Live Oak opinions needed

[Thomas Bennett]

Do any of you Southerners have any opinions on turning Live Oak? The photos show three large Live Oak “limbs” that were trucked up here to Southern Ohio from Georgia( or someplace down South). The logs have sat for two years. Although the ends were painted they have some checking. The wood is not free; I have to do some misc. woodwork for the owner. I did a quick search of the archives. The few references I found about Live Oak indicate it is a dense, beautiful wood.
Is it worth investing the time and energy to process these logs for turning? Is it considered rare or semi-rare? How does it turn?
Here in Southern Ohio we are not lacking wood, I cannot decide If I want to get into this project when I have all the local species I need.
Any opinions will be appreciated! Thank you.

[John Keeton]

Thomas, I have never turned live oak. That said, limb wood is notoriously unstable for flat work, and I suspect one could expect some movement from it while turning regardless of how dry it was.

And, you don't say how "unfree" it is, i.e., how much work you have to do in exchange, but this wood could be full of defects, cracks, etc., and without seeing the inside of it, I would find it hard to justify a lot of work in exchange, to be yet faced with a lot of work breaking it down into turnable wood.

But, then, like you, there is a lot of free wood available around me.

[Richard Madison]

Tend to agree with John. It's tempting, but there is a good chance it would be a lot more work than the results would justify.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I guess it depends on how much you want the wood; how much turning wood do you have? I've only turned a couple things from live oak; I was fortunate enough to receive a piece from a nice gentleman in Hilton Head island, SC while I was vacationing last year. It is amazingly dense compared to every other oak I've worked with. It is significantly harder to cut with a bandsaw than ANY other native wood. I don't work with exotics, so I can't comment on those, but it has a tendency to burn in the cut--don't try and cut it with a fine tooth blade, or anything less than 3TPI. Better 2TPI alternate set blades.

In my limited experience, the harder the wood, the better the cut. I've been turning several locust bowls lately, and get a wonderful cut. Live oak was much the same way--such that if you really take your time with finish cuts, using very sharp tools, you can achieve a near burnished surface with nary a sign of tool marks. If you don't have patience, you'll have tearout the same as other oaks. It does check very easily; much more easily than other oaks, but for me, this isnt a terrible thing; I typically turn very thin, and always turn to final thickness. I'd not make the bowl much more than 1/4-5/16" thick. Checks are easily fixed with CA glue if you keep a close eye on it while its drying.

[Scott Lux]

I'm thinking it's been on the ground two years, it could be pretty punky throughout. I'd give it a pass.

Like you said, you've got plenty of free wood. Heck wood around here is so cheap, it grows on trees.

[charlie knighton]

i have never turned live oak, i would cut log in middle and look at the ends, i put all my oak into blanks and store in cardboard barrels for at least six months from when the wood was cut down, this being on the ground for 2 years......

[Barry Elder]

I have turned quite a bit of Live Oak but I don't understand leaving the wood on the ground for two years. You need to cut the ends off and check to see how punky it is. The wood down here was a six or seven foot trunk of a big Live Oak that had the top of it blown away by hurricane Frances in 2004. Our club (me and another guy) cut the entire trunk into bowl-sized pieces and I put them in my shop to dry. Despite the AnchorSeal, most of the pieces cracked bigtime. But the pieces that survived turned very easily and looked very nice. Of course, you might not like to turn dry wood as I do. Even though the logs have been on the ground for two years, treat it as being green, or just seasoned, because I'll guarantee that near the center there will be considerable moisture.

[Dennis Ford]

I can almost guarantee that it will not be punky, live oak is very rot resistant. However after 2 years it may be cracked badly. Live oak is my favorite of the oaks for turning but that is not saying much. It is not very stable and the limb wood will likely have stress issues as mentioned above. If you are having to pay (money or time), probably not worth it.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Pass. Oak is oak. You've got great woods in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Oak is hard enough to dry without cracking, so I'm sure this has some deep ones. Another problem I've learned about is trees that grow in open areas don't have to compete in attaining height and have more hidden knots and defects in the trunks. The best tree trunks come from groves and forests. So without the history, I would pass.

[Thomas Canfield]

I picked up some Live Oak about 6 weeks ago and roughed out 8 bowls about 18 to 19" D x 8" H. Several developed severe checking even after being sealed with Anchorseal. The wood was extremely wet and the grain structure showed a lot of difference in the growth rings. I did soak one smaller piece in DNA and have not tried it , but have not seen any checking yet. The sap was also harder on the lathe than any other green wood I have turned. I don't think that I will go out of my way to look for any more LO, but the key may also be to let it dry some prior to turning or be sure it is harvested in the late fall or early winter to minimize the sap issue.

[Thomas Bennett]

.....for advising me on this Live Oak. I think I will pass on it. It seems like too much work, a high probability of checking for some limb wood that is not very rare. In really appreciate all the comments!