Contributor
I am with Andrew concerning an opinion of live oaks. I like working with the wood. It has a rich warm brown color to the wood. It is hard and durable. I do hobby and craft woodworking with a fair amount of turning. I especially like live oak for turning bowls. Crotch wood live oak is even better with its swirling, twisting and feathering grain pattern.
Quercus virginiana, a live oak, age is often measured in centuries. So not all of them are susceptible to tipping over.
Bob in Tampa Bay area.
Contributor
After Irma, this area was full of huge live oak logs from fallen trees. Some were six feet thick, indicating they had been around a while. As far as I recall, all of them were rotten in the middle. Even if they had a couple of feet of solid wood on the outside, they had hollow places farther in.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
I find it easier to pick out Live Oaks by the bark. Laurel Oak/Water Oak typically have a relatively smooth bark with a grayish color. Live Oak by comparison has a much more rough bark and lacks the gray tint, similar to Cottonwood bark. The Dade City/San Antonio/St Leo area has a lot of Laurel Oaks that can get quite large... 4'+ in diameter, but they grow quickly and have a lifespan of only about 90 years before they rot out and fall. They also tend to have longer/straighter trunks than Live Oak.
If I had to guess without seeing a picture I would bet that the hollow stuff is Laurel Oak. If it is milled into slabs or lumber you can figure on loosing about 50% once dry.
Member
You don’t find a lot of live oak lumber because 1) it tends to warp and distort a lot during the drying process, and 2) the tree trunks tend to be short and gnarly, which limits the availability of high quality saw logs.
Contributor
Do laurel oaks get to be six feet thick? If so, the many rotten logs I've seen could have been laurel oaks.Originally Posted by Andrew Gibson
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Member
That makes sense, and explains how "Old Ironsides" could have been clad with live oak, causing cannonballs to bounce off, while other live oak definitely does not behave that way.
Contributor
My understanding is that Old Ironsides has ribs of live oak from Virginia, and the planking is white oak. The live oak from the southeast coast is famous for a growth habit that produces branches naturally shaped like ship ribs. White oak is famous for toughness, and it is more rot-resistant than many other wood species.
Contributor
Is this Laurel oak really laurel? IE: bay leaves for cooking come from it? the California laurel, Umbellularia californica, is the sole species in the Umbellularia genus so i guess it is not related to anything else. They do smell nice and peppery when cut or burned. called myrtle wood in Oregon. They sell little trinkets carved from it there.
Bil lD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbellularia
Contributor
Our Laurel oak in Florida is Quercus laurifolia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_laurifolia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana
See the paragraph titled "Uses". They say Old Ironsides frame came from Georgia. Can't say for sure, I was not there when it happened.
Bob
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