Quercus rubra
Red Oak
Harder than European oak and cheaper, with pores open enough to blow air through. An interior wood, and only an interior wood.
- Cultivé hors d’Europe et importé par des dépôts européens.
- Groupe botanique. Les résineux sont des conifères, les feuillus sont des arbres à feuilles larges.
- Famille botanique à laquelle appartient l’essence.
Être informé du prochain arrivageEssence de référence. Aucun plateau en stock pour le moment.
Convient-il à votre projet ?
Idéal pour
- Interior furniture
- Flooring
- Cabinetry
- Painted and stained joinery
- Shelving
Aucun plateau en Red Oak dans la sélection actuelle
Essences similaires en stock
Aucun plateau en Red Oak pour le moment. Ces essences conviennent aux mêmes projets et sont disponibles.
Soyez informé des arrivages en Red Oak
Nous vous envoyons un e-mail lorsque de nouveaux plateaux en Red Oak arrivent chez KORENA. Chaque plateau est unique, mieux vaut donc être prévenu rapidement.
Aspect du bois
Son aspect
Light to mid brown with a distinct reddish or pinkish cast that separates it clearly from the European oaks. Grain is straight and the texture coarse, with very large open pores in the earlywood. Those pores are the defining practical fact about this wood: they run continuously along the grain and are open enough that the species will not hold liquid, which is why red oak was never used for barrels.
- Light to mid brown with a reddish or pinkish cast
- Very large open pores in the earlywood
- Ray fleck present on quartersawn faces but finer than white oak
- Straight grain, coarse texture, very large open earlywood pores that run continuously along the grain. Light to mid brown with a distinct reddish cast.
Travail du bois
Son travail en atelier
Produces good results with hand and machine tools and it glues and finishes well. It blunts cutters moderately as all oaks do. The dimensional stability is described in the cited source as mediocre, so it moves more than its numbers alone suggest. The very large open pores require substantial grain filling for any smooth finish, more than European oak needs.
Finition
Takes stain and finish well and is frequently stained to imitate more expensive species, which it does convincingly. The large open pores need heavy grain filling for a smooth surface. The reddish cast can fight a warm stain and go orange, so test on an offcut. Tannins react with iron exactly as in the European oaks, so brass or stainless fittings only.
Séchage
Dries reasonably but shares the oak family requirement for a slow schedule, and it is prone to checking and honeycomb if pushed. Volumetric shrinkage of 13.7 percent with tangential at 8.6 against radial at 4.0 percent gives a wide ratio, so flatsawn boards cup. The cited source specifically notes mediocre dimensional stability in service, which is worth weighing against European oak for anything that must stay flat.
De combien va-t-il bouger ?
Le bois gonfle et se rétracte en largeur selon que l’air devient plus humide ou plus sec. Estimez le mouvement saisonnier d’un plateau en Red Oak avant de concevoir les fixations.
Mouvement saisonnier attendu
environ 9,8 mm
Fixez le plateau avec des taquets ou des équerres à trous oblongs, sans colle ni vis trop serrées.
Modèle de retrait linéaire : largeur × (retrait ÷ 28 % de point de saturation des fibres) × variation saisonnière d’humidité. Utilise un retrait tangentiel de 8,6 % pour le Red Oak. Il s’agit d’une estimation de conception, pas d’une garantie.
Son prix
Sécurité et origine
- Cultivé hors d’Europe et importé par des dépôts européens.
- Statut sur la Liste rouge de l’UICN : évaluation mondiale de la conservation de cette essence.
Oak is a documented sensitiser and reactions usually include eye and skin irritation. Severe reactions are rare. Repeated exposure to oak dust carries elevated nasal cancer risk, so extraction is not optional in a production setting.
Lire le guide completNotes détaillées sur la figure, l’évolution de la couleur, le travail et la stabilité.
What Red Oak actually is#
Quercus rubra is the most commercially important hardwood in the United States and has been planted across Europe since the eighteenth century. European grown material is now common enough in the EU market that buying it does not necessarily mean importing from North America, which matters for both documentation and carbon.
It is harder than European oak, stiffer than European oak, and cheaper than European oak. It is also, in one specific and consequential way, a fundamentally different material.
The pores, which decide everything#
In white oak and the European oaks, the large earlywood pores are plugged with tyloses, balloon like ingrowths that seal the vessels. In red oak they are not. The pores run open and continuous along the grain.
The old demonstration is to take a short length of red oak, dip one end in soapy water and blow through the other. Bubbles come out. You cannot do that with white oak.
Everything practical about this species follows from that:
It was never used for barrels, because it will not hold liquid. It is rated non-durable to perishable with poor insect resistance, so it has no business outdoors. It is recorded in this catalogue as not food safe, unlike the European oaks, because open pores hold moisture and residue that a closed grain wood does not. And it needs far more grain filler than European oak to reach a smooth finish.
Questions des acheteurs
Questions fréquentes des acheteurs
Why is Red Oak not suitable for outdoor use or barrels?
Its earlywood pores are very large and run continuously along the grain, so the wood behaves like a bundle of straws. Liquid passes straight through it, which is why white oak was always the cooperage timber and red oak never was. Combined with a decay rating of non-durable to perishable and poor insect resistance, it should be treated as an interior wood only.
Is Red Oak harder than European Oak?
Yes, measurably. It is 5,430 N on the Janka scale against 4,980 N for European oak, and its elastic modulus of 12.14 GPa is higher too. Hardness is not the reason to prefer European oak; durability, stability and colour are.
Is it safe for a cutting board?
KORENA records it as not food safe, and that is a deliberate distinction from the European oaks. The very large open pores hold moisture and food residue in a way closed grain species do not, and the wood is rated non-durable. For food contact choose hard maple or a similarly dense closed grain species.
How do I tell it from European Oak?
Propriétés mécaniques
Données techniques
Valeurs de référence publiées. Lorsque les sources divergent, la plage est indiquée et la valeur courante sert aux échelles ci-dessus.
| Densité (kg/m³)Masse par mètre cube à environ 12 % d’humidité. Un bois plus lourd est généralement plus dur et plus résistant. | 700 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Dureté Janka (N)Force nécessaire pour enfoncer à moitié une bille d’acier dans le bois. Mesure standard de la résistance à l’enfoncement. | 5,430 N |
| MOR : module de rupture (MPa)Résistance à la flexion : charge à laquelle une poutre casse. | 99 MPa |
| MOE : module d’élasticité (GPa)Rigidité en flexion : fléchissement d’une étagère ou d’un plateau sous une charge. | 12.1 GPa |
| Retrait radialRetrait perpendiculaire aux cernes, du bois vert au bois anhydre. Les planches sur quartier travaillent dans ce sens. | 4.0 % |
| Retrait tangentielRetrait dans le sens des cernes. Les planches sur dosse et la plupart des plateaux travaillent dans ce sens. |
