Brian D wrote:

Nobody mentioned it, so I will. If you are using epoxy, be aware that white
oak can sometimes work, sometimes not. I've heard a lot of arguments as to
why, but I've not seen a lot of answers for how to guarantee that epoxy will
stick to white oak as well as it sticks to other types of woods.

I suspect that the problem lies in the tannic acid in the wood. I've been
working with green red oak lately, which discolors tool beds and cutting tools,
and the wood ends up with black streaks where you cut it with steel tools or run
it across an iron tool bed. Anyway, the point is that epoxy is neutralized by
acids, which is why vinegar is used to clean up uncured epoxy spills. It
neutralizes the epoxy so it will not cure, making it easier to remove. I suspect
that the same thing is happening with the tannic acid in oak.

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Regards

Brian

Al ) writes:

...It made the Cedar out to be a rather brittle material,
although easy to work, although no precise mechanical properties are
available in my edition (1957 reprinted '60).

Appearance is a secondary consideration to strength in this
application and ease of working.

eastern white cedar is actually durable and easy to work. that's why
natives used it for the ribs and lining of birchbark canoes over all the
other native woods avaiable to them. clear, staight grained cedar was
split into 1/8 thick lining planks by hand. I owned a 22 year old cedar
skiff from www.cedarboats.com as a boy. Whenever my grandfather wanted to
whittle anything he'd pick out a piece of cedar from the wood pile.
Easiest wood to split to kindle a fire. I assume western red cedar would
have similar qualities. I use the red cedar in the framing on my small
cheap plywood boats along with lumberyard spruce.

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