Oak ID

[JoshNZ]

I'm looking at an oak stand at the moment but owner isn't sure what they are.

We went for a look today and dissapointed to find the first leaves below, a red oak of some description I assume?


 

 

 

I poked my nose a bit further around the corner and then found the good stuff, hopefully what I'm looking at here is white oak? Doesn't quite look like the pictures online but anything in NZ I've found so far with round lobes turns out to be what we regard as white oak here.



 

 

Some of them are growing on this sidling with a bit of a lean on them, is this too much for oak logs?

Thanks!

[Ianab]

2nd lot is probably English Oak (Quercus robur). It's in the white oak group and probably the most common variety you will find around NZ (bought here by English settlers). Haven't sawed any, so I can't comment on how much lean will cause a problem. How far off centre the pith is in the log will give a clue about reaction wood and how it's going to behave once sawed.  ???

[JoshNZ]

You must have this topic bookmarked Ian lol. English oak is what I'm after so that's good to hear.

I can never decipher pins from reds from blacks etc. No clue as to the former?

I'll see if I can be around when they knock them over.

[Ianab]

I'm sitting by the beach in Rarotonga right now. There isn't much happening, even Ralph the stray dog is having a siesta in the sand.  :D

[IndiLina]

The smooth bark and number of branches makes me think pin oak for the top one. 

[customsawyer]

I would expect some stress in the lumber coming from the trees in the last picture. You have the slope but you also have them on the edge of a road. They have been reaching for that open sunlight their whole lives.

[JoshNZ]

Bad enough that you'd tell them to leave them off the logger? Or just don't quarter saw them lol thin overlay flooring.

I've only managed to get my hands on a couple of white oak logs, one I did really well out of, hard to know if it was a fluke or not. The others are air drying still.

[btulloh]

Don't know what the cost or labor is to get those, but the roadside trees would be worth experimenting/learning with. My guess is the leaners have too much stress to make anything useful, but it's worth playing with a couple just to see what happens. Worst case, they'll make good firewood. 

[WDH]

Or, stock for cutting boards/charcuterie boards.  

[Blue Noser]

I'm looking at an oak stand at the moment but owner isn't sure what they are.

We went for a look today and dissapointed to find the first leaves below, a red oak of some description I assume?


 

 

 

I poked my nose a bit further around the corner and then found the good stuff, hopefully what I'm looking at here is white oak? Doesn't quite look like the pictures online but anything in NZ I've found so far with round lobes turns out to be what we regard as white oak here.



 

 

Some of them are growing on this sidling with a bit of a lean on them, is this too much for oak logs?

Thanks!

The first one is northern red oak, Quercus rubra

[WDH]

On Northern red oak in my area, the depth of the sinus between the lobes does not go past halfway to the midrib.  Also the bark is blocky with silver streaks.  The first pic does not resemble the Northern red oak down here, but given that this tree is in New Zealand a long ways from its natural range, it may not be typical.