West Coast Oak

[Semi-Hex]

Any one have any luck milling these?
Tan Oak (Lithocarpus densiflorus)
Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii)
Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)
Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni)

I've noticed most of you are from the East side so you may not know.

I do have the opportunity to mill these all the time, I just don't since they aren't supposed to work well for furniture,though they may be good for turning or something. Right now I just make a lot of firewood which seems a waste.

My experiment with Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) isn't working out too well either. Even under weight, they are not drying flat at all and they checks something fierce.

 

[woodshop]

...My experiment with Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) isn't working out too well either. Even under weight, they are not drying flat at all and they checks something fierce.

You"re right, none of those oaks here on the east coast. I do have a little experience with Madrone though (picked up a little when I was in the northwest years ago) and I had the same problem. What little I had twisted up like a pretzel and yes couple of the pieces checked badly as they dried. Absolutely beautiful wood though, wish I had more of it. Hard, dense, tight grain, dark red. Reminded me a little of dogwood, but heavier and darker colors. I guess if I was out there and had access to more, I would mill it minimum 8/4, and take special care to dry it REAL slow. Maybe wax the ends so it can't lose too much moisture out of the end grain where it splits open.

 

[BlueRider]

The very first tree I ever milled was a 36" oak growing as a street tree in San Jose. It blew over in a storm and a city crew cut up everything but the trunk. It sat there for several weeks until I sucombed to the temptation and milled it up. By the time I got to it I couldn't find any leaves to ID it. Most people guessed it was a valley oak, but the wood looked like silk oak. It was in what was part of the original Nagle Estate which was landscaped in the late 1860's by a gentleman who had recently spent time in australia and he brought quite a few ausie trees to the area.

About two weeks after I milled the tree we had a heat wave with temps in the 90's the wood was inside my shop which got even hotter. I am not 100% sure but I think this is what probably caused the excessive internal checking which converted the 3'x8' slabs into kindling.

I don't know which of the local oaks make good lumber but I don't think I would try milling one in the late spring or summer.

I have seen some local oak that another friend milled. I don't know what type one of the trees was but he told me it was a white oak, don't know if it was a local white or an eastern white(often planted as a landscape tree.) I have also seen some blue oak and it is very nice looking, made me think twice about swearing off oak for life.

In addition to the eastern white and silk oak growing as urban trees California also has some english brown oak as well as cork oak growing as street trees in some areas.

I have never milled any madrone, but I certianly know its reputation. I recently checked into Pentacryl for some Olive I milled and ended up talking to the owner of the company who makes it and he was telling me about how it is being used sucsessfully on madrone. I don't have a link handy but you can find it with google.

where you located ?

 

[Semi-Hex]

Arrgh! Work has kept me from posting a timely reply. I live in San Jose and the whole county was the fruit and nut capital of the world. Aside from that, I volunteer at a Scout camp doing all of the maintenance. So I have access to some of the most useless wood in the world.(Oaks and Madrone)* I also have access to some of the nicest wood too.(Redwood and Douglas fir) Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to actually mill all the lumber, so I cut it into firewood instead. The fire load up in the Santa Cruz mountains is so bad I cut over 80 cords of downed wood this year and you can't even tell.

* I'm going to try 8/4 or larger next time to see if I can get better results. I have also left some logs laying whole in hopes it will dry without twisting or checking too much.

 

[woodshop]

...I have also left some logs laying whole in hopes it will dry without twisting or checking too much.

My experience has been that with most hardwoods, that log will hold moisture for years after it is dead, and won't really dry out till it's sliced up into lumber or firewood where there is enough exposed surface area that it can lose the moisture.

I envy you having all that madrone. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

 

[Frank Boyer]

Arrgh! Work has kept me from posting a timely reply. I live in San Jose and the whole county was the fruit and nut capital of the world. Aside from that, I volunteer at a Scout camp doing all of the maintenance. So I have access to some of the most useless wood in the world.(Oaks and Madrone)* I also have access to some of the nicest wood too.(Redwood and Douglas fir) Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to actually mill all the lumber, so I cut it into firewood instead. The fire load up in the Santa Cruz mountains is so bad I cut over 80 cords of downed wood this year and you can't even tell.

* I'm going to try 8/4 or larger next time to see if I can get better results. I have also left some logs laying whole in hopes it will dry without twisting or checking too much.

Which Scout camp? I live by one. I have some 36" diameter tan oak that I am letting slow dry before I try milling for the first time. My neighbor has a 394 set up for milling.

 

[Semi-Hex]

My experience has been that with most hardwoods, that log will hold moisture for years after it is dead, and won't really dry out till it's sliced up into lumber or firewood where there is enough exposed surface area that it can lose the moisture.

I envy you having all that madrone. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

I'm not going to quit yet. So cants won't would work either I suppose. Good thing I'm having so much fun with trying.

 

[Semi-Hex]

Which Scout camp? I live by one. I have some 36" diameter tan oak that I am letting slow dry before I try milling for the first time. My neighbor has a 394 set up for milling.

Camp Chesebrough. Across the street from turn out off highway 9.

 

[poleframer]

I'm in sw oregon, lots of tanoak, madrone (best firewood), black, and california liveoak around me. I have only milled fir, cedar, and sugar pine so far. My neighbor has milled tanoak, it looks good, but not the nice reys in other oak, also tends to punk out fast dead, but if you catch it at the right time you get some nice spalted wood. Some cabinet folks around here do use madrone- beautiful stuff, figure on 4 to five years plastic wrapped for very slow cure.
I wonder how liveoak would be to work with, hell to split, real tough, and stringy.
I've sliced a few rounds, and unsplittable crotch firewood chunks of madrone. I expect it would be hard milling, but if you got some lengths of silver madrone (what we around here call madrone that has been standing dead for years), and slabbed that you would probably get some nice useable pieces out of it.
What dos'nt work out will be great firewood anyway.:greenchainsaw:
Russell

 

[ThatWoodGuy]

but if you got some lengths of silver madrone (what we around here call madrone that has been standing dead for years), and slabbed that you would probably get some nice useable pieces out of it.

That is the only way I have been able to get any nice boards out of madrone so far is from the dead and down that have been down for years, but then still I get a lot of checking minutes after milling.

IN a few of my small experiments madrone does dry well if dried fast, I mean by the stove in the house. There is a lumber yard in Arcata that has some really nice madrone and tanoak slabs with little checking, so I'm thinking that kiln drying does work well.

Madrone is a beautiful wood, many MANY a giant tree I have cut up into 16" lengths destined for a firewood customer. It breaks my heart every time I cut into one

Black oak looks nice, mills nice, just not much of it up here to mill. Giant chinkapin mills great and looks great too!

 

[poleframer]

Giant chinkapin mills great and looks great too!

I have golden chinkapin on my place, except a few I've seen in the woods, most arent that big. I'd like to slice some one of these days. What does it look like sawn? Another tree I've only bucked.

 

[ThatWoodGuy]

I have golden chinkapin on my place, except a few I've seen in the woods, most arent that big. I'd like to slice some one of these days. What does it look like sawn? Another tree I've only bucked.

It has a tighter grain than regular oak, and varies in colors from a cream white to a nice deep red in older wood. It is hard when dried. I love the smell when milled! I've got a couple of blanks drying that will be wooden mallets this winter, and two flute blanks that I started on last week. It really can be a pretty wood, so if you have some laying around definitely mill it up.