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The Friday Five
Every Friday in your inbox. This is the issue we sent on October 23, 2026.
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Subject: Knotty Notes - The Friday Five - Black Walnut Up Close, The Ultimate Guide to Wood Storage and White Oak
Curiosity, Craft and Creativity Before Your Weekend Build
Hi All,
Fall is when shops get busy and craft-fair tables start filling up.
Five quick things this week to help you build better, and maybe sell a few pieces along the way.
Pour a coffee. Let’s get into it.
This is a Black Walnut five-pack getting picked.
Every board comes off the stack and gets laid out side by side before it goes in a pack.
We’re looking at colour, grain and how the boards sit next to each other, so the five work together in one build.
See the swirl near the middle board? Sometimes one board brings a little extra character, and it earns its spot.
Five boards, picked by hand, so you open the pack ready to build.
A board can be perfectly flat the day you buy it and cupped by spring.
Usually it’s not the wood. It’s how it was stored.
Boards cup and twist when one face gains or loses moisture faster than the other. This guide shows how to keep every board changing slowly and evenly.
Get the stack off the concrete, line your stickers up in vertical columns with one at each end, and put some weight on top.
It also covers the moisture content to aim for and what dry Canadian winter air does to your stock.
With the heat about to come on in a lot of shops, this one’s timely.
→ Read: Storage for Wood: How to Stack, Sticker and Protect Your Lumber
Rehearse the glue-up.
Before any glue comes out, do a full dry run with every clamp you’ll need.
Set each clamp’s opening ahead of time and lay them out in the order you’ll use them.
Put cauls, a damp rag and a square within arm’s reach.
Then do the real one. It goes calm and quick because you’ve done it once already.
Beginner motivation: A five-minute rehearsal makes the glue-up a lot less stressful.
At about 1,360 lbf on the Janka scale, White Oak sits just above Red Oak (about 1,290). It’s hard enough for floors and benchtops but still predictable at the bench. With sharp tools it machines cleanly, holds a crisp edge and makes joinery that lasts.
Its tannin is what you plan around.
Steel fasteners can react with it, so reach for stainless or brass.
Stain darkens fast on oak, so always test on an offcut first. Clear oils bring the grain to life, and if you want a glassy film finish, fill the open pores with a grain filler first.
White Oak is the cooper’s wood. Its heartwood lets so little liquid through that it’s still the choice for whisky and wine barrels, and that same toughness is why a finished piece stands up to hard daily use.
Use 4/4 for cabinetry, trim and cutting boards, and 8/4 for table legs, benchtops and stair parts.
→ Read: White Oak Lumber: Timeless Strength, Refined Grain, and Enduring Beauty
“Charge for the hours they can see and the years they can’t.”
Have a great weekend!
— John and The Knotty Lumber Co. Team
P.S. Lumber Five-Pack of the Week
If Tuesday’s bath mat or vanity top caught your eye, this is the stock for it.
Five matched White Oak boards: hard, stable, and happy in a room that sees water.
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