Oak for masts?

[GuntherMT]

Good day all,

 

I'm curious why I've never seen any logs mention the use of oak for mast material.  I'm certainly no expert on period masts, but what I read many years ago would seem to indicate that masts were mostly of either oak or pine, and a quick Google search seems to back my memory up on that - http://www.thesparshop.org/resources.php

 

I can also remember from way back in my high-school days when I read a great deal about the sailing ships of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, lines about the 'forests of oak' when referring to fleets in port.

 

Is this true, or am I misinformed?

 

I ask because I found some very nice oak dowels in the local Lowe's store, in various sizes, and I would think they would make much nicer looking masts than the plain white'ish wooden dowels that are included in the kits I've seen.

Thanks,

[GuntherMT]

Oak is unsuitable for modelling use because its thick grain looks our of scale.

 

Thank you Brian.  That makes perfect sense, but never even occurred to me!

[wefalck]

People had to use what was available. However, oak would be rather heavy and not very elastic. Therefore, some sort of pine was usually preferred.

 

And, indeed, most prototype woods are unsuitable for models due to the coarse grain and/or open pores.