Live Oak

[John S]

A friend of mine was down in the outer banks of North Carolina between Christmas and New Years.  He brought all of his equipment there and came back with some logs. Well yesterday I milled a 6 foot live oak crotch that was 33 inches at the widest point.  Using 7° Turbos it was close to impossible to mill without some waves, even slowing down quite a bit.  I have not milled this species before and was interested in hearing from any of you with experience.  I have never tried any of Woodmizer's blades for difficult logs.  Thanks.

[customsawyer]

Live oak can be a challenge. One of the biggest is keeping your blade clean. Use diesel for lube. 4° blades are normally best.
Can be cut with 7° blades though if you have the HP to pull them.

[John S]

Thanks for the reply, just viewed your video and website, very impressive.  How do you like the Slabmizer?

[caveman]

 

 

 
Live oak is pretty much sawmill abuse.  Jake is spot on with diesel for lube.  With your blade aligned just right, tensioned too tight, diesel flowing on the blade and a fresh log you may have good results.  Sometimes they saw great and other times live oak will have you question your ability to saw.  Once it is sawn, we try to dry it very slowly; often with 3/4" stickers and shade cloth reducing the air flow.  We have some sticker stacked now that is drying flat, but it will be a few more months before it goes into the kiln.

[Ianab]

Live Oak is also a justification for carbide tipped bands. It's harder than most US woods, but the Aussies would laugh at it. 

One issue is the wood is so tough a more aggressive band bites off more than it can chew. Then you loose band speed,  and the cut waves. Or the bands gets gummed up, heats, looses tension, and the cut waves. Or the band dulls faster than expected, and the cut waves. Or some combination of those. 

Try a carbide blade. They are pricey, but that's the sort of wood they are made for. 

[Mooseherder]

Live Oak was used for early American Ship building,  "Old Ironsides"  The USS Constitution was a Live Oak Ship.   This one has a lean because of high winds and saturated ground 20 years ago.


 

 

[customsawyer]

Thanks for the reply, just viewed your video and website, very impressive.  How do you like the Slabmizer?

Thanks for the complement. Slabmizer does pretty good. I only use it on slabs over 30" so it is a little slow.

Live Oak is also a justification for carbide tipped bands. It's harder than most US woods, but the Aussies would laugh at it.

One issue is the wood is so tough a more aggressive band bites off more than it can chew. Then you loose band speed,  and the cut waves. Or the bands gets gummed up, heats, looses tension, and the cut waves. Or the band dulls faster than expected, and the cut waves. Or some combination of those.

Try a carbide blade. They are pricey, but that's the sort of wood they are made for.

The fact that it is hard is one thing. The way the grain can go all over the place is another. Some logs can just be a challenge due to the different grains. I've used carbide blades on it before and didn't see much improvement on those logs.

[DMcCoy]

Live Oak was used for early American Ship building,  "Old Ironsides"  The USS Constitution was one famous Live Oak Ship.  

There is a guy up in Port Townsend WA rebuilding a large sailboat named 'Tally Ho'.  He built his hull 'futtocks' (ribs?) out of live oak from a guy in Georgia(?) Steve Crosley.    Tally Ho is a you tube series and there is a video of getting his live oak sawn.  The Tally Ho series is a fascinating series with a ton of detailed explanations of wood ship building if you like that sort of thing.  He used live oak because of it's cross grain strength.  Crosley is a character and his sawmill is very unique to put it very mildly.  He used carbide blades.  There are Youtubes of just Steve as well.

[Southside]

That sawmill is right out of Mad Max. Quite the machine for sure. 

[woodweasel]

I cut a lot of oak in Central Texas. 4° are my choice if you can get them. Sometimes with all the tension in the logs its impossible  to get a not wavey board.

[Daburner87]

What's the difference between Live Oak and regular Oak tree's?  I live on Long Island, New York, and we have a lot of Oak tree's, and never heard the term Live Oak before. I've seen Red Oak mentioned somewhere, but I need some help identifying the logs I have here.  I can get better pictures tomorrow.

[jrsloan1]

Steve Cross in Iron city Georgia  cut the materials for Tally ho. I had a chance to visit him a few years ago and he is quite the character and his mill is right out of Mad Max!!  Unbelievable. He showed me the world record live oak a few miles  from his mill. The Spooner live oak. If I can figure out how, I'll post a pic of the tree. It's incredible!!

[Ianab]

What's the difference between Live Oak and regular Oak tree's

The "Live oaks"  in general are species that don't lose their leaves over winter, they are effectively evergreen.


But Southern Live Oak is a particular species (Quercus virginiana) that grows in the US South East. It grows into a pretty impressive tree, but often heavy branched. The wood is very hard, strong and very durable. And notoriously tricky to saw, with it's hardness and often convoluted grain. But people do, because it's hard, strong and durable, which are good things if for example you are building a boat 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution

[chet]

That sawmill is right out of Mad Max. Quite the machine for sure.

Had ta post this this for da guys that don't know Steve or his mill 
Milling Live Oak in the Deep South - Rebuilding Tally Ho EP19 - YouTube

[JoshNZ]

What a contraption lol that is awesome.

Try a carbide blade. They are pricey, but that's the sort of wood they are made for.

Any chance you know of anyone in NZ who will make these to length Ian?

[WDH]

On the Janna hardness scale, live oak is the hardest North American hardwood listed.  

[John S]

I always think of Don Williams recording of "Good Ole Boys Like Me" , probably the first time I heard of live oak.  If I ever mill it again I will charge a lot more than my current $80 per hour.

[WDH]

The Georgia champion live oak is just a shade under 12 feet in diameter.  

[metalspinner]

Here a Live Oak my uncle planted in his backyard about 60 years ago. I'm not sure how old the tree was when he planted it. It is currently about 60" DBH.

Couldn't help but want to get into it. That branch I'm on is about 14' in the air.

[Tom King]

If I'm remembering my Janka chart numbers correctly, Live Oak is roughly twice as dense as White Oak.  That's without looking it up though.

[Ianab]

What a contraption lol that is awesome.

Not sure, being Swing Blade country and all that. 
Might be worth contacting these guys?
https://www.aslindustries.co.nz/product/forestill-tct-200-bandsaw-system/

[Ianab]

If I'm remembering my Janka chart numbers correctly, Live Oak is roughly twice as dense as White Oak.  That's without looking it up though.

Hardness is about 2X. 
Density is about 30% more.  SG of dry live oak is about 1.0, same as water, so it probably won't float.  
Either way, it's a completely different wood to White Oak. 

[jrsloan1]

The Georgia champion live oak is just a shade under 12 feet in diameter.  

I will try and get the photo of the Spooner oak posted this week. My mobile phone made by the fruit company Forrest Gump was heavily invested in will not save it in the correct format!!  I'll have to do it from a computer with reliable access (and that would be the day job!!)