Thread: Discoloration on English oak

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

You get used to it...or so I'm told

No, I don't. I've met a few with extremely high pedigree around the world in my 40 year in woodwork and the arrogance to match. And they can eff off, they ain't got anything worth listening to with such an attitude.

Hang on fellas, this is not a witch hunt. We are just a couple of old hands thrashing out a difference of opinion. Sometimes arrogance can be confused with passion and vice versa. I think with our respective 30 and 50 years of experience we are both entitled to an opinion, provided we remain constructive. If an opinion needs to be fortified with arrogance then it becomes less persausive than in its raw form.
Back on subject; It is not unusual for timber to display both mold and blue stain in conjunction with each other. I recall grading oak for the new Parliament House which was rejected due to both, as the material was for visual application. If it had been destined for structural only, I would have only rejected for mold or rot.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Hang on fellas, this is not a witch hunt. We are just a couple of old hands thrashing out a difference of opinion. Sometimes arrogance can be confused with passion and vice versa. I think with our respective 30 and 50 years of experience we are both entitled to an opinion, provided we remain constructive. If an opinion needs to be fortified with arrogance then it becomes less persausive than in its raw form..

Thank's for that rustynail.
I was thinking "Passionately" when replying in my post number 13 to your question in post 12.
I was looking at the post thinking "its getting long " but thought it has to be to explain the lot and to sort out what I was thinking. And when they get long I just march through what I think are the facts one after the other. I just wanted to sort it out and get past my hot headed comment in post 9 as well.

An old Forum made friend once said to me that "Some of the best in depth threads come from people getting hot and arguing . It makes people get off their bum and get passionate about their beliefs and they take the time and state it out "
Ive always thought he was very correct with that one.

I started working at this in 1979 when I left school. So its 43 years on the bench now . 30 years of buying Oak in volume . Just in case you ever read in any of my previous posts with me saying 40 years off the top of my head .

In the beginning 1963 I came home from hospital from being born and my first Bed / Cot was in a back room off Dads Cabinet making workshop . I learned how to crawl in Red Cedar dust which was everywhere until we moved out. Not a good thing to have done . It doesn't count as years at it on the bench but Its possibly got something to do with me sticking to my my beliefs about the subject

You are welcome Auscab. We are, or should be, all products of our experience. I too started out as a tradesman and happily returned to it in later life and continue to ruin good timber in my retirement. My greatest pleasure was the years spent under the watchful eye of an old chap who was the timber selector for the Small Arms Factory during the Second World War, who then moved into global timber wholesale after the war. He was an old timber miller with a wealth of experience both in Australia and overseas. Most people in the Company avoided him like the plague as they were scared of what they construed as his arrogance. I was young and care free. It bothered me not how much he ranted and blustered. I knew he knew a lot more than I did and I was lucky to be there. He was a great teacher. Loud but great. His upcoming retirement was the reason that I was his focus of attention and he was not going to leave any stone unturned (or thrown.) His parting words to me were, "Keep the faith and an open mind. Never stop learning." I thanked him for his patience, we shook hands, he winked and I laughed. "See ya round." We both said in unison. We laughed, turned and walked in opposite directions. He died the next day. Arrogant? Maybe. Passionate? Definitely.