questions with French oak

[moggyjnr]

Hey all, new here and just wanted to ask if anyone has had dealings with French oak?

I have aquired a few rough lengths, they where used as skids to transport steel from France and we're getting thrown away. They are rough sawn and I wish to tidy them up and use them for a project.
they don't seem to have too much moisture in them...been told by a friend that they do move, expand etc.

So all been said I look forward to playing with this timber as is tidy's up nicely, if anyone can offer any advice It will be much appreciated.

 

[deema]

Used French oak for doors and windows without any issues. Clearly not as slow grown as more northern countries, but good stuff in my opinion.

 

[custard]

Lucky you. By and large French Oak is a better furniture wood than English Oak, the French still maintain massive acreages in Normandy as commercial Oak plantations, so their trees grow straight and tall plus the trees are properly maintained to prevent too many limbs spoiling the main part of the trunk. English Oak is more generally just opportunistic felling of unmaintained trees. The timber framing boys use French Oak almost exclusively for these reasons.

The problem you may encounter is grit ground deep into the surface of the timber, which will knock seven bells out of your tools. Not much you can do except brush down hard with a wire brush and hope for the best.

 

[marcros]

i would hit it with a belt sander first job, to remove surface grit or metal. it is much cheaper than discovering it with blazer blades.

 

[custard]

Clearly not as slow grown as more northern countries

I like the look of Baltic Oak, with dense growth rings that really show off a through tenon. But what I've always heard is that even though slow grown softwoods are stronger, with hardwoods it's the reverse, so fast grown Oak is actually the stronger. Still, I'm not a botanist nor a structural engineer so all I'm doing is peddling hearsay, but at least it's consistent hearsay!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

If you've got one of those nail finding (metal detector) gizmo's that's also worth running over a freshly belt sanded surface although clearly that won't find any stone material and as skids that's the most likely contaminant. I have to say I wouldn't be offering those into my planar. I might at a push hand plane with an old electric I keep for just such grotty jobs where I'm not too fussed about dinged blades.

 

[moggyjnr]

I will try post a picture when I get chance. My mate showed me some he has planed and sanded and it looks beautiful. Has a nice dark grain. So far he has made a mantel place, lamp, tea light holders. There's more or less an unlimited stock as the haulage company can't send it back...and they were just skipping it :shock:

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Clearly not as slow grown as more northern countries

I like the look of Baltic Oak, with dense growth rings that really show off a through tenon. But what I've always heard is that even though slow grown softwoods are stronger, with hardwoods it's the reverse, so fast grown Oak is actually the stronger. Still, I'm not a botanist nor a structural engineer so all I'm doing is peddling hearsay, but at least it's consistent hearsay!

I was told that sweet chestnut coppice grown on a north-facing slope here in the UK attracts(/attracted) a premium price because of the slower-grown, tighter, grain structure (thought to increase its durability when used for e.g. fence posts) compared with south-facing slopes - also maybe simply in part to compensate the landowner for waiting longer for an income! I was also told that, at our latitudes, as far as sunlight levels go, a south-facing slope was equivalent to a horizontal plot about 30 miles further south - so a tree growing near the south coast of England on a south-facing slope is almost equivalent to one growing by the north coast of France!

I've used green French oak for structural work and it's beautiful stuff to work with.

I think that from a structural point of view, for any species, that the straightness of the grain and the absence of defects - like knots - is the key factor, with the tightness of the grain structure being very much a secondary factor. I've ignored defects like the asymmetrical growth-rings of reaction wood - a problem that affects all species in similar ways I think.

Arguably, 'farmed' timber - like most of the French stuff - is better for structural work but less interesting to look at than timber from 'hedgerows' or less actively managed trees, all other things being equal.

Cheers, W2S