Encino Oak vs US Native Species of White Oak

[Captain]

I have a customer looking to make a Tortilla Press.  The wood of choice is "Encino" Oak native to Mexico.  Can anybody give me a comparison to our native white oaks here in the United States?  We're trying to decide if our local white oak is suitable for his project.

Thanks

Captain

[Dodgy Loner]

Encino is just a Spanish word for a place where oak trees grow.  It's not a species, it's just a reference to oaks in general.  That being said, I believe the species typically referred to when the word is used is coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia).  Live oaks are much denser than red or white oaks and they do not split as easily or have ring-porous grain structure, so they would be better for making threaded rods (I assume that tortilla presses use threaded rods ).  The traditional wood for making cider presses was beech, a diffuse-porous wood.

[SwampDonkey]

Well, I was just looking for the first white oak thread I could bump to the top with a question.

I have no experience with white oak. But, I was just wondering how big should the acorns be by now. I have a lot of nuts on my tree, but they seem to be only about 1/5 size right now. It had both male and female flowers on the tree this spring. I know the red oak are half grown so far now with the caps being pretty much fully grown.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Same question here.

I have a 30 inch white oak that is due for an acorn crop this year.  Currently it is dropping good quantities of immature/aborted acorns (which I guess may be normal).  Here is a picture.

[SwampDonkey]

Mine (white oak) look like the lower left bunch in your picture. So, I guess I won't expect much of a crop.