[ceabrm]

i bought this table in the late 80s (it's very old)
and after being passed around the fam, i have it back.
i've always hated that dark stain and began to plane it off. underneath is a beautiful golden sort of color that (i'm assuming) is white oak?
parts look quarter or rift sawn, and others look flat
the last photo is a piece of red oak from the local lumberyard i found under the workbench

 

[Newton]

Table looks to be quartered White Oak. Purchased piece is Red Oak.

 

[rwe2156]

Looks like one board? So it has quarter and rift sawn in it.

 

[firefighterontheside]

Is it veneer?

 

[ceabrm]

no, not veneer.
it's the strangest setup; boards are true 3/4" but ends are 7/8". the back has a 3/16 backer of solid wood as well but i can't identify the wood. not pine, not poplar. it has a tight grain but it's a soft wood that's very yellowish. very, very easy to hand plane even with less than sharp blades.

 

[Lazyman]

the back has a 3/16 backer of solid wood as well but i can't identify the wood. not pine, not poplar. it has a tight grain but it's a soft wood that's very yellowish. very, very easy to hand plane even with less than sharp blades.

That actually makes me wonder if it may be veneered. Most tables I have refinished had a show veneer on the top and a fairly thick veneer on the bottom. It is possible that the core is actually be solid wood and they just put the show veneer on the top but that is not very common in my experience for anything made in the last 50 years or so. The end grain is probably the best place to tell for sure. If the end grain is actually end grain and appears to match the top grain, then it might not be veneer.

 

[ceabrm]

i dont think there's any way this was built within the last 50 years. most likely it's from the turn of the century. looks almost exactly like this one.

 

[ibewjon]

Do you have a picture of the top before you started to work on it? The original grain looks like it was a dark finish applied with a graining comb. I have seen a lot of it in our family furniture from the late 1800's and early 1900's.

 

[ceabrm]

Do you have a picture of the top before you started to work on it? The original grain looks like it was a dark finish applied with a graining comb. I have seen a lot of it in our family furniture from the late 1800's and early 1900's.

haven't touched the main top yet, there are 2 leaves that slide under the main top at each end and i'm working on those first.

 

[builtinbkyn]

There's a good chance it's Southern yellow pine. There was tons of it used the early part of the last century for sub flooring, building details (both interior and exterior) and furniture. The flooring was mostly quarter-sawn, for strength, but I came across rift-sawn floors too. That's my guess and I'm sticking to it. ;p

 

[ceabrm]

There's a good chance it's Southern yellow pine. There was tons of it used the early part of the last century for sub flooring, building details (both interior and exterior) and furniture. The flooring was mostly quarter-sawn, for strength, but I came across rift-sawn floors too. That's my guess and I'm sticking to it. ;p

i don't think its syp...the grain is very tight, and it doesn't have anything like a pine smell. i think it's even softer than pine. i don't think it's an american product at all, maybe english. maybe it's a type of pine found in the u.k.? it's almost balsa-like in its softness and weight. the piece below is about 20" long, 1.5" x 1.5" and it's like picking up air...

 

[builtinbkyn]

i don't think its syp...the grain is very tight, and it doesn't have anything like a pine smell. i think it's even softer than pine. i don't think it's an american product at all, maybe english. maybe it's a type of pine found in the u.k.? it's almost balsa-like in its softness and weight. the piece below is about 20" long, 1.5" x 1.5" and it's like picking up air...
View attachment 3857945
View attachment 3857946

This is the same wood as the table top???

 

[JCamp]

From the first picture it looks like a oak grain. It also looks like they’ve done something with the stain to make it look like tiger stripe oak (not sure if there’s a official name for it) with the dark and light stains cause the grain appears to continue to run straight through all of it. In my limited experience table tops tend to be laminated with a veneer of a nice wood on top. It surprises me that there was enough for you to even plane without going through it all the way. I guess if it’s old enough it’s possible that it is a solid top. One way to know for sure is to drill a hole through it and while that would answer the question I doubt you want to do that. Lol.
Also the wood in question on the bottom could be bass wood. It’s a American grown tree so if it was made here it would make sense that they’d use it. Folks use that wood for carving cause it’s so soft.

 

[ceabrm]

This is the same wood as the table top???

no, this piece was part of the underneath. each leaf has these two 20" long runners

From the first picture it looks like a oak grain. It also looks like they’ve done something with the stain to make it look like tiger stripe oak (not sure if there’s a official name for it) with the dark and light stains cause the grain appears to continue to run straight through all of it. In my limited experience table tops tend to be laminated with a veneer of a nice wood on top. It surprises me that there was enough for you to even plane without going through it all the way. I guess if it’s old enough it’s possible that it is a solid top. One way to know for sure is to drill a hole through it and while that would answer the question I doubt you want to do that. Lol.
Also the wood in question on the bottom could be bass wood. It’s a American grown tree so if it was made here it would make sense that they’d use it. Folks use that wood for carving cause it’s so soft.

both quarter sawn and rift sawn

connected to the underside of the oak. they each have a 1/2" dowel about halfway along the length which acts as a stop when you store them under the larger top.
but whatever the species is, it's the same as the 1/8" underlayment that runs the entire length of the leaves and the top.
really odd...i can't figure out why they didn't use the same species as the rest of the table.

 

[Lazyman]

That looks a little like luan or maybe rubber wood? Even 100 years ago it was common to use less expensive woods for non visible pieces.