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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • FOREST SERVICE • FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY • MADISON, WIS. 

In Cooperation with the Univerisity of Wisconsin 

U. S. FOREST SERVICE 

RESEARCH NOTE 

FPL - 0105 

August 1965 

VENEER CUTTING AND DRYING PROPERTIES 

of 

1 

WATER OAK 

By 

Forest Products Laboratory, Forest Service 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

By common usage the term water oak includes not only Quercus nigra but 

also willow oak (Q. phellos) and laurel oak (Q. laurifolia), and may include 

such other species as overcup oak (Q. lyrata). The species are common throughout the southern and southeastern States, being found chiefly along the borders 

of streams and swamps and in the rich bottomlands of rivers. 2 

Water oaks as a group are relatively fast in growth rate. Therefore, the 

grain pattern of rotary-cut veneer may be somewhat coarser than that of the 

more commonly used oaks. In color the wood has a somewhat brown-gray 

cast. In density and in their various mechanical properties, the water oaks 

are not greatly different from most of the other commercially used oaks. 

As with the other oaks, the green or wet wood will stain to a blue-black color 

when held in contact with iron for any length of time. 

1

This Note was originally published under the same title as Forest Products Laboratory 

Report No. 1766-1 in May 1950. 

2 Betts, H. S. The oaks. Amer. Wood Ser. Forest Serv., U.S. Dept. of Agr. 1945. 

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Water oak veneer may be used for containers of various kinds, including 

fruit crates, wirebound boxes, shingle boards, and the like. Some water oak 

has also been used in making up plywood panels for general utility, for which 

purpose it is well suited wherever its color and grain are acceptable. Plywood 

made from selected veneer may also be suitable for furniture construction 

and for such special products as plywood flooring. 

Selection, Handling, and Preparation of Logs for Cutting 

Veneer-cutting tests were made on four different lots of water oak logs 

obtained from widely separated locations in the south. The logs were fairly 

representative of both good and poor quality for the species (table 1). 

On the basis of the defects observed in the logs, it appears that the main 

defects to be avoided in veneer logs are grub holes (often visible on the cut 

cross section of the log), knots, sweep and crook, excessive butt swell (sometimes badly fluted), and irregular cross-sectional outline of the log. 

Some water oak bolts end-checked badly as soon as they were crosscut. 

Others end-checked during storage. Protective end coatings were helpful 

for logs that were stored, Keeping the storage period to a minimum was also 

helpful. 

The best cutting was accomplished when the wood was heated at 180° to 

200° F. At these temperatures the veneer could be cut smooth and tight. However, excessive end splitting as well as some internal splitting occurred in the 

logs whenever the heating temperature was 160° F. or higher. At these temperatures the bolts occasionally broke out of the chucks as a result of excessive splitting, or in some cases the chucks turned in the bolt ends. When 

cutting unheated bolts, on the other hand, it was possible to produce usable but 

badly checked veneer, and occasional hard knots nicked the medium-temper 

lathe knife. The optimum heating temperature therefore appeared to be 140° to 

150" F., at which temperature end splitting was not objectionable and the yield 

of split-free veneer was high. Cutting at this temperature did not adversely 

affect smoothness but did result in more looseness in the veneer, even with 

the best cutting technique. 

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Heating in multiple-bolt lengths and cross cutting to veneer bolt lengths 

after heating was found to be advantageous for producing a higher percentage 

of split-free veneer. 

Debarking of veneer logs was difficult when they were heated at 140° to 

150° F., whereas it was relatively easy at 180° F. or higher. Mechanical 

debarking equipment would, therefore, be helpful with this species. 

From these tests it seem that water oak veneer logs 8 feet long or longer 

might well be heated in water at 150° F., for the following periods: 

Average log diameter 

Inches 

12 

18 

24 

30 

Requi red heating time 

Hours 

5 

24 

50 

85 

This schedule can be approximated, from the practical standpoint, by laying 

aside the logs of larger diameters for heating over the weekend. 

Lathe Settings 

The lathe settings given in table 2 were found suitable in most cases for 

producing good water oak veneer. 

Veneer Drying 

Most of the green water oak veneer had a moisture content of from 70 to 

100 percent. The drying schedules in table 3 produced good results in drying 

veneer to a moisture content of 8 to 10 percent in a laboratory model progressive type veneer dryer. Because of local variability in moisture content within the log, it was sometimes necessary to increase the drying time 

as much as 40 percent. In a large mechanical dryer operating in a commercial 

plant, the veneer was dried to an average moisture content of 5 percent. The 

time required at 315° F. for 1/15-inch veneer was 16 minutes, and that for 

1/7-inch veneer was 34 minutes. 

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Tangential (crosswise) shrinkage during drying to 5 percent moisture content 

was 12 percent of the green width, and that to 8 to 10 percent moisture content 

was 10 percent. 

In general, the veneer dried well in the mechanical dryer at all drying 

temperatures investigated. Some honeycomb and collapse occurred in the 

thicker veneer (1/8-inch) cut from bolts heated at 180° F. or higher, and 

numerous hairline checks developed in veneer of all thicknesses regardless 

of cutting or drying conditions. 

In kiln drying the water oak veneer, it was found necessary to use relief 

stickers or finger racks to permit shrinkage and yet prevent excessive wrinkling and buckling. 

Veneer Yields 

Observations were made at a commercial plant of the cutting of 8,538 board 

feet (Doyle rule) of water oak and willow oak logs. The logs were of relatively 

low quality. Consequently, considerable waste developed because of the necessary trimming, spurring, and clipping. In this case a total yield of 6,990 

board feet of veneer was obtained. All of this veneer was used in making threeply, 4- by 8-foot plywood panels, a large proportion of which were grade 2 

on the best face. 

Gluability 

The gluing properties of the species have not been completely investigated. 

Considerable quantities of veneer have been glued into plywood, however, by 

both hot-press and cold-press methods, and no special difficulties have been 

encountered. It has also been used in plywood in combination with sweetgum. 

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Table I .--Description of veneer logs tested 

1 Cut experimentaIly at Forest Products Laboratory. 

2 Cut commercially at Brunswick, Ga. 
Table 2.--Lathe settings used for water oak veneer 

Table 3.--Drying schedules for water oak veneer 

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