How hard is quartersawn white oak?

Quartersawn white oak has a Janka hardness of 1350 lbf (5,990 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value at 12% moisture content. That places it above red oak (1,220) and below hard maple (1,450).

Is quartersawn white oak good for outdoor and marine use?

Yes. The heartwood is very durable with good insect resistance, and its latewood pores are plugged with tyloses, so it performs in marine, cooperage, and exterior service. Because oak takes the same iron-and-damp staining as flatsawn, use non-ferrous fasteners around moisture.

Why does quartersawn white oak cost more, and where does Raw Heartwood source it?

Quartersawing pulls less yield from a log than flatsawing, so the price runs higher off the same tree; the cut also exposes the prized ray fleck and cuts in-service width movement roughly in half. Raw Heartwood sources urban-salvaged logs from the Chicago area and kiln-dries its lumber to 6-8% moisture content.

DomesticQuercus alba

White Oak, Quartersawn

Quartersawn. The cut that made Mission furniture a movement.

White Oak, Quartersawn (Quercus alba) is a domestic hardwood from the eastern and central United States with a Janka hardness of 1350 lbf. The quartersawn cut exposes the medullary rays as broad lustrous ray fleck across the face, and the heartwood is light to medium brown with an olive or gray cast.

Category: Domestic
Janka: 1,350 lbf
Botanical: Quercus alba
Shipped at: 6–8% MC

Quercus alba Quercus alba · Eastern and central United States

Eastern and central United States.

The cut exposes the medullary rays as fleck across the face. Heartwood light to medium brown with an olive or gray cast.

Detail of White Oak grain — figured wood texture, photographed at Raw Heartwood — A close read on the grain. Detail of this specimen

What you see.

Heartwood light to medium brown with an olive or gray cast. Sapwood nearly white to light tan. The face shows the ray fleck — broad lustrous bands across the grain, sometimes called tiger striping. Bigger and more dramatic than red oak fleck. That is why people pay for the cut.

Heartwood color detail of White Oak (Quercus alba)

Heartwood, this specimen

How the grain runs.

Straight and parallel on quartersawn boards. Coarse, uneven texture from the ring-porous structure. Latewood pores plugged with tyloses.

Closer in

On the bench.

Heartwood very durable. Good insect resistance. Tyloses plus tannins — performs in marine, cooperage, and exterior service. Machines and bends well. Quartersawn planes cleaner than flatsawn — the grain runs parallel to the face, less tearout. Glues, stains, finishes well. Same iron-and-damp staining as flatsawn — non-ferrous fasteners around moisture. Distinct tannic smell at the cut. Oak dust is a respiratory sensitizer. Hardwood dust is IARC Group 1 with long occupational exposure. Asthma, eye and skin irritation. Run dust collection.

The numbers, looked at directly.

Janka Hardness

0lbf

5,990 N. Side-hardness — force to embed a half-inch steel ball halfway into the wood.

Average Dried Weight

0lbs/ft³

755 kg/m³. At 12% MC.

Specific Gravity

0.60/ 0.68 at 12% MC

Basic over green volume; second number at 12% moisture content.

Hardness, in context

A side-hardness measurement. Higher number, harder wood.

Shrinkage — radial / tangential / volumetric

5.6%radial

10.5%tangential

16.3%volumetric

On sourcing

Where this wood comes from matters.

Not on CITES. IUCN Least Concern. Quartersawing pulls less yield from a log than flatsawing — that is why the price runs higher off the same tree.

What it's for.

Premium cooperage
Mission furniture
Arts & Crafts cabinetry
Boat decking
Architectural millwork
Decorative veneer
Exterior joinery

Worth knowing.

The cut exposes the medullary rays as fleck across the face. That figure is the defining look of period American Mission and Craftsman work. It also cuts the in-service tangential movement roughly in half — width is governed by the radial number (~5.6%) instead of the tangential (~10.5%). Less cupping, more even wear. Combined with the tyloses, that is why quartersawn white oak runs tight cooperage, flooring, boat decks, and exterior joinery.

Sources & references.

Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-282) — USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (2021)
White Oak (Quercus alba) — FPL Tech Sheet — USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory
Silvics of North America: Quercus alba L. — White Oak — Rogers, Robert (USDA Forest Service) (1990)
Quercus alba — IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — Wenzell, K.; Kenny, L. (2017)
Quercus alba — Wikipedia contributors
American White Oak — Species Guide (cooperage and quartersawn applications) — American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)
Gustav Stickley and the American Arts and Crafts Movement — The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History)

Common questions.

How hard is quartersawn white oak?: Quartersawn white oak has a Janka hardness of 1350 lbf (5,990 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value at 12% moisture content. That places it above red oak (1,220) and below hard maple (1,450).
Is quartersawn white oak good for outdoor and marine use?: Yes. The heartwood is very durable with good insect resistance, and its latewood pores are plugged with tyloses, so it performs in marine, cooperage, and exterior service. Because oak takes the same iron-and-damp staining as flatsawn, use non-ferrous fasteners around moisture.
Why does quartersawn white oak cost more, and where does Raw Heartwood source it?: Quartersawing pulls less yield from a log than flatsawing, so the price runs higher off the same tree; the cut also exposes the prized ray fleck and cuts in-service width movement roughly in half. Raw Heartwood sources urban-salvaged logs from the Chicago area and kiln-dries its lumber to 6-8% moisture content.

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