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Blunting Effect
Boring
Carving
Common Names
Common Uses
Countries of Distribution
Cutting Resistance
Distribution Overview
Drying Defects
Ease of Drying
Environmental Profile
Family Name
Gluing
Grain
Heartwood Color
Kiln Drying Rate
Kiln Schedules
Mortising
Moulding
Movement in Service
Nailing
Natural Durability
Numerical Data
Odor
Planing
Polishing
References
Regions of Distribution
Resistance to Impregnation
Response to Hand Tools
Routing & Recessing
Sanding
Sapwood Color
Scientific Name
Screwing
Staining
Steam Bending
Strength Properties
Texture
Trade Name
Tree Size
Turning
Varnishing
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Common Names
Cucharillo, Encino, Encino negro, Mamecillo, Oak, Pin oak, Red oak, Roble, Roble amarillo, Roble colorado, Roble encino, Roblecito, Spanish oak, Spanish swamp oak, Swamp oak, Water oak
Regions of Distribution
Mediterranean Sea Region, North America
Countries of Distribution
[VIEW MAP]
Canada, Iran, United States
Common Uses
Baskets, Bent Parts, Boat building, Building materials, Cabinetmaking, Canoes, Chairs, Chests, Cooperages, Core Stock, Decorative veneer, Desks, Dining-room furniture, Domestic flooring, Drawer sides, Excelsior, Figured veneer, Fine furniture, Flooring, Food containers, Framing, Fuelwood, Furniture , Furniture components, Furniture squares or stock, Hatracks, Interior construction, Interior trim, Joinery, Kitchen cabinets, Lifeboats, Living-room suites, Millwork, Office furniture, Pallets, Paneling , Parquet flooring, Plain veneer, Tables , Veneer, Woodenware
Environmental Profile
| Rank of relative endangerment based on number of occurences globally. |
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| May be rare in some parts of its range, especially at the periphery |
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| Demonstrably widespread, abundant, and secure globally |
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| Data source is World Conservation Monitoring Center |
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| Data source is Nature Conservancy |
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Suspected to be either Extinct, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Rare within its natural habitat in the state of Wisconsin. It is also officially classified as Vulnerable in Ontario, Canada
Distribution Overview
This native North American oak occurs from extreme southern Ontario to Vermont, south to central North Carolina, west to north-eastern Oklahoma and north to southern Iowa. It grows from sea level to elevations of up to 1000 feet (305 m). tolerant of poorly drained, wet sites, including clay soils on level uplands. It is also found, but less frequently, on deep, well-drained bottomland soils. Pin oak is also planted in private estates and parks in Great Britain.
Heartwood Color
| Red |
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| Brown |
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| White |
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| Pink |
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| Pinkish to light reddish brown |
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| Light brown |
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The wood may also show a pronounced cast of flesh color
Sapwood Color
| Red |
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| Brown |
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| White |
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| Whitish to grayish brown |
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| Pink to pale reddish brown |
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Grain
| Open |
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| Generally straight, but not always |
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Plainsawn lumber has a plumed or flared grain pattern, while riftsawn material usually has a tighter grain pattern and low figuring. Quartersawn red oak boards usually exhibit a flake pattern, sometimes called tiger rays or butterflies. Color and grain vary considerable between boards, and are often a function of the origin of the wood and the corresponding differences in growing seasons. Since upland red oak trees tends to grow more slowly in general, they usually have a more uniform grain pattern than lowland species
Texture
Like other red oaks, the texture of Pin oak depends upon the rate of growth of the tree. Red oak grown in the north are less coarse textured than the faster-grown red oaks from the southern states. The wood is flake figured when quartered but the figure is less prominent than in the white oaks
Natural Durability
| Susceptible to insect attack |
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| Non-durable |
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| Perishable |
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| Non-resistant to powder post beetles |
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| Non-resistant to marine borers |
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| Non-resistant to termites |
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| Moderately durable |
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Heartwood has very little natural resistance to attack by decay fungi and other wood destroying insects
Odor
| No specific smell or taste |
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Kiln Schedules
Drying Defects
| Splitting |
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| Distortion |
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| Checking |
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| Collapse |
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| Internal Honeycombing Possible |
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| Ring failure |
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| Honeycombing possible |
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| Defects include:uneven moisture, chemical stains, iron stains, and are attributable to wetwood (usually in old growth) |
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Defects found in both upland and lowland red oaks
Red oaks from upland areas are also prone to collapse during drying
Ease of Drying
| Moderately Difficult to Difficult |
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| Fairly Easy |
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| Slowly |
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| Difficult |
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Kiln Drying Rate
| Slow |
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| Drying rate is slow |
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| Naturally dries slowly |
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Tree Size
| Tree height is 10-20 m |
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| Tree height is 0-10 m |
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| Bole length is 0-10 m |
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| Tree height is 20-30 m |
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| Tree height is 30-40 m |
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| Trunk diameter is 100-150 cm |
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A popular lawn treeIts form is described as compact, and boles are usually straight
Blunting Effect
| Moderate dulling effect on cutting edges |
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Boring
| Fair to good results |
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| Fairly easy to very easy |
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| Easy |
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| Bored surfaces are smooth |
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Carving
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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Cutting Resistance
Gluing
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Satisfactory gluing properties |
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Mortising
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Mortises very well |
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| Bores readily with ordinary tools, with very good results |
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Moulding
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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Movement in Service
| Medium |
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| Fair dimensional stability |
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Nailing
| Pre-Boring Recommended |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Holds nails well |
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| Good resistance to splitting while nailing |
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Planing
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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| Planed surfaces are usually clean and smooth |
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| Good planing properties |
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Red oak is regarded as one of the most beautiful woods to work with because of its grain pattern and character
Resistance to Impregnation
| Resistant heartwood |
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| Resistant sapwood |
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Response to preservative treatment is fair.
