Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii)
Family: Fagaceae
Common names: Cow oak, Cucharillo, Encino, Encino negro, Mamecillo, Oak, Roble, Roble amarillo, Roble colorado, Roble encino, Roblecito, Swamp chestnut oak, White oak
Distributed in: United States (North America)
Distribution overview: This species occurs in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Illinois, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia. The tree is usually found on moist sites including well-drained, sandy loam and silty clay flood plains along streams. It sometimes occurs in pure stands.
Common uses: Cooperages, Core Stock, Crossties, Decorative veneer, Domestic flooring, Factory flooring, Figured veneer, Flooring, Foundation posts, Fuelwood, Mine timbers, Parquet flooring, Pile-driver cushions, Piling, Plain veneer, Poles, Posts, Railroad ties, Stakes, Sub-flooring, Utility poles, Veneer
Product sources: Swamp chestnut oak is one of the members in the white oak group that are mixed and marketed together. White oak veneers are plentiful, and supplies of lumber are also abundant. Price of lumber is moderate, compared to other hardwoods.
Environment profile: Rank of relative endangerment based on number of occurences globally.
Tree size: Trunk diameter is 100-150 cm
Colors: the heart isGrey, Pinkish tinge and the sapwoodWhitish to light brown , Width varies .The grain isOpen , the textureMedium to coarse
Natural durability: Very durable
Wood produced by members in the white oak group is highly regarded for its natural resistance against attack by decay fungi and other wood destroying organisms. Logs are highly vulnerable to attack by ambrosia beetles, and standing trees and logs are also readily attacked by forest longhorn or Butrespid beetles
Odor: No specific smell or taste
Kiln Schedules: US=Upland T4-C2/T3-C1
Drying Defects: Ring failure, Surface checks
Ease of Drying: Thick Stock Requires Care
Blunting Effect: Moderate dulling effect on cutting edges
Boring: Very good results
Cutting Resistance: Generally medium but is variable
Gluing: Satisfactory gluing properties
Mortising: Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult
The material responds very well to mortising operations to produce clean surfaces
Moulding: Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult
Movement in Service: Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult
Nailing: Pre-boring required, Wood is heavy and hard
Planing: good
Resistance to Abrasion: Highly resistant to wear
Resistance to Impregnation: Sapwood is moderately resistant
Response to hand tools:
Softer wood produced by slow-growth white oak trees are reported to generally easier to work with hand tools
Routing recessing: Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult
Sanding: Yields clean surfaces
Veneering qualities:
Selected white oak logs are converted into veneers. When quartered, white oak veneers exhibit a flaked figure, while the very popular straight line figure is prominent in rift cut veneer
Steam bending: Highly regarded for steam bending properties
Screwing: Generally good properties
; Turning: Very good
Staining:
Liquid from some finishing products, especially those with high water content such as bleach and water-based stains, react with tannins in white oak to turn the wood green or brown.
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- Numerical data Metric
- Numerical data English
- Strength properties
- References
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Item |
Green |
Dry |
Metric |
Specific Gravity |
0,59 |
0,64 |
|
Density |
|
|
kg/m3 |
Bending Strength |
671 |
957 |
kg/cm2 |
Crushing Strength |
39 |
76 |
kg/cm2 |
Hardness |
|
551 |
kg |
Impact Strength |
124 |
101 |
cm |
Shearing Strength |
|
137 |
kg/cm2 |
Stiffness |
105 |
121 |
1000 kg/cm2 |
Tangential Shrinkage |
11 |
|
% |
Radial Shrinkage |
5 |
|
% |
Weight |
|
|
kg/m3 |
Maximum Load |
0,84 |
0,91 |
cm-kg/cm3 |
Toughness |
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cm-kg |
Static Bending |
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kg/cm2 |
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| | | | Item | Green | Dry | English | Bending Strength | 9555 | 13622 | psi | Crushing Strength | 559 | 1088 | psi | Hardness | | 1215 | lbs | Impact Strength | 49 | 40 | inches | Maximum Crushing Strength | 3469 | 7125 | psi | Shearing Strength | | 1950 | psi | Stiffness | 1499 | 1735 | 1000 psi | Work to Maximum Load | 12 | 13 | inch-lbs/in3 | Specific Gravity | 0.59 | 0.64 | | Radial Shrinkage | 5 | | % | Tangential Shrinkage | 11 | | % | Volumetric Shrinkage | 16 | | % | |
Low stiffness Crushing strength = medium Bending strength (MOR) = medium
Response to hand and machine tools in woodworking operations is reported to depend largely on the rate of growth of trees: slow grown trees are relatively easier to work. Wood from slow growing southern trees are comparably harder than the fast growing trees from the Appalachians.
Boone, R.S., C.J. Kozlik, P.J. Bois and E.M. Wengert. 1988. Dry Kiln Schedules for Commercial Woods: Temperate and Tropical. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-57, Madison, Wisconsin.HMSO, 1981. Handbook of Hardwoods, 2nd Edition. Revised by R.H. Farmer. Department of the Environment, Building Research Establishment, Princes Risborough Laboratory, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, BuckinghamshireKaiser, J. 1994. Wood of the Month: Oaks Loom in Designs, Folklore and Symbolism. Wood and Wood Products, November, 1994. Page 52.Little, E.L.1980.The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees - Eastern Region.Published by Arthur A. Knopf, New York.Panshin, A.J. and C. deZeeuw. 1980. Textbook of Wood Technology, 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.USDA. 1987. Wood Handbook:Wood as an Engineering Material. Agriculture Handbook No. 72. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin.USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
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