On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:50:54 +0000 (UTC)
Jules Richardson wrote:

On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:31:42 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:
The whole point of the excercise is to not paint any of this - I hate
painting miles of skirting and it always looks crap when the paint chips
off.

Yes, I know what you mean. For our kids' rooms I just got cheap pre-
painted stuff at something like $40 for 100lf - I figure it'll get bumped
and scraped and stained, but at that price I don't mind just replacing it
every few years (it's not exactly a time-consuming job).

For our downstairs rooms (which, in typical 'farmhouse' style, have never
had anything), I'd like to do something in red oak to match our tables
and the stair rail that I put in and spend a bit more time on it...

Wish I understood wood!

Yes, me too. I can work "with it" reasonably well, but I don't
"understand it". Frustrating at times - but whether there are any good
online resources or books I can make use of, or whether I need to bite
the bullet and go one some kind of course, I'm not sure.

cheers

Jules


Buy some offcuts, plane them, and look at the figuring.

The differences between Oak species are obvious, but not just color
(colour). The main differences are how they look when cut in various
ways.

Oak, like most true hardwoods, has two grain structures. Those that
run up the trunk and carry the sap, and those that run across the
trunk. The net effect is that there is a big difference in appearance
depending on how the tree is turned into lumber (timber).

R.