Species data
Bur Oak
Quercus macrocarpa - a hardwood from eastern and Midwestern United States and south-central Canada. Also sold as burr oak, mossycup oak.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 1,360 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,040,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.72 |
| Density | 44.9 lb/ft3 (720 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.74 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 8.8% tangential / 4.4% radial |
| Indicative price | $5.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Bur Oak compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 63% of them, heavier than 65%, and stiffer than 4%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Bur Oak it weighs about 20.0 lb. A stack of ten is 200 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Bur Oak is about 1.1x as hard and 1.03x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 8.8% tangential against 4.4% radial, a ratio of 2.0 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Bur Oak on hardness in this database: Sapele (1,360 lbf), White Oak (1,350 lbf), White Ash (1,320 lbf), American Beech (1,300 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Glues cleanly and accepts stain and finish readily, behaving much like standard white oak
Durability. Heartwood rated highly resistant to decay, like other members of the white oak group
Typical uses. cabinetry, furniture, interior trim, flooring, barrels, veneer.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Bur Oak is not individually listed in the printed FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient chart, so CT/CR are omitted. Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.