However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.
I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.
Health Hazards:
Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Red Oak has been reported as a sensitizer, which means that the more one is exposed the more severe reactions can become. Usually most common reactions simply include eye and skin irritation, as well as asthma-like symptoms. In addition to these concerns, the long-term negative effects of exposure to sawdust of any species are well documented.
It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.
Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.
Complete information about health hazards associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.
Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Red Oak.
My Personal Experiences:
I have turned White Oak before in both bowl and spindle formats but this was my first experience with Red Oak.
As far as the experience of turning is concerned, I couldn’t tell you the difference between turning White Oak versus Red Oak, but my specific experience with Red Oak is as follows.
I didn’t find Red Oak to be an ideal turning wood and that is reflected in the fact that retailers specializing in turning wood tend to not stock Red, or White, Oak. When turned, the wood is very splintery so it can be difficult to achieve a nice finished edge particularly. As previously noted the pores on Red Oak are enormous so the end grain areas on a rounded object tend to be difficult to make smooth without the use of wood pore filler, a practice I have never yet employed.
On the plus side, the rays do create a nice appearance on an otherwise fairly plainly colored wood. Red Oak does respond well to sanding, although it has essentially no natural luster so sanding to very fine grits will not be rewarding. And Red Oak does take a finish nicely.
At the end of the process, you can achieve a nice turned wood bowl using Red Oak but with so many other readily available domestic hardwoods in the same relative price range it probably just makes more sense to use a wood that more readily lends itself to turning on the lathe. Woods such as Maple and Cherry come to mind in this category.