OK, so if, in my opinion, oak is the best wood for carving in, why don't we make all of our signs out of oak? Because it is not the best wood suited for outdoor signage. For carved outdoor signs, we use Western Red Cedar or Redwood (and note, we have gotten away from using redwood for signs as it just costs way too much bling)
The thing I like about oak, is that it holds details extremely well. It is basically like carving something in rock, (and it is just about as hard to carve). We do almost all of our carving right now using a computer-controlled router, which means that the hardness of oak does not pose a problem for us, and the benefit is that you can see every dimple that we might want to realize in the carving.
The problem with oak for signs, is that it simply will not hold up outdoors. We know that cedar lasts, as it has natural tannins in the wood the resist rot, water and bugs (yes, you have to worry about critters getting into the signs).
The sign pictured here is actually just a test piece that I did years ago to try out some different features of the carving software that I use. I used oak as I had some just laying around, and was flabbergasted by the amount of detail that it held. One of those "Eureka" moments for me!
So, does oak have its place in a sign shop? Yes, it is my wood of choice for any carvings that are going to live indoors, and of course, the beautiful wood grain of oak means that it can be simply stained and you have a wonderful carving that will be a sign in the present, and an heirloom in the future.
