Bull-oak grows in small groves or scattered amongst Black-oaks on sandy
or poor ground. It doesn't get to huge proportions around here, usually
to about 10 metres high with a 300mm diameter trunk at best.
Bull-oak can be hard to distinguish from River-oak and
Belah from a
distance but the cones are a distinctive way to identify them.
The
timber is hard and splits easily - very easily! It is difficult to dry
in large pieces without serious checking but cut into boards it can be
reasonably stable. Turning it green avoids some of the splitting but you
have to allow for a lot of movement during the process. The medullary
rays are very obvious, sometimes blatantly, giving it a striking
appearance.
Bull-oak
machines OK though the rays can be brittle so a little care needs to be
taken. It sands well and polishes to a beautiful finish with waxes but I
haven't had any luck using oil on it. The pictured lidded box was finished
with Wipe-On poly after giving up on getting a good oil finish. The
finial is turned from immature Australian Ebony so there are faint
streaks of pale timber through it that let the viewer know it isn't
plastic.
