How to tell white oak from red????

[Porkchunker]

I'm in the process of refinishing a wooden boat my father built back in 1958. There are some gunwhale pieces I want to replace, but Dad can't remember if he use white or red oak. Pieces are currently stained to match the mahogany and varnished.

How can I tell which variety I have?

[Hunter25]

Cut a skinny piece of the rail off, maybe 1/4" square by 6" long and stick it in a glass of water, so the bottom is submerged an inch or so. Then blow into it like a soda straw. If you see bubbles come out the end, it is red oak, if not it is something else. Red oak rots very quickly if it is allowed to get wet then dry repeatedly. White oak is the lumber of choice. Red is a poor, weaker cousin, that does not live long on the water.

[SeaSpark]

There has been an article in Woodenboat about this somewhere late 2005. For as far as i can remember the posts in the link below come to the same recommendations:

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Distinguishing_White_Oak_from_Red.html

[nero]

Remove the gunwhale pieces that you want to replace. Rip, sand, plane it to get to the untouched wood below. Red oak has a red tint to it. White oak is white.

[SeaSpark]

From the forum i mentioned above:

Red oak is not always more red than white oak. For example, black oak (which is a red oak) has no red at all. Color is about 50% accurate.

[Porkchunker]

I figured color alone wouldn't separate the two. I was hoping for something about the grain.

At this point, it might be better to strip the old pieces off. But, I believe he glued them with resourcinal before screwing with galvinized screws. I believe I can get the screws out with a little heat and an impact driver. Not sure the resourcinal will give way though.

I was thinking of stripping the varnish and stain off of it, and placing a 3/32" or 1/4" veneer over the top.

Porkchunker

[DGreenwood]

I would think that if the oak was put there in 1958 and it is not totally rotten, then it must be white oak. Red usually doesn't last that long before it rots.
I am sure he would have been advised to use White back then.

[pashbe1]

Use white oak regardless. It might be more expensive but will be better all round.