Wood species
Live oak wood
Live oak is a hardwood (Quercus virginiana). It weighs about 62 lb/ft³ (986 kg/m³), 5.1 lb (2.33 kg) per board foot.
Also called: Quercus virginiana.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, 12% MC
- Not measured
- Weight at 12% MC
- 62 lb/ft³ (986 kg/m³)
- 5.1 lb per board foot
- Specific gravity (oven-dry weight)
- 0.88 at 12% MC volume
- 0.80 on green volume
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 9.5% tangential
- Radial 6.6%, volumetric 14.7%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Why: Measured by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory; live oak's density is worked from its specific gravity with the Handbook's own equation.
How much live oak moves
A 12 in wide flatsawn board of live oak that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content swells about 0.24 in (about 1/4 in, 6.2 mm). Quartersawn, the same board moves about 0.17 in (about 5/32 in, 4.2 mm). Flatsawn faces move 1.4 times as much as quartersawn ones, because the wood shrinks 9.5% around the growth rings but only 6.6% across them.
Worked with the Wood Handbook's dimensional change coefficients for live oak (Table 13-5: 0.00338 tangential, 0.0023 radial per 1% change in moisture content), which hold between 6% and 14%. Individual boards vary: the Handbook gives shrinkage a coefficient of variation of about 15% (p. 4-11).
Color, grain and working
- Color
- Generally grayish brown heartwood; nearly white sapwood about 1 to 2 in. wide.
- Grain and texture
- Heartwood pores usually plugged with tyloses; broad, conspicuous rays on quartersawn faces.
- Working and character
- Somewhat heavier than red oak, and its heartwood has good decay resistance.
- Uses
- White oak goes into tight barrels, boat planking and bent parts, furniture, flooring, doors and millwork.
The Handbook describes the white oaks as a group; this page gives this oak’s own tested figures.
Adapted in our own words from the Wood Handbook, Chapter 2, p. 2-9.
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE). Clear, straight-grained samples of live oak tested by the Forest Products Laboratory (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b). Knots and cross grain make lumber weaker than these clear samples (Handbook Chapter 5).
| Property | Green | 12% MC |
|---|---|---|
| Bending strength (MOR) | 11,900 psi (82 MPa) | 18,400 psi (127 MPa) |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,580,000 psi (10.9 GPa) | 1,980,000 psi (13.7 GPa) |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain) | 5,430 psi (37 MPa) | 8,900 psi (61 MPa) |
| Compression perpendicular to grain | 2,040 psi (14 MPa) | 2,840 psi (20 MPa) |
| Shear parallel to grain | 2,210 psi (15 MPa) | 2,660 psi (18 MPa) |
| Tension perpendicular to grain | — | — |
A dash means the Handbook prints no value; none is filled in.
Dust and health
- Wood dust is classed as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, chiefly for cancers of the nose and sinuses.
- NIOSH recommends keeping wood dust exposure to 1 mg/m³ of total dust, as quoted in OSHA's sawmill guidance.
This is what the named authorities publish, not medical advice.
Compare with
Buying and finishing live oak
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh live oak against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.
- Plan a finish for furniture in live oak
The finishes whose makers name that use, and a dated coat schedule from each product’s own sheet.
Why these numbers
Why these numbers?
The situation
The Wood Handbook prints no side hardness for live oak (Table 5-3b shows "—"), so none is given here.
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
What that means
Side hardness (Janka) is the load needed to press a 0.444 in (11.28 mm) steel ball halfway into the wood across the grain; a higher number dents less (Handbook p. 5-5).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
So
Density at 12% is water's density × specific gravity × (1 + 0.12) (Handbook Eq. 4-14): 62.43 × 0.88 × 1.12.
Arithmetic: exact by definition , sources [1]
The number
About 62 lb/ft³, or 5.1 lb per board foot (1/12 ft³), at 12% moisture content.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
Sources