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NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

English brown oak / Quercus petraea (syn. Quercus sessiliflora) and Quercus robur (syn. Quercus pedunculata) of the family Fagaceae. These are in the white oak group. 5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 1" x 1" end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup. Ring porous with a row of large earlywood pores 2 to 4 deep changing immediately to radial groups of very small pores surrounded by light colored tissue that make up fat dendritic groups or sometimes just fat radial strands. Faint diffuse-in-aggregates parenchyma in short tangential lines between rays is present but can sometimes be hard to see even at 10X. Rays are thick and discernible with the naked eye and growth ring boundaries are distinct. Since this is a white oak, there is tyloses in the pores. English Brown Oak is a form of European oak that (1) grows in England and Europe, and (2) is infected by a fungus that comes from a mushroom that grows on the tree and that changes the color of the wood, while the tree is still growing, to a rich beautiful honey brown. European oak is a very useful and attractive wood, but it pales in comparison, both literally and figuratively, to the wood once the fungus converts it to English brown oak.

A NOTE ABOUT OAK NAMES

DISTINGUISHING RED / WHITE / LIVE

Since English brown oak is not a species, one could argue that it should not have its own page on this site. Such an argument would miss the point that English brown oak is a totally separate MATERIAL than the European oak whence it springs and thus very much merits its own page on a site devoted to the craft of woodworking, not to the botanical nature of wood.

my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions

plank and end grain


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above --- color is too rich on the closeup and just right on the update.


another plank and end grain cut from a different log than the one above.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


yet another plank and end grain cut from a different log than those above.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of English brown oak burl / Quercus robur --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. NOTE: a sample plank from what I believe may have been from the same larger piece as this one was labeled English oak burl and is on the European oak page. I think on the burl you can't really say if it's one form of Quercus rober or the other.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


another couple of small pieces cut from the same plank as the one above, which was the first plank I ever saw of this material and that was over 10 years ago --- I really loved this plank; it was a rich honey brown and was even further enriched by polyurethane. I can't even remember now what projects I used it on, but I do remember it was beautiful.


both sides of a small but really terrific sample plank contributed by Joe Melton, whom I thank for this and many other contributions. I have seen a good-sized dresser made from similar EB oak and it was absolutely stunning.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


one face and the end grain of a sample of quartersawn English oak. Prior to slicing off one surface, I thought this was probably English brown oak but I now see the the rich color is only on the surface so this is plain English oak, but a very nice piece. It really belongs on the "European oak" page but I decided to show it here since it's the same species either way. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B"


the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" and showing how the aging patina is only surface deep.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above. This is one of the few samples in this collection that had additional information on the 2nd end, in this case "Portsmouth England" which is undoubtedly where the sample was harvested.


long plank cut in half lengthwise


taken from a centuries-old floor, this piece was sent to me by Iain Rankin, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Iain did not specifically identify it as EB oak, but it was used in England and EB oak is the only oak I'm aware of that turns so dark over time, so I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Had it been put in use more recently and had this color, I might think it was bog oak but that far back, I don't think they were using bog oak.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above. Now that I have done the end grain update, I'm even more convinced that this is English brown oak.


rift cut veneer with accurate color and obvious ray flakes


rift cut veneer and closeup


flat cut veneer and closeup


flat cut veneer


the ebay pics posted by the vendor who sold me most of the sheets directly above. His second pic has too much yellow/orange.


quartersawn veneer --- the exceptionally rich color on these is correct.


quartersawn veneer with ray flakes


both sides of a sheet of quartersawn veneer with ray flakes. The significantly different appearance of the ray flakes is not because it's a different side of the piece but rather because I took the pics from different angles. Ray flakes and the surrounding wood on quartersawn oak will typically show this kind of extreme color change as you move the piece through different angles to the light.


veneer samples of English brown oak / Quercus robur --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D. Unlike some EB oak, these both have the very rich brown color that is found in the best pieces.


burl veneer pics submitted by Neal Kuwabara --- the first pic is very well focused but I believe the 2nd one shows the color more accurately. The closeups below show the grain very nicely but have a purple tint.


verious closeups of the burl veneer directly above --- pics submitted by Neal Kuwabara, who does nice pics; both levels of enlargement are available on all of these. I assume the wood is much more brown than purple.

web pics:

end grain listed as English brown oak / Quercus petraea


planks listed as English brown oak / Quercus patraea --- I think the actual wood is likely more brown than the orange shown here.


planks, all from the same vendor and all labeled English brown oak / Quercus robur


planks


planks listed as European brown oak


a plank with a moistened area


bookmatched flat cut veneer


quartersawn flaky veneer --- I had a piece myself that looked almost exactly like the one on the left but I forgot to take a picture of it. Anyway, I can vouch that these two look like real wood for sure because I saw a piece just like them at a wood show --- amazingly long ray flakes and rich honey brown color.


quartersawn veneer


quartersawn veneer with a color that is just ridiculous


particularly flaky quartersawn veneer


veneer with wet and dry areas --- I'm dubious about the gray color in the dry areas AND the green in the wet areas. Seems to me something that gray isn't going to turn green just 'cause you put water (or even mineral spirits) on it. Probably the whole thing is badly colored and it should be dark brown on light brown.


veneer


veneer; all appear to be quartersawn; the color on the 2nd one looks more like bog oak but that's probably just camera carelessness. The 3rd pic looks like the "foxy" veneer shown below, but was not labeled as such and I'm not familiar with "foxy" so can't say for sure. THe last one looks a little too green to me.


veneer listed as English brown oak / Quercus robur


veneer, flat cut and quartersawn, listed as English brown oak / Quercus robur


veneer, all from the same vendor --- color seems too pink to me, but that's typical of this vendor


veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement --- the colors are too pink


curly veneer


figured veneer


curly veneer


"foxy" veneer


pippy plank


burl turning stock


burl veneer, some in matched pairs


burl veneer listed as English brown oak / Quercus petraea, all from the same vendor


burl veneer from a vendor who typically makes many woods look green whether they are or not


cluster burl veneer


bowl


burl hollow form

---

OK, I did remember one of the projects I used it on. A big chunk of this bowl is made from it. The left front is English Brown Oak and the left rear is Osage Orange. The bottom is, from the left, pau amarello (yellowheart), tulipwood, a thin strip of walnut, and then kingwood which is much prettier than the almost black you see here.