Thread: Large English Oak,NSW

Hi Dan,
I reckon that 300+ years of the Royal Navy ruling the seas says something good about English Oak. If it really is English oak, you have yourself a TREASURE!
In terms of furniture, its not to everyone's taste but mostly because it is coarse grained and therefore can't easily be finished to a polished surface. Other than that, it works beautifully with both power tools and hand tools but does require very sharp cutting edges.
It makes beautiful furniture but it requires designs that don't rely on surface finish for their allure. Google Robert Thompson Craftsman furniture in England to see what I mean. I sat in their workshops once watching the craftsmen finishing each piece with hand tools and a sharp chisel makes a crackling sound as it cuts across grain. Each craftsman also carves his own little mouse into each piece. In the UK, English Oak is now protected and anyone wanting any, especially commercial quantities, has to wait for one to fall naturally, usually in a storm, and they all rush to the scene. Thompson's have a stock of slabbed logs that is, I believe, a VERY large part of the company's balance sheet!
In dry technical terms, it is a hardwood, very stable, insect resistant, with a very high potential to make well designed furniture last for centuries. If quarter sawn, it is will display medullary(?) grain which is the hallmark of classic European furniture.
You are a lucky man!
fletty

Hi Fletty, thanks very much for your feed back sounds like its going to be a pleasure to work with, Ill re post soon when I get it all home with some photos there may be other wood workers interested in some English oak before I mill it all with the Lucas , I'm still researching approximate age as the first 3700 is about 1400 wide then various limbs around 600 wide came of the top, so far history tells this area was once all farm land possibly a relative of governor Phillip in the Hawkesbury planted these trees anyway thanks again for your help post more info soon cheers Dan

Last Saturday, I had to rough down some English oak with my dinkie chainsaw (Stihl MS 181) and then wet turn it on Sunday.

It cut well with a new blade and turned like butter.

Originally Posted by Daniel k

....... so far history tells this area was once all farm land possibly a relative of governor Phillip in the Hawkesbury planted these trees.....

Hi Dan,
There are a few legends around Governors and Oaks. As you are talking the Hawkesbury, it could be Philip or even Macquarie. Macquarie, in the very early days of the settlement, set out from Sydney Town and rode for a day in each direction to decide the location for new towns in the rich farm land that surrounded Sydney. As they were 'boat people', he chose land and sites that reminded them of home and thus were founded the towns of Richmond, Windsor, Castlereagh, Campbelltown, Cowpasture (Camden) and Cawdor. As oaks were then a sign of British power (= empire building) both Macquarie and Philip were known to have planted oak trees as a sign of 'ownership' and demonstration of an intention to stay and grow for a long time. It is unlikely than any oak propagated naturally in Australia, and, given the size and age of your tree, it is highly likely to be a link to Australias VERY early colonists?

fletty

Originally Posted by fletty

Hi Dan,
There are a few legends around Governors and Oaks. As you are talking the Hawkesbury, it could be Philip or even Macquarie. Macquarie, in the very early days of the settlement, set out from Sydney Town and rode for a day in each direction to decide the location for new towns in the rich farm land that surrounded Sydney. As they were 'boat people', he chose land and sites that reminded them of home and thus were founded the towns of Richmond, Windsor, Castlereagh, Campbelltown, Cowpasture (Camden) and Cawdor. As oaks were then a sign of British power (= empire building) both Macquarie and Philip were known to have planted oak trees as a sign of 'ownership' and demonstration of an intention to stay and grow for a long time. It is unlikely than any oak propagated naturally in Australia, and, given the size and age of your tree, it is highly likely to be a link to Australias VERY early colonists?

fletty

Hi what a great find. If you can find the provenance of the tree, it will add another element to the end product. As an Englishman I love Oak. The previous comments re the carved mouse from a Yorkshire furniture maker Robert "Mouseman" Thompson is so true.

Lovely timber to work, but an absolute mongrel to dry. Dont count your chickens before they hatch. Make sure you take every precaution known in setting up for seasoning, otherwise you will be sadly disappointed.

In case it's of any use, here is how the Mouseman slabs and stickers his stash (I had to be dragged away!)

mouseman001web.jpg

(the still drooling) fletty!

PS, YES, the planks under the stash are ALSO oak!

All this talk of Oak and still no photos from original poster as yet is it a tease?

I believe in the old days timber millers and furniture makers would leave oak boards in the river for 10 years before making them into furniture. The very slow process made the boards stable.
Stewart

Thanks again for all this fantastic information. I have been doing some research regarding English Oak in the Hawkesbury and Governor Blighs daughter Mary Putland was said to have planted many English Oaks in the area in the mid 1800's..... We were able to salvage this tree from a property in Richmond, as the though of it going to mulch would have been a sin!
No idea of exact age, but as you can see it's a sizable tree.10614047_10153802908251729_524250818_n (1).jpg

The timber looks too dark, have you painted the ends? Have you any pics of the leaves, it sort of looks like an elm. but I am usually wrong just ask my kids.
joel

when the limbs were cut they seemed very dark but over the course of a few days it has light brown tones inside the sapwood

My experience with E/oak is that the sapwood and heartwood are similar in color. Be interesting to hear others thoughts.

There should be some acorns left on the ground. And also e/oaks have very prominant medullary rays.