Oak

Today we had a visit from my in-laws. It was a nice time and I did indeed learn something. My Father-in-law is an avid woodworker. He is very talented and has made some very beautiful pieces. My husband enjoys woodworking as well. He doesn't have the experience that his father does but he is very talented as well. It must be in the genes.

My father-in-law was looking at the play kitchen that my husband made for our children. Conversation turned to how to tell the difference between different types of wood. I learned that one way to tell the difference between White Oak and Red Oak is to try to blow through the grain of the wood. Red oak will allow the air to pass through it but the White Oak will not. My husband and I tried it and sure enough, it's true. Picture how funny we looked with pieces of oak in our mouth trying to see if we could blow through it!!!

I looked online for an explanation and discovered that Red Oak has no blocking Tyloses therefore the air can pass through. If you place one end of a piece of Red Oak in water and blow on the other end of it you will see bubbles in the water. I also learned that this test is not completely reliable because Red Oak that is grown under stress will not blow bubbles.

Just because I was curious I looked up the word "tyloses." It means "a bubblelike formation in the cavity of tracheids or vessels in the wood of trees, consisting of protoplasm intruded from adjacent parenchyma cells." Thanks dictionary.com.

And because I am proud, here are pictures of the play kitchen that my husband made...

Without dishes...

With Dishes...

Isn't it beautiful?!?!? I am so proud of all the work that he put into this!