I’ve turned Red Oak before and I didn’t care for it then as a turning wood and I don’t care for it now. Oak is so porous that it is essentially impossible to achieve a truly smooth end grain surface. With so many excellent turning woods out there I don’t care to turn woods that really don’t lend themselves to the purpose, but I had the blank, I paid for it, so I decided to do the best with it that I could. It isn’t perfect but what it is it isn’t that bad.
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!