Replies

1. 
   jonsherryl | Aug 21, 2002 04:12pm | #1

   Bill, I'm not sure which species of oak you are referring to. I think the common name English oak is usually used for Quercus robur. It's a white oak similar to our eastern white oak (Quercus alba.) Check a leaf to see if the lobe tips are rounded or pointed. The leaf of Q. robur has rounded lobe tips, like our eastern white, but the lobes are less indented and the leaf is a little broader toward the top.

   If this is the species you have, it has a long standing tradition in English cabinetry...and English history in general (The Druids used to use the mature groves of this species as places of worship.) The wood's working properties, density, durability and appearance are so similar to those of our eastern white oak that it is difficult (if even possible) to separate samples of the two.    

2. 
   rushisaliar | Aug 22, 2002 08:27am | #2

   Bill,

    My experience with "English oak" (also called brown oak) is in the antique restoration area. I have found that American White Oak is a much closer match grainwise than Red Oak. "Smell test" also works well if you have a question. White (or English) is much "sweeter" smelling than Red. I keep an ample supply of English around but sometimes I find a better grain match with White and some chemicals for color. DN

1. 
   jonsherryl | Aug 22, 2002 04:40pm | #3

   Drew, seems to me I recall reading somewhere that English brown oak is not a separate species, but rather highly pigmented English oak, resulting from the wood having been infected by fungi...a form of spalting. The brown variety has the same figure, but is typically a little softer, lighter in weight and easier to work...I assume, because the fungus weakens the wood tissue...Sure do wish Sgian would come along. We need a Brit to set us straight on this one.

1. 
   SgianDubh | Aug 22, 2002 05:36pm | #4

   Ah, Jon, you just like seeing me talk drivel in a funny accent. The brown oak is indeed regular European oak infected by the fungus Fistulina hepatica causing the heartwood to turn brown, often rather mottled. It's a little softer and easier on the tools than an uninfected piece of oak. I've used it a few times, and enjoy working with it-- I couldn't say if there's any health risk from any spores kicking around. I say European oak because, as in the US, there are variations on the species, if that's the correct term, with Quercus petraea, and Q. sessiliflora, then Quercus robur, and Q. pendunculata. As in the US, the timber is often sold according to country (region) of origin, which is useful for predicting characteristics and working properties. British and Baltic oaks for instance are reckoned to be tough and hard and this is almost certainly the result of local growing conditions. That called the Slavonian oak from such as Yugoslavia weighs about 3 lbs a cubic foot less than the British/ Baltic oaks at 42 lbs, and is milder to work.

   Even with oak bought in the UK, I (unscientifically) notice that the stuff from the milder south west of England tended to exhibit less tightly packed growth rings than oak from the north of England or Scotland, and the southern stuff was a little milder to work and less twisted and gnarly, if you get my drift. On the whole, it's my experience that most American oaks are little milder to work than the British oaks. Some of the most spectacular silver grain I've ever seen have been in the British oaks. I'm sure  spectularly figured US stuff exists, but I don't think I've ever seen an American oak quite match a British oak for flamboyant figuring. Slainte, RJ.RJFurniture