Response to Hand Tools
| Easy to Work |
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| Responds Readily |
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| Works well with hand tools |
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Routing & Recessing
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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Sanding
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Responds very well to preservative treatment |
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Screwing
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Good screwing properties |
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Turning
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult |
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| Yields smooth, clean surface. |
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| Responds readily to preservative treatment by either open tank or pressure methods |
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Steam Bending
Polishing
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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Staining
Like other red oaks, Pin oak has an open grain which makes it responsive to a wide range of finishing products. A darker stain preceded by a light filler is reported to produce the popular 'lime' appearance. The wood can also be treated with ammonia to produce an almost black 'Jacobean' finish because of the high tannin content. Ray pattern on quarter-sawn boards can also yield a truly unique look.
Tip: To avoid conspicuous differences in stained, edge-glued members, separate quarter-sawn and flat-sawn boards and use one or the other consistently for a given project
Varnishing
| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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Strength Properties
| Weight = high |
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| Moderately hard |
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| Bending strength (MOR) = high |
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Pin oak is a member of the Red oak class whose trees are found mainly in eastern Canada and the United States. The other class is the White oaks. The Red oak class consists of several very similar species which include American red oak or Northern red oak (Q. rubra ); Southern red oak (Q. falcata ); Spanish oak, Swamp red oak, or Cherrybark oak (also Q. falcata ); Shumard oak or Pin oak (Q. palustris ); Nuttal oak (Q. nuttallii ); Scarlet oak (Q. coccinea); and sometimes Black oak (Q. velutina ). Wood produced by the red oaks tends to have a plainer figure than those from White oak because of their smaller rays. Red oak timbers are also less watertight than those of White oak because of the open pores. Red oak compares favorably with White oak in strength, and are both used in steam bending applications.
Red oaks are less resistant to decay than White oaks or European oaks. Also, Red oak acorns are much more bitter in taste than White oak acorns.
Numerical Data
| Item | Green | Dry | English |
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| Bending Strength | 7595 | 13720 | psi |
| Crushing Strength | 706 | 1000 | psi |
| Hardness | | 1480 | lbs |
| Impact Strength | 45 | 44 | inches |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 3415 | 6684 | psi |
| Shearing Strength | | 2038 | psi |
| Stiffness | 862 | 1695 | 1000 psi |
| Work to Maximum Load | 14 | 15 | inch-lbs/in3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.57 | 0.61 | |
| Weight | 61 | 41 | lbs/ft3 |
| Radial Shrinkage | 4 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 9 | | % |
| Volumetric Shrinkage | 14 | | % |
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| Item | Green | Dry | Metric |
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| Bending Strength | 533 | 964 | kg/cm2 |
| Crushing Strength | 49 | 70 | kg/cm2 |
| Hardness | | 671 | kg |
| Impact Strength | 114 | 111 | cm |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 240 | 469 | kg/cm2 |
| Shearing Strength | | 143 | kg/cm2 |
| Stiffness | 60 | 119 | 1000 kg/cm2 |
| Work to Maximum Load | 0.98 | 1.05 | cm-kg/cm3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.57 | 0.61 | |
| Weight | 977 | 657 | kg/m3 |
| Radial Shrinkage | 4 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 9 | | % |
References
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.
Kaiser, J. 1990. Wood of the Month - Red oak:From Bitter Acorns Red Oaks Grow. Wood of the Month Annual, Supplement to Wood and Wood Products, September, 1990. Page 26A.
Kaiser, J. Wood of the Month: Red Oak - A Plentiful Species. Wood & Wood Products, December, 1992. Page 50.
Laidlaw, W.B.R. 1960. Guide to British Hardwoods. Published by Leonard Hill [Books] Limited, 9 Eden Street, N.W.1, London.
Little, E.L. 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees - Eastern Region. Published by Arthur A. Knopf, New York.
NWFA. 1994. Wood Species Used in Flooring. Technical Publication No. A200. National Wood Flooring Association, Manchester, MO.
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, Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 72, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
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