Turkey Oak - What is it good for?

[wills-mill]

Poo Oak

[harvey b davison]

It blunts chains quicker than i can sharpen them, gone through 2 chains today. Got a brand new one straight out of box, half a cut and it was knackered. Trying get through it was near impossible. The trunk has been down a couple of year and is approx 28" diameter. Tried it with my mak 9010 which has normally gone straight through it, but not this section.

[Yournamehere]

Turkey oak

Huh!

What is it good for?

Absolutely Nothin!

Say it again, say it again.

[tommer9]

One of the most figured of oaks. Furniture makers love it if you can successfully dry it without hideous amounts of movement and cracking.......and if they have learnt their history lol. It is useless outside as it rots fast, and has no structural integrity to speak of. For many years it was known as iron oak due to its weight, or wainscote oak as it was deemed only any good for the internal oak panelling (wainscoat) of old houses. i have successfully dried, milled and sold turkey oak which was used for window boards and furniture. Alot of that 1950's dark oak veneered furniture used it too. Not the greatest firwood in the world IMO, but not the worst either.

[Al North]

Thanks for all the info guys. I will investigate further.

 

I'm planning to mill at least some of it on Monday. I'm hoping it will be usable - I had planned to make some small items of (rustic) furniture so the splitting and movement might not be too much of a problem. Not liking the prospect of rapidly blunting chains though. I want to spend my day milling not sharpening!

 

Will let you know how I get on.

[tommer9]

I have milled and sold plenty of it to people who actually know anything about wood.......everyone else is stuck in the modern day attitude of 'its crap, good for nothing' mentality. Go for it.

[Billhook]

I have milled and sold plenty of it to people who actually know anything about wood.......everyone else is stuck in the modern day attitude of 'its crap, good for nothing' mentality. Go for it.

 

 

I'll second that. We had two huge Turkey Oaks on the farm which toppled over in one of the big storms. Too big and heavy to move and in an inaccessible place but the Lucas Mill made short work of them both.

I milled a variety of sizes from 1"x 8" to 8"x 8" (now they were bloody heavy!)

 

If you wait for the bigger sizes to settle and then re mill I cannot see why they are not used for many projects.

 

On the farm I use the 3" x 8" on an eight foot wide grain pusher as being both strong enough for the job but also easy on the hardwood grain floor or should I misjudge and hit the wall.

 

The odd plank which did warp too much I used as decking on a veranda of a log cabin which I built in 2000. Although exposed to the elements they are not in contact with the ground and have stood the weather for fifteen years with no sign of decay.

 

I am sure that if you quarter saw and stack correctly you will find some lovely material to use for indoor projects and I have never noticed it smell more than any other wood.

[GiovanniD]

If you wait for the bigger sizes to settle and then re mill I cannot see why they are not used for many projects. (...) I am sure that if you quarter saw and stack correctly you will find some lovely material to use for indoor projects and I have never noticed it smell more than any other wood.

 

I have some Turkey Oak trees (in Southern Italy) that I would like to try to mill for restoring a timber frame roof truss (which would be sitting 3 foot thick stone walls and gables). I do not know if they are cross-bred with other oaks (will check next time I go there). The reason I would like to *try* using turkey oak is (1) I have lots of these trees on my property (most of them are likely 100-200 years old), and the small amounts of heartwood that I have seen dried out (among my firewood) are extremely hard and have a nice dark color, and (2) they are tied up with the local culture (the name of the nearest town actually derives from "cerris"), and I think it would be nice to have them integrated into my home.

 

I know that timber framers suggest assembling a timber frame fresh after milling but I would probably try to assemble the frame after it has dried (am willing to wait 10-15 years to assemble). My questions are:

 

* Are there precautions I should take when felling the tree to minimize the risk of shaking?

 

* How much oversize would you recommend milling to end up with an 8"x10" ridge beam that spans say 15 feet?

 

* If I am willing to mill say one beam only out of a trunk (since I have many to choose from and will just use waste wood as firewood), in order to maximize chances of it drying out well and not warping, where would be the best place to cut? Should the pith be directly centered?

 

* What are the ideal drying conditions for Turkey Oak? If I stack it up outdoors off of the ground in a shady area, with a corrugated tin cover to protect from rain and apply end grain sealer, would this be OK?

 

* Assuming that a piece of milled turkey oak dries without being ruined by shaking or splitting, at that point is the danger of shaking passed? Can I put a dried, shake-free timber up without worrying about it later coming apart?

 

Thanks for any comments!

[SteveA]

I'm pretty sure some of the Turkey oaks have been hibridised in some of our woods. I've steered clear of using the ones with little heart, others have tell tale signs of being turkey oak, eg red bark fissures or Turkey oak ish looking leaves (but not as exaggerated).

 

Far as I can tell the ones I've felled with little heartwood are true Turkey oak because those had hairy buds.... the ones without hairy buds had a lot more heartwood.

 

Not sure if anyone has researched this properly yet? But would be interesting to find out a bit more....

cheers, Steve

[SteveA]

Turkey oak

Huh!

What is it good for?

Absolutely Nothin!

Say it again, say it again.

 

Tiz a funny thing, for some reason I have remembered the post above since I first read it ages ago!

Why do some totally silly things get remembered so well?

cheers, steve