Peach Oak?

[Jim Baker]

A coworker (not a woodworker) mentioned that his dad has quite a bit of what he called "Peach Oak". I told him I had never heard of peach oak. He thinks it is similar to other oaks, but is pinkish in color.

Have any of you heard the term peach oak? What can you tell me about it?

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Not sure about that one Jim. I referenced some of my Horticulture Information, and I can't find anything about Peach Oak. I know there are a lot of Regional terms for certain things, so that my be the case here. I know that some call Osage Orange Trees "Hedge Ball Trees", and the Missouri guys I work with call them "Snake Apple Trees". I will continue to root thru some material and see what I can find. My Dad or Uncle may have heard this before, I will have to run this by them. (They will probably have some line of dung about it, so their information may be useless!)

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Jim, I found it! Dug out one of my older reference books, and found the term Peach Oak. It is in the Red Oak Group. Commonly called the Willow Oak, Quercus Phellos. I am very familiar with Willow Oak, but I never heard it called Peach Oak. The wood should be similar to Pin or Red Oak. The Black and Laurel Oak are also in the Phellos classification. Should be as nice as any other Oak.........may have a lighter, creamy pink or red color...........hence the name. If you can get your hands on some of it, do it. I would be interested to check it out myself.........I'm always interested in something different.

[Doug Jones]

More commonly known as "Willow Oak",, I think

[Jim Baker]

Thanks for your help, guys. I'll get a few pieces to try it out. I work almost exclusively with red oak and actually prefer the pieces that are pink/red in color. Maybe this will prove to be a good find.

Kevin - if you make it to the balloon show in Centralia in August, I could bring you a few pieces to try out. Let me know a few days before if you think you may be coming.

[Todd Burch]

all the references I have ever read about willow oak is that it is not one of the better oaks. Which, when you put that in perspective, it could still be a lot better than a lot of other woods.

I have a lot of "white oak". White oak is a fantastic wood. More specifically, my white oak is post oak. Post oak sucks, hence it's name - it's good for posts! (It checks bad when drying). Although, Richard Hash used some of it for his router table and it looks great. We jokingly call it "rat pee" oak, since some rats made home in the stack while it was drying.

[Bobby Hatfield]

Jim, I found it! Dug out one of my older reference books, and found the term Peach Oak. It is in the Red Oak Group. Commonly called the Willow Oak, Quercus Phellos. I am very familiar with Willow Oak, but I never heard it called Peach Oak. The wood should be similar to Pin or Red Oak. The Black and Laurel Oak are also in the Phellos classification. Should be as nice as any other Oak.........may have a lighter, creamy pink or red color...........hence the name. If you can get your hands on some of it, do it. I would be interested to check it out myself.........I'm always interested in something different.

Kevin is that also called "Water Oak" by some ? Lots of Willow Oak here in the flats of N E AR back in 40's and 50"s before they cut, pushed into a pile and burned most every one to put in another acre of rice or soy beans.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Bobby, the Water Oak is a different animal than the Willow Oak. The Water Oak, Quercus Nigra, is similar in growth habit and apperance to the Pin Oak. It grows Pyramidal in shape, like the Pin Oak, and can get to heights of 95' with a trunk diameter of 3'. The wood is good for furniture, and is light brown in color, similar to other oak wood. The Water Oak also has a much different leaf than the Willow Oak. Water Oak is valued for furniture wood, and like most other Oaks, firewood.

[Jim Baker]

He's going to bring me some pieces to clean up and take a look at. If they're nice, super! I can get more as needed. If not, I'm not out a thing. I'll let you know when I find out.

[Jim Baker]

He's going to bring me some pieces to clean up and take a look at. If they're nice, super! I can get more as needed. If not, I'm not out a thing. I'll let you know when I find out.

He brought me a piece today. I planed it just enough to see what it looks like. This piece is not a particularly good one (several knots and splits) but at least I can see what I am dealing with. I have to assume that most of the pieces are better.

It's not like any oak I have ever worked with. In fact, I'm wondering if it is oak at all. It has a much smoother surface than oak that I am used to. Thge pores don't seem to be nearly as open. The color is also different. Sort of an orange-brown type of color, somewhat like cedar. In some places, it almost seems irridescent. It seems to have some figure to it that almost appears to change as the light hits it differently.

Does this wood sound familiar to anyone? Bummer I don't have a digital camera or I would post a picture.