 Southern Silky Oak (Cardwellia sublimis pictured)
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Common Name(s): Southern Silky Oak Scientific Name: Grevillea robusta Distribution: Eastern coastal Australia, also grown on plantations in South Africa Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 40 lbs/ft3 (640 kg/m3) Hardness: 840 lbf (3,740 N) Rupture Strength: 10,930 lbf/in2 (75,380 kPa) Elastic Strength: 1,150,000 lbf/in2 (7,930 MPa) Crushing Strength: 5,060 lbf/in2 (34.9 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 2.7%, Tangential: 7.7%, Volumetric: 10.4%, T/R Ratio: 2.9 |
Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a light to medium reddish brown with grey to light brown rays. Like other woods that exhibit the strongest figure in quartersawn pieces, (such as Sycamore), Silky Oak has the most pronounced figure and displays the largest flecks when perfectly quartersawn; this is due to the wood’s large medullary rays, whose layout can be seen the clearest when looking at the endgrain.
Grain/Pore: Has a fairly coarse texture and straight grain.
Durability: Southern Silky Oak is rated as moderately durable to durable in regards to decay resistance, and it is also moderately resistant to most insect attacks.
Workability: Overall a fairly easy wood to work with, though there may be some difficulty in planing, with tearout occurring. Southern Silky Oak also has a moderate blunting effect on cutting edges. Glues and finishes well.
Scent: There is no characteristic odor associated with this wood species.
Safety: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Southern Silky Oak has been reported to cause eye and skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price/Availability: Southern Silky Oak is not too commonly available in the United States, and prices tend to be in the mid to high range for an imported hardwood.
Comments: Southern Silky Oak is in the Proteaceae family, and has wide rays that are characteristic of Lacewood. In its vaguest sense, the term “lacewood” is used to describe any wood that displays figuring that resembles lace, (which would technically include Southern Silky Oak). Attempts to identify a specific board macroscopically may be difficult.
Some common uses for Southern Silky Oak include: veneer, cabinetry, fine furniture, musical instruments, turnery, and other small specialty items.
Proteaceae family:
Scans/Pictures: There are currently no pictures of this exact wood species, but a similar species within the Proteaceae family is being substituted (Cardwellia sublimis). 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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Northern Silky Oak: quartersawn (sanded) |
 Northern Silky Oak: quartersawn (sealed) |
 Northern Silky Oak: flatsawn (sanded) |
 Northern Silky Oak: flatsawn (sealed) |
 Northern Silky Oak (endgrain) |
 Northern Silky Oak (endgrain 10x) |
July 1st, 2010 at 8:36 am
Have had affects similar to poison oak when milling this wood. rash and itchyness, swollen eyes. Makes fine dust. Topical affect, which was more affective in areas with thin skin ( armpits, inside of elbows, behind ears, etc.). Affect lasted 2-3 weeks. Discontinued use of wood. Miserable. have had same affects with lacewood.