 Live Oak (Q. alba pictured)
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Common Name(s): Live Oak, Southern Live Oak
Scientific Name: Quercus virginiana Distribution: Southeastern United States Tree Size: 40-60 ft (12-18 m) tall, 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 66 lbs/ft3 (1,050 kg/m3) Hardness: 2,770 lbf (12,330 N)* *Estimated hardness based on specific gravity Rupture Strength: 18,400 lbf/in2 (126,900 kPa) Elastic Strength: 1,980,000 lbf/in2 (13,700 MPa) Crushing Strength: 8,900 lbf/in2 (61.4 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 6.6%, Tangential: 9.5%, Volumetric: 14.7%, T/R Ratio: 1.4 |
Color/Appearance: Has a light to medium brown color, though there can be a fair amount of variation in color. Conversely, Red Oak tends to be slightly redder, but is by no means a reliable method of determining the type of Oak.
Grain/Pore: Has medium-to-large pores and a fairly coarse grain.
Durability: Live Oak has been rated as having very good resistance to decay, and has been used frequently in ship and boat-building.
Workability: Easy to glue, and takes stain and finishes very well. Though, due to its incredible density, (especially for an oak), Live Oak is harder to work with than other species of the Quercus genus.
Scent: Has a tell-tale smell that is common to most oaks. Most find it appealing.
Safety: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, oak has been reported as a sensitizer. Usually most common reactions simply include eye and skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price/Availability: Live Oak in particular is hardly ever offered for sale commercially, and is most likely available only from local sawmills in areas where the tree grows naturally: I’d expect the price to be higher than most other regular domestics.
Comments: Live Oak falls into the white oak group, and shares many of the same traits as White Oak (Quercus alba). (Though many would classify Live Oak into a group by itself.) Historically, it has been used in shipbuilding, and was even used in the construction of the USS Constitution, which was fittingly named “Old Ironsides.” (And if that’s not a testament to this wood’s toughness, then I don’t know what is…)
- Black Oak (Quercus velutina)
- Bog Oak
- Brown Oak
- Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
- California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii)
- Cherrybark Oak (Quercus pagoda)
- Chestnut Oak (Quercus prinus)
- English Oak (Quercus robur)
- Holm Oak (Quercus ilex)
- Laurel Oak (Quercus laurifolia)
- Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)
- Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata)
- Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)
- Post Oak (Quercus stellata)
- Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
- Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)
- Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea)
- Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata)
- Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus michauxii)
- Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)
- Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris)
- Water Oak (Quercus nigra)
- White Oak (Quercus alba)
- Willow Oak (Quercus phellos)
Scans/Pictures: There are currently no pictures of this exact wood species, but a similar species within the White Oak grouping is being substituted (Q. alba). If you’d like to contribute a wood sample of this specific species to be scanned, (even small pieces of veneer can be sent), please use the contact form.
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White Oak (sanded) |
 White Oak (sealed) |
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I have not worked with as far as wood working goes but I did cut up the secondary trunk of a century live oak ( None to be over one hundred years old) with a 60cc 25in bar stihl chainsaw. The trunk was over 3 feet wide and it was hard as rock. Even with a professional saw like that it was hard to cut. I took a sharpened hatchet and tried to stick it in the end of the tree and it bounced out of my hand without making a dent. I tried several times with the same results. The extreme hardness may have been due to the age of the tree though. The main trunk was easily five feet thick. This thing was real old and very, very hard.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Live oak grows with a sort of ropey/twisted grain. Since the grain doesn’t run straight, wedges don’t work so well. However, the waviness of the grain translates to the surface which ends up looking like an animal pelt. If you’ve ever tried ammonia fuming of white oak, live oak does the same thing but much darker and faster. It is indeed very hard and I was only able to shave off a very small portion at a time on my planer. The ropey texture also means tear out so I highly recommend drum or wide belt sanding to final thickness.
As to the ship building, another common use stems from the way the limbs can grow at right angles. This can be slabbed up on a mill to be used for the knees in boat hulls.