# Hawaiian Silky Oak



## Burl Source (Dec 28, 2011)

This is a piece one of my suppliers in Hawaii sent to show what the wood looks like. There they call it; Silky Oak, Silver Oak and Lacewood.
I thought it was pretty cool wood.

http://i901.Rule #2/albums/ac219/burlsource/dec/so001.jpg


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## phinds (Dec 28, 2011)

very nice ... any idea what species it is?


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## Burl Source (Dec 28, 2011)

phinds said:


> very nice ... any idea what species it is?



I haven't got a clue.
I was told that there were a number of different types of trees from Australia planted in Hawaii. 

But..... it looks a bit different from Australian Silky Oak I have seen.


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## Kevin (Dec 29, 2011)

phinds said:


> very nice ... any idea what species it is?



The species is _silky_ & the genus is _oak_. :scratch_one-s_head:

Actually I had to do a search. I'm sure you've seen this link and other similar informations - it says it's _grevillea robusta_ but I assume based on your question there's some disagreement about the species or there's other subspecies?

It's pretty wood whatever it is.



.


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## phinds (Dec 29, 2011)

Kevin said:


> phinds said:
> 
> 
> > very nice ... any idea what species it is?
> ...



Yeah, there are a couple of possiblities. I favor the one you found. Here's my researech on it (synopsized):

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_discussion_sycamore.htm


.


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## endgrained (Jan 20, 2012)

Australian wood nomenclature is an interesting animal...combine that with various little known Hawaiian woods and it's a interesting "hunt".

Well respected Australian Luthier, Jack Spira describes some of the uses of "silky" and "oak" this way:

"It’s worth a few words about the nomenclature as it can be confusing. When talking (or writing) about Australian woods it’s often helpful to use the botanical name. The common names can be confusing as they often include the names of other completely unrelated trees such as Ash, Oak, Mahogany etc.

These names also vary from place to place. Rose Mahogany Dysoxylum fraseranum for instance is commonly called Rosewood in NSW, even though it is completely unrelated to any true rosewood or mahogany trees. Also some very similar names can be used for unrelated trees. A good example of this is Northern Silky Oak (aka Queensland Silky Oak) which is Cardwellier Sublimis.

It is completely unrelated to Southern Silky Oak- Grevillia robusta- and although they have a similar medullary ray figure, the wood is very different. Both will often simply be referred to as Silky Oak. Prickly Ash Orites excelsa from NSW also gets referred to as mountain Silky Oak.

Some of these names kind of make sense. Generally anything with “Oak” tagged onto it will be a timber with large visible medullary rays, which is a feature of the true Oak. Anything with “Ash” in the name will generally be white or very light coloured wood."

His complete article is here: http://www.guitarbench.com/2008/09/21/australian-tonewoods-by-jack-spira/


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## CodyS (Jan 20, 2012)

I have a silky oak near my place... I really want it cut down :D it is tall about 2ft round and has grown straight up with little competition. But unfortunately it is unlikely it is going to come down... oh well.


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