Live oak

darrenjttu · March 25, 2011, 06:09:49 PM

About to cut down a live oak tree. How is when milling. How is it when drying? What thickness should I cut it if I want 3/4 inch thick after drying?

Tom · March 25, 2011, 06:40:04 PM

It's tough to saw. Saw it right off of the stump. It checks quickly and deeply. Seal the ends good and keep the surfaces out of the direct sun (then pray a lot). Exept for the really crooked trees, it is fairly stable. It will tear a shop planer up when it is dry, so don't over-size it too much. Even if it doesn't cup too bad, you will still be dealing with fairly deep checking. Still keep the thickness for 3/4 finished boards to 4/4 or an inch and an eighth. You will need that much.

It is heavy stuff. Make a table and your wife won't move it around much.

darrenjttu · March 25, 2011, 08:32:54 PM

Easier or worse than pecan? That stuff was horrible to deal with. Well no sawyers in this area will touch it I found out. It dulls thier blades they say. Ill just do it with my 19" bandsaw and pray.

Tom · March 25, 2011, 09:23:33 PM

Both are difficult to saw, but Live Oak is more dense.

LeeB · March 25, 2011, 09:32:52 PM

I found it to be much tougher than pecan. A real nightmare on blades. If it is dead from oak wilt, be careful of the dust. It can spread the disease.

Papa1stuff · March 26, 2011, 07:11:09 AM

Sure makes some pretty boards ;D

brdmkr · March 28, 2011, 11:40:05 AM

I sawed a live oak log several years ago. It was fresh off the stump and I thought it cut easily on the Lucas. BUT, it cupped, checked, twisted, warped and wiggled so much while drying that it is tough to get more that a couple of feet that is straight once planed to 3/4. The grain is beautiful. It is HARD on tools. I have said that if I planed any more, I would borrow some else's planer :D

caveman · March 28, 2011, 10:54:19 PM

You may end up with some beautiful boards. Jmoore, forum member, built a dining room table for my mother several years ago out of boards from some live oak that was salvaged after the four hurricanes we had in 2004. It tended to chip and tear when jointing and planing unless the blades were very sharp. A spiral head planer or a drum sander may have done a better job on these boards due to their highly figured grain. 4/4 would be the minimum thickness I would saw if I wanted to end up with 3/4" finished boards. By the way, the table he built is incredible.
Caveman

Magicman · March 29, 2011, 08:30:52 AM

I would love to see some pictures of it after you finish sawing. I have never sawed Live Oak.

customsawyer · March 29, 2011, 07:45:09 PM

I have heard all the war stories on sawing live oak and the first time I cut it I was nervous so I had a bunch of different blades and profiles. The customer was standing there watching so that didn't help the nerves any. The customer had some live oak cut before by another sawyer and said it had lots of waves in the cuts so the custom started out wanting the lumber cut a little thick to off set for the waves. With in two cuts and no waves the customer said that we could start taking the cuts to the regular dimensions. A long story short is this live oak had been on the ground for over a year and I figured it would be extra difficult to cut but I had no problems at all.