The Oak Family
Red Oak Group
Scientific Name: | Quercus rubra |
Location: | northeastern USA & southeastern Canada |
Dried Weight: | 44lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,200lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,780lbf /in2 |
Red oak has a heartwood with a light to medium brown color, with a reddish cast. The sapwood is nearly white to a light brown color. The grain is straight and it has a coarse uneven texture. The end grain is ring-porous. Oak is rated as non-durable to perishable in regards to decay. It is a good wood to work with but it can react with iron. The wood glues, stains, finishes, and responds well to steam bending.
Scientific Name: | Quercus velutina |
Location: | Eastern North America |
Dried Weight: | 45lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,210lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,450lbf /in2 |
Black oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non -durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus kelloggii |
Location: | western USA |
Dried Weight: | 39lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,090lbf |
Crushing Strength: | not available |
California Black Oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non -durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Cherrybark Oak
Scientific Name: | Quercus pagoda |
Location: | Eastern USA/td> |
Dried Weight: | 49lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,480lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,740lbf /in2 |
Cherrybark oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus laurifolia |
Location: | Southeastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 46lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,210lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,980lbf /in2 |
Laurel oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus palustris |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 44lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,500lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,750lbf /in2 |
Pin oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus coccinea |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 46lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,400lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,250lbf /in2 |
Scarlet oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non -durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus shumardii |
Location: | southeastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 46lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,290lbf |
Crushing Strength: | not available |
Shumard oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus falcata |
Location: | southeastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 42lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,060lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,090lbf /in2 |
Southern red oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus nigra |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 45lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,190lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,770lbf /in2 |
Water oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non-durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus phellos |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 48lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,460lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 7,040lbf /in2 |
Willow oak has a light to medium reddish brown color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. It is rated as slightly durable to non -durable in regards to decay. The wood is easy to glues and takes stain and finishes well.
White Oak Group
Scientific Name: | Quercus alba |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 47lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,350lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 7,370lbf /in2 |
White oak has a heartwood that is light to medium brown, commonly with a olive cast. The sapwood is nearly white to light brown in color. The grain is straight and it has a coarse uneven texture. The end grain is ring-porous. The oak is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is good to work with but can react to iron. It responds well to steam bending and glues, stains, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus macrocarpa |
Location: | eastern and midwestern USA & southcentral Canada |
Dried Weight: | 45lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,360lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 5,890lbf /in2 |
Bur oak is light to medium brown in color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus prinus |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 47lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,130lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,830lbf /in2 |
Chestnut oak is light to medium brown in color. It has a coarse grain and the end grain is ring-porous. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus robur |
Location: | most of Europe to Asia Minor, and North Africa |
Dried Weight: | 42lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,120lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,720lbf /in2 |
English oak has a heartwood that is light to medium brown, commonly with a olive cast. The sapwood is nearly white to light brown in color. The grain is straight and it has a coarse uneven texture. The end grain is ring-porous. The oak is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is good to work with but can react to iron. It responds well to steam bending and glues, stains, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus ilex |
Location: | Mediterranean Basin |
Dried Weight: | 50lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,610lbf |
Crushing Strength: | not available |
Holm oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus garryana |
Location: | pacific Northwestern USA |
Dried Weight: | 51lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,640lbf |
Crushing Strength: | not available |
Oregon White oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus lyrata |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 47lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,190lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,200lbf /in2 |
Overcup oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus stellata |
Location: | eastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 47lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,350lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,530lbf /in2 |
Post oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus petraea |
Location: | most of Europe to Asia Minor |
Dried Weight: | 44lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,120lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 6,860lbf /in2 |
Sessile oak has a medium yellowish-brown color. The grain is coarse and it may have an irregular or interlocked grain. The wood is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to glue, it takes stain, and it finishes very well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus michauxii |
Location: | southern & central USA |
Dried Weight: | 49lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,230lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 7,200lbf /in2 |
Swamp Chestnut oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus bicolor |
Location: | eastern & midwestern USA |
Dried Weight: | 48lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,600lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,400lbf /in2 |
Swamp White oak has a light to medium brown color. It has a fairly coarse grain. The oak has a good rot resistance. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes well.
Other Oaks
Bog Oak is not a specific species, but is rather a term that designates oak that has been buried in a peat bog for hundreds or sometimes thousands of years. The extremely low oxygen conditions of the bog protect the wood from normal decay, while the underlying peat provides acidic conditions where iron salts and other minerals react with the tannins in the wood, gradually giving it a distinct dark brown to almost black color.
Brown Oak
Brown Oak technically not a distinct species of oak, but rather refers to oak that has been infected with a fungus. This fungus (Fistulina hepatica) has the effect of turning the wood a deep brown color. Once the wood has been cut and dried, the fungus dies, leaving a rich golden brown lumber.
Scientific Name: | Quercus virginiana |
Location: | southeastern USA |
Dried Weight: | 63lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 2,680lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,810lbf /in2 |
Live oak has a light to medium brown color. The grain is straight and it has a coarse uneven texture. The end grain is diffuse-porous. Live oak is rated as very durable in regards to decay. It is easy to glue, takes stain, and finishes very well.
Scientific Name: | |
Location: | western USA |
Dried Weight: | 42lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,420lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,250lbf /in2 |
Tan oak has a sapwood which is very wide and it is not clearly differentiated from the heartwood. Both are a light to medium brown color which will darken with age. The grain is straight and it has a uniform medium to coarse texture. The end grain is diffuse-porous to semi-ring-porous. Tan oak is rated as non-durable to perishable in regards to decay. It is good to work with and glues, stains, and finishes well.
Scientific Name: | Quercus cerris |
Location: | Europe & Asia |
Dried Weight: | 45lbs/ft3 |
Janka Hardness: | 1,200lbf |
Crushing Strength: | 8,170lbf /in2 |
Turkey Oak has a light to medium brown color. It’s grain is coarse. The wood is rated as durable to moderately durable in regards to decay. It is easy to work with, it takes stain, and finishes well.