Species data
Live Oak
Quercus virginiana - a hardwood from southeastern United States. Also sold as southern live oak.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 2,680 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,960,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 1.00 |
| Density | 62.4 lb/ft3 (1,000 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 5.20 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 9.5% tangential / 6.6% radial |
| Indicative price | $8.00 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 Live Oak compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 90% of them, heavier than 93%, and stiffer than 75%. Hard enough to be tough on edges and on machinery. At this density a full sheet or a long board gets heavy fast; check the shelf-sag and weight tools before you size anything.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Live Oak it weighs about 27.7 lb. A stack of ten is 277 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Live Oak is about 2.2x as hard and 1.43x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 9.5% tangential against 6.6% radial, a ratio of 1.4 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 moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Live Oak on hardness in this database: Jatoba (2,690 lbf), Olivewood (2,710 lbf), Osage Orange (2,620 lbf), Purpleheart (2,520 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Exceptionally dense even among oaks, so harder to machine, but it glues and finishes nicely
Durability. Highly decay-resistant heartwood, long favored for ships and boats because of its toughness
Typical uses. cabinetry, furniture, interior trim, flooring, boatbuilding, veneer.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Live 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.