Burr Oak.....anybody used it?

[Matt Sollars]

I just picked up a bunch of Burr Oak (grown around here in the midwest)
and I'd love to know if anybody has used it. It's oak so i'm assuming it's relatively hard.

Anybody make anything with it....any pictures?

Thanks,

Matt

[Quinn McCarthy]

I have used it a few times. It is the only oak that grows anywhere close to here. People in the western part of the state have quality burr oak. It is a member of the white oak family and machines just like WO. I have made trim for 2 houses out of it. DOn't have any ppictures of it.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

[Stephen Edwards]

Just curious, what color is the raw wood?

[Matt Sollars]

it has a lot of darker brown tint to it. darker than white oak.
i haven't even planed any of it down, just off the truck last night.

if i think about it, i'll plane some, and wet it (to show grain) and try to post some pics in this thread.

Thanks for the replies. i'd love to see some furniture with it, so if you're out there and you have pics, send away.

Matt

[Matt Sollars]

just thought i'd add......

when looking for ''Burr Oak Furniture'' on google.....i get a LOT of ''Burl Oak'' stuff. Burl elm, etc.

Is ''burr'' used to mean ''burl'' as well?

[Quinn McCarthy]

Like matt said it is a shade darker than white oak.

Burr oak is common name for quercus elipsoidalis. Burl oak I believe somes from burls that form on the tree.

Quinn

[Ron Bontz]

I would love to have about 50 to 100 bd ft of it. But I am guessing it probably cost as much as WO.

[Joel Jepsen]

Bur is the correct spelling for bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, in the white oak subgenera. Q. ellipsoidalis is northern pin oak in the red oak subgenera. Where burr came from, this forester doesn't know.

IMO (SW WI, NE IA, SE MN) where bur oak grows in mixed stands that contain white oak, it tends to be more lighter in color. In more or less pure stands of bur oak, it tends to be darker. I say 'tends' because I've seen a few exceptions. My only educated guess is that the sites where white oaks grow in association will be somewhat better sites, not as dry or hot (SW slopes, thin soils, sandy spots) as well as genetic variation.

As for telling the two apart after milling, very difficult as both have tyloses. How each one mills or finishes compared to the other, I don't know. I'm sure I've worked with bur oak when I bought white oak.

[Matt Sollars]

Thanks for all the info Joel. I was calling it 'Burr' because in blue springs, mo (about 10min west of oak grove) there is a Burr Oak Conservation Area. Who knows where it came from.

i'll try to plane a piece of both (white and bur) and take a picture.

plane, wet, picture.

Matt