

Remember that the red oak can be used for floor work, meaning that you can make your living environment more beautiful by using this wood as a flooring material.

And the last thing that we have to mention is the price of the red oak wood; this wood is pretty cheap in US and Canada; however, when we get farther away from its natural habitat, the prices go higher.

In the end, we are happy that you stayed with us until the end of this article; if you have any additional feedback about the “Red Oak – What is the red oak wood used for?” article, you can use the contact section right below this article to reach us.