DeadHead Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I have some large diameter Live Oak logs. I am able to saw live edge slabs up to 28" wide. The biggest issue I find with live oak is finding a log straight enough to get anything over 10'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I think you've answered your own question. Live Oaks are usually pretty gnarly in the wild and the slabs are no different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 DeadHead, do you have any dry Live Oak? I'd like to get some for door sills in old houses I'm working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 I saw some live oak for sale in Savannah/ Brunswick, Ga. about 4-5 years ago. I think there is a woodworking club down there. Maybe you could contact them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsteve Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 this thread is intersting and i learned something. the amount of times ive been on wood database site learning about different species if oak and this thread had me goin there and seeing the "other oaks" category. live oak looks like something im gonna have to get my hands on and make something with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadHead Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Tom I do have some rough cut 1x6x8' that has been air drying for about a year. I have several other logs to process but I only saw it to order. If you are interested please feel free to contact me. Lazykcustomsawing@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 On 12/13/2012 at 8:17 PM, TRBaker said: Beech, the ships were built out of live oak because they wanted the twisted, gnarled, grain. It was so tough that cannon balls wouldn't penetrate it. That's why the Brits thought the USS Constitution was made of iron. And as splinters breaking off from the hull was a serious caused of injury and death, having wood that was not likely to do that would be a pluss as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Dry Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 On 12/13/2012 at 8:17 PM, TRBaker said: Beech, the ships were built out of live oak because they wanted the twisted, gnarled, grain. It was so tough that cannon balls wouldn't penetrate it. That's why the Brits thIought the USS Constitution was made of iron. I'm pretty sure only the interior structural parts of the superfrigates were made from live oak. The sides were multiple ply's of other woods and were two feet thick, if I remeber correctly. In the days of the period, you had small fast ships with few guns and large, slow ships of the line with lots of guns. The American superfrigates had lots more guns than the small ships and were still quite fast. They were fast, because the live oak structural parts were stiff and prevented the keel from sagging. The large ships of the line were slow because the week keels would sag and cause drag. Live oak grows in a fashion where the branches curve wildly outward from the trunk and are often as large or larger than the main trunks of other trees. A live oak appears to be as wide as it is tall. The trunk shapes can fit the structural parts of the ship perfectly and enhance the strength even more since the grain follows the curve. Its sort of like a forging. The sides of the superfrigates were several layers thick of other types of wood. I believe they were layered almost like plywood. The Americans gave the nickname to the Constitution as Old Ironsides because they saw the British cannon balls actually bounce off the sides. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 7 hours ago, Hurricane Dry said: In the days of the period, you had small fast ships with few guns and large, slow ships of the line with lots of guns. The American superfrigates had lots more guns than the small ships and were still quite fast. They were fast, because the live oak structural parts were stiff and prevented the keel from sagging. The large ships of the line were slow because the week keels would sag and cause drag. Ships of the line were also slow because they had wide bows and sterns, to provide buoyancy to support the weight of the guns. Even so, the keel would sag as you said. The super-frigates also had diagonal bracing which reduced sagging and helped transfer the weight of the guns at the bow and stern to the center of buoyancy. This allowed a more streamlined shape and greater speed. It wasn't so much the number of guns but the type. Conventional frigates only carried light weight small caliber guns which couldn't damage a ship of the line, or light weight large caliber short barrelled short range carronades. If they got close enough to a ship of the line to use the carronades, they'd be destroyed. The super-frigates were armed with heavier "long 24s", which had large enough caliber to damage a ship of the line at long range. That combined with the greater speed and manoeuvrability of the super-frigate made them able to stand up against much larger ships in one on one engagements. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Hurricane Dry Posted January 14, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 5 hours ago, Beechwood Chip said: Ships of the line were also slow because they had wide bows and sterns, to provide buoyancy to support the weight of the guns. Even so, the keel would sag as you said. The super-frigates also had diagonal bracing which reduced sagging and helped transfer the weight of the guns at the bow and stern to the center of buoyancy. This allowed a more streamlined shape and greater speed. It wasn't so much the number of guns but the type. Conventional frigates only carried light weight small caliber guns which couldn't damage a ship of the line, or light weight large caliber short barrelled short range carronades. If they got close enough to a ship of the line to use the carronades, they'd be destroyed. The super-frigates were armed with heavier "long 24s", which had large enough caliber to damage a ship of the line at long range. That combined with the greater speed and manoeuvrability of the super-frigate made them able to stand up against much larger ships in one on one engagements. Are you trying to encourage me into building a superfrigate? Because you have. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesDeanofSebring Posted September 29, 2017 Report Share Posted September 29, 2017 I do not have any live Oak now, but may have, Check every few weeks I do have water oak, can send photos to your email. have knees, short smaller pieces, straight and curved.Am cutting 4 trees, tall and fairly straight.will get two 15 foot logs per tree, then will cut upper forks and limbs as knees or forks.Please inquire.I can send photos. Water oaks are taller , so have straighter trunks, and wood is slightly softer and easier to work than live oak. Please tell me what you want, I can send photos . Thank you, JamesDeanofSebring Phone 954 524 7278 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew S Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 This is kinda a old topic but just in case someone looks this up I have any size or length. Here's a pic off a 2"x34"x11' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Welcome Drew ! So where are you located and how much a bd. ft. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Great! I'd like to know the location too. I have several uses for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew S Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Georgetown, Sc.. We're in the process of getting a couple of slabs rough sanded and oiled but for a slab like this your looking around 2800.00. I replied to this post not thinking that someone would reply that fast. The board in that pic. has only been sanded with 60. This tree has been standing dead for about 20 yrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 22, 2018 Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 I'm looking for some pieces to make replacement window, and door sills in a 1755 house. I'll have to check the measurements, but think they are about 2-1/2 inches thick x 6-1/2 inches wide. There are 38 windows, and 6 doors that we need sills for. I forget the number of each size window, but do remember that there are 38 of them. Doors are 42" wide plus 10" total casing width, so I'm guessing length would be 52", but would want to check first. Those would be the longest sills. I normally use White Oak, but will use LIve Oak if I can get it. Out of standing dead would be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 Tom, have you ever worked with live oak before? Drew, what wood is that pictured? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew S Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 Live Oak. Tom we're only selling slabs at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 16 hours ago, K Cooper said: Tom, have you ever worked with live oak before? Drew, what wood is that pictured? I've made a few sills out of it- From a log that had been laying on the sand in S.C. for as long as anyone could remember. Ruined a chainsaw blade, and set of 6-1/4" power planer knives, but we got what we needed out of it. I expect it should last a good number of hundreds of years even with feet going over them multiple times a day. I carved my name and date on the bottoms. The really old, air dried stuff is more like Granite than what we normally recognize as Oak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddox Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 Hello all. Ran across this thread searching for info on slabbing live oak. I am a carpenter/ builder by trade but have only worked with already milled lumber. I have had an itch to try cutting trees into slabs for a while now. Decided to start with a chainsaw mill and see how it goes. Ordered mill a week ago and then saw a tree service cutting a large Live oak near my home. I ended up with an 11'x 24"one end x 40" other end log It looks as though the entire center of the log is already seasoned wood with only about 2" of the perimeter live/ green wood.(center is much darker and very hard) anyone know if my assessment is accurate? If so the drying time for the slabs may be reduced. Mill should be here next week so any advice / comments would be appreciated. PS : I read the entire thread that started in 2012 and was recently ressurected. Learned a lot already . Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 If the sapwood is still alive, I doubt the heart is completely "seasoned". Air drying time is usually a year per inch of thickness, by "rule of thumb", but since Live Oak is so dense, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it takes longer than that. There is another internet forums where you will find all sorts of information about harvesting, milling, and drying. Forestryforum.com will be well worth your time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 Buy a moisture meter after reading up on drying , develop patience ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddox Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Thanks for the replies. I've already started looking for a place to buy already dried slabs while I wait for mine to dry. They say patience is a virtue and I agree. It's just not a virtue I posses ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 I found this video on milling live oak for ship building. It's long, but has a lot of good bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 That is quite the project he has going refurbishing Tally Ho I have been following him for a while 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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