[ timbers ]
American White Oak
[ About our timber ]
NEUTRAL COLOUR AND PRONOUNCED GRAIN DELIVERING TIMELESS INTERIOR APPEAL
White oak is similar in colour and appearance to European oak. The sapwood of American white oak is light coloured, while the heartwood ranges from light to dark brown. The timber is mostly straight-grained with a medium to coarse texture and longer rays than red oak, giving it a more pronounced figure.
[ Mechanical properties ]
A hard and heavy wood with medium bending and crushing strength, low in stiffness, but very good in steam bending. Its good overall strength means it is increasingly being used by architects and designers in structural applications.
Botanical name (Latin):
Quercus alba
Other names:
Northern white oak, Southern white oak
Working Properties:
Durability:
The heartwood is resistant to decay, extremely resistant to preservative treatment, and the sapwood is moderately resistant to treatment. Its natural durability means that white oak heartwood can be used externally without preservative treatment, but localised climate and exposure conditions should be taken into account to determine its potential performance.
main uses:
Construction, furniture, flooring, architectural joinery, exterior joinery, mouldings, doors, kitchen cabinets, panelling, railway sleepers, timber bridges, barrel staves and coffins. White oak can vary in colour, texture, characteristics and properties according to the growing region. It is therefore recommended that users and specifiers work closely with their suppliers to make sure the wood they order is suited to their specific needs. Northern and Southern may be sold separately.
Other Information:
White oak tends to be consistent in colour throughout its wide Northern to Southern range. Certain areas of the Appalachian Mountains produce a highly figured wormy variety and this is sold as Sound Wormy. Sapwood is admitted without limit in the NHLA rules, but usually sorted with a minimum of one heartwood face for export. White oak is used around the world and complements European oak, although its colour consistency and the high volume of square edged lumber production make it first choice for many furniture, flooring and joinery manufacturers.
