White Oak

Scientific name:
Quercus spp

Other names:
None

The white oak group comprises many species, of which about eight are commercial. The trees prefer rich well drained soil, and average height is 60 to 80 feet. White oak is the state tree of Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland

Weight:
A cubic foot of weighs white oak approximately 62 pounds when green and 48 pounds when air-dry.

Use:
Furniture, flooring, architectural millwork, mouldings, doors, kitchen cabinets, paneling, barrel staves (tight cooperage) and caskets.

General characteristic:
The sapwood is light-colored and the heartwood is light to dark brown. White oak is mostly straight-grained with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays than red oak. White oak therefore has more figures.

Working properties:
White oak machines well, nails and screws well although pre-boring is advised. Since it reacts with iron, galvanized nails are recommended. Its adhesive properties are variable, but it stains to a good finish. Can be stained with a wide range of finish tones. The wood dries slowly.

Drying and shrinkage:
the radial shrinkage (the width shrinkage in a quarter sawn piece) is fairly low, while the tangential shrinkage (which is the width shrinkage in a flatsawn piece) is quite high. Drying white oak slabs is somewhat of a problem as you cannot impregnate white oak with any helpful chemicals. Putting them all in a freezer would work, although it would take a lot of time. Otherwise, very slow drying.

Durability:
A hard and heavy wood with medium bending and crushing strength, low in stiffness, but very well in steam bending. Great wear-resistance; it is moderate resistant to attack by decay fungi.

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