American White Oak

Overview

American White Oak is a light to medium hardwood with consistent colouring and very attractive ﬁgure, when cut on the full quarter. A highly decorative wood suitable for your niche markets, as well as an attractive and appealing timber for architects, furniture designers and furniture manufacturers.

American White Oak is used for a wide range of constructional work including shipping and boat building, flooring, architectural joinery, exterior joinery, railways sleepers and timber bridges due to its strength and resistance to decay. It is traditional for high-grade furniture, interior woodwork and panelling. Because of its impermeability, the timber is suitable for vats and casks holding liquids such as wine and spirits.

Botanical Name:	Quercus spp.
Standard Trade Names:	White Oak.
Other Names:	Northern White Oak, Southern White Oak, True White Oak, American white oak (Q. alba), chestnut oak (Q. prinus, Q. montana), overcup oak (Q. lyrata), swamp chestnut oak (Q. michauxii).
Origin of Product:
Grade:
Availability:	Available ex-stock in kiln dried sizes from 75 to 225mm wide and 40mm thick.
	PNG Oak
Species information for this product:	The timber resembles European oak, being a mixture of species. However, it is more variable in colour, sometimes with a pinkish tint. The sapwood of American White Oak is light coloured and the heartwood is light to dark brown. The characteristic silver grain figure, due to the broad rays, is shown to advantage on quarter sawn material. The grain is mostly straight with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays than red oak and therefore has more figure. The timber seasons slowly with a tendency to check and split. In common with other species of Oak, White Oak corrodes metals, particularly Iron, Steel and Lead. Blue-black discoloration from the tannic acid in the timber is liable to develop when in contact conditions.

Names
Family:	Fagaceae.
Species:	Quercus spp. Quercus alba. Quercus prinus. Quercus Montana. Quercus lyrata. Quercus michauxii.
Standard Trade Names:	White Oak.
Other Names:	Northern White Oak, Southern White Oak, True White Oak, American white oak (Q. alba), chestnut oak (Q. prinus, Q. montana), overcup oak (Q. lyrata), swamp chestnut oak (Q. michauxii)

Properties

Properties
Density:	550-750 Kg/m3 @ 12% m.c
Durability:	Class 3: Moderately durable.
Colour:	Variable from pale yellowish-brown to medium-brown.
Texture:	Coarse to moderately course.
Grain:	Usually straight.
Figure:	Fine, decorative grain figure on quarter cut material.
Permeability:	Class 4: Highly resistant; heartwood is untreatable and sapwood is comparatively narrow.

Workability
General:	Overall, a moderately easy to work with timber.
Sawing:	Good.
Planing:	A reduction of cutting angle to 20º is often helpful in planing.
Blunting:	Low.
Boring:	Satisfactory.
Turning:	Good.
Nailing:	Nails well, good holding ability pre-boring advised to avoid splitting.
Gluing:	Variable, blue-black discolorations can develop when using PVA glue.
Finishing:	Takes stain and polish very well.

Mechanical

Mechanical Properties
Strength:	SD6.
Structural Grade:	F17 (select grade).
Hardness (Janka):	6.0kN (seasoned), 4.7kN (unseasoned).
Max. Crushing Strength:	51MPa (seasoned), 25Mpa (unseasoned).
Modulus of Elasticity:	12GPa (seasoned), 9.0GPa (unseasoned).
Modulus of Rupture:	105MPa (seasoned), 57MPa (unseasoned).

Seasoning
General:	Seasons very slowly.
Movement:	Low.
Shrinkage:	Medium.