Slab lane

Rustic Oak

Quercus rubra and Quercus alba, mixed (a grade, not a species) · Fagaceae

The oak slabs that would not make a clear grade and are better for it: knots, checks and fills are where the tree's history shows. Same North Carolina logs as our clear oak, with the character left in.

Origin: Eastern North America; OCC stock is North Carolina sawmill, urban-removal and storm wood
IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Shop Rustic Oak in stock (3)All live edge slabs

Pictured: (Pre-Built) Rustic Oak Classic Cut Tabletop #PB046 125" x 44" x 1.9"

About Rustic Oak

Rustic Oak is a grade, not a species: red and white oak slabs with the knots, checks, bark pockets and mineral streak that a clear grade would cull. Color runs from the pink-brown of red oak to the olive-brown of white oak, with the coarse straight grain and bold ring pattern common to both. The character is the point, so we stabilize loose knots and fill checks with epoxy before flattening, and an oil or hardwax finish leaves that texture in hand. It suits dining tables, benches, mantels and bar tops where a clean board would look out of place. We sell it for indoor use. Milled and kiln dried in Zebulon, NC.

Working & finishing

Both oaks machine well with hand and power tools. Knots chip cutters and burn at the router, so slow through them. Stabilize loose knots and bark pockets with thin epoxy, flatten, fill checks and voids, flatten again, then sand to 180. Oil or hardwax oil suits the grade and is easy to spot-repair around fills; red oak's open pores want filler under a film finish. Oak blackens on wet iron, so coated or stainless fasteners.

Care

Indoor use only regardless of species: fills and checks are water paths, and red oak is non-durable even though white oak is very durable. Wipe spills quickly; the open pores of red oak wick water. Oak has the highest T/R ratios in the group, so a wide top moves with the seasons and the base must allow it.

In stock now