Why is ash veneer a popular oak alternative? Ash is strong and flexible, it accepts stains well and if desired can be stained to closely resemble oak. The smooth dense grain naturally rivals maple in its beauty. Light in tone, ash's fine grain is perfect for satin and high-gloss finishes.
Ash (hardwood)
The grain is straight and the wood is known for its strength and is valued for its suitability in the making of tool handles, baseball bats, and furniture (especially in the restaurant industry where it sees a lot of heavy use). Though similar in appearance to oak, the grain is less prone to splitting.
Pine is the cheaper option
Due to pine furniture being so affordable, it is often the more popular choice. If you're looking to keep the piece of furniture long term then oak is definitely the safer option.
Available in both sustainably sourced fresh-sawn, or storied reclaimed, Ash is a great alternative to white oak in nearly every application. “When folks are looking for a change from Oak, I often steer them to Ash,” said Rob D'Alessandro of New Energy Works fine woodworking group.
For example, ash is lighter in colour than oak. It's also slightly more oval at the tips, while oak tends to be wavy. However, they share the same grain pattern, designs, and contrast.
Other species of oak, such as American White Oak, have a light-to-tan brown colour with a straight grain. Walnut, on the other hand, can have a characteristically sleek cream-to-chocolate brown colour — often with an alluring tinge of purple.
If you're looking for a highly durable and long-lasting piece of furniture, and cost isn't the biggest factor, then oak will be the better choice. If you're looking for less expensive furniture that will last a good number of years, but you don't mind eventually replacing it, then pine is perfect.
Oak wood is prized in furniture making as well as in flooring and cabinetry because of its durability, workability, and natural beauty. White oak has some water resistance to it, so it has historically been the choice for crafting things like wine barrels and boats.
Maple is less porous than oak, which makes it slightly more susceptible to dents and scratches. Because of its consistency, maple also does not absorb stain as well as oak.
Pine. Pine wood is probably the cheapest wood that you can get on a consumer level, but it is also one of the best wood options when high strength and low cost are needed. Pine wood is sourced from the dozens of different pine species that grow natively around the world.
The inventory is low, the demand is at an all-time high and so are the prices. Many are surprised to learn that the availability of white oak is not the issue— as many as 5.2 billion white oak trees cover 235,000 square miles in the United States.
After all, they're both materials that are popularly used for hardwood flooring. That being said, oak is a slightly stronger hardwood product than walnut. Oak is one of the stronger and more durable natural wood options available for kitchen cabinets. It holds up well resisting significant dents or dings.
While birch is not as smooth as say, hard maple, it has a much smoother surface than red oak. Instead, oak has a raised grain which results in its surface being rougher and more coarse than birch.
Oak can be expensive to buy, but this is offset by its many strengths. As oak is a slow growing wood compared to many others, it takes a long time to reach maturity, when it can be felled and used for timber. As it is slow to produce, this naturally drives up the cost.
Many people think that oak kitchens are old and outdated. And yes, they've been popular since long ago because they're a heavy-duty durable material and because oftheir timeless appeal. But they're long from outdated.
In recent years, however, it has taken a back seat to other materials, but oak is once again becoming popular with the trend towards natural materials. The top 6 oak kitchen cabinet trends for 2022 included natural colour and design versatility, which indicates that oak is back in style.
Oak cabinetry is making an enormous comeback in the home design world thanks to their classic, timeless beauty and versatility. The natural warmth and character of oak is desirable for many homeowners looking to add a timeless element to their kitchen décor.
Final Thoughts. Oak is more durable, denser, and attractive than poplar, but also more expensive.
Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF
An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.
Douglas fir is a quality softwood which is readily available in the UK and ideally suited to structural framing. Although technically not as strong as oak, it can confidently be used in the same way as oak within frames in very similar sections.
As a general rule of thumb when selecting the best wood, hardwoods will be more durable than softwoods and will last longer. Most hardwoods used in the United States for wooden table tops are white oak, red oak, hard maple, cherry, and walnut.
Warm tones will appear as yellow, orange, or red. You'll find them in most unstained woods like walnut, white oak, red oak, and maple.
Both hardwood floor types are durable, although white oak has a slightly higher hardness level. According to the Janka hardness scale, white oak's rating is 1360, while red oak has a 1290 hardness rating.