Is there a market for NZ-grown oak timber?

Oaks New Zealand is collecting information from sawmillers and builders around the country about their experiences with oak. Some prefer imported oak (usually white oak species from the US), having had difficulty with timber from locally grown trees and the group is keen to understand why that is.

Some themes are emerging, and they're also learning from research and knowledge into sawing and seasoning eucalypts.

Oak logs from pruned and thinned plantations saw quite differently compared to gnarly old shelterbelt or specimen trees.

Big logs are more stable than small logs (that's a useful general rule of thumb for all timber).

Quarter-sawing is generally advisable, especially for smaller logs.

Very slow, careful seasoning is essential to avoid internal collapse. The first stage of drying is the most important to slow down. Seal the ends of the boards, stack the timber well, cover it, and site the stacks in the shade. Some millers wrap the stacks in

Veteran sawmiller Ross Greenbank (left) mills oak from a street tree at the MacBlack Timber yard in Whanganui. With such limited supply of New Zealand-grown oak, Ross says the timber is mostly used to make cabinetry but would also make great tables or chairs.

a couple of layers of shade cloth. Allow a year of air-drying per inch of thickness. Ideally, mill in winter when it's cool and damp.