Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 21

Thread: Anyone use eucalyptus lumber?

  1. #1

    Anyone use eucalyptus lumber?

    My friend wants to give me a huge log/slab of eucalyptus that "is too beautiful for firewood."

    Is it good for anything?

    I'm thinking of resawing it and stickering it for a year. Not sure if it'll work for furniture or ukulele wood.... maybe workbench?

    For what it's worth, I prefer to work with with hand tools.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    Eucalyptus is a whole family of plants. Some work better than others. You say "huge log", which might mean you have blue gum eucalyptus. They're the giants that are all over northern california. Blue gum eucalyptus is infamous for being difficult to dry without defects. It splits a lot.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,876
    Big log in the USA almost has to be blue gum. Can not be older then 1877 or so. Rots fast, twists and splits as it dries.
    If you look at a bigger tree you can often see deep spiral splits in the trunk of a healthy tree
    The red gum is also common. its bark looks more like oak and does not peel off in sheets. But it gets no taller then about 35' before the branches rot and fall at the crotch.
    Bill D
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 12-05-2017 at 11:03 PM.

  4. #4
    Matt, You mentioned the ukulele-are you from Hawaii? I have never worked with Eucalyptus because of it's reputation for being unstable due to the fact that it's a fast growing tree. That characteristic is the reason that it is often planted as a windbreak here in Hawaii.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    2,162
    Just goes to show what happens to a tree when you take it out of its original habitat... Blue gum is tall, gunbarrel straight, tough and durable. The timber is light brown in colour. Avoid the sapwood. Red gum is extremely durable, tough, highly figured and rich red in colour. However, they are only 2 of scores of eucalypt species.

    Look at the timber and get it or not depending on whether you like it. Expect good hand tools to require frequent resharpening, cheap hand tools to fail to do anything, HSS power tools to try to set it on fire, and the grain to unreliably interlock. I love it all. You may not if the other guys are correctly describing what sounds like rubbish that grows in California. Cheers
    Every construction obeys the laws of physics. Whether we like or understand the result is of no interest to the universe.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Gene Takae View Post
    Matt, You mentioned the ukulele-are you from Hawaii? I have never worked with Eucalyptus because of it's reputation for being unstable due to the fact that it's a fast growing tree. That characteristic is the reason that it is often planted as a windbreak here in Hawaii.
    I'm in northern California, about 20 miles from San Francisco on an island called Alameda.

    My hobby is building guitars (and now ukuleles, since it takes up less wood).
    However, since I have a bunch of port orford cedar, I don't really need the Eucalyptus.

    -Matt

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman View Post
    Just goes to show what happens to a tree when you take it out of its original habitat... Blue gum is tall, gunbarrel straight, tough and durable. The timber is light brown in colour. Avoid the sapwood. Red gum is extremely durable, tough, highly figured and rich red in colour. However, they are only 2 of scores of eucalypt species.

    Look at the timber and get it or not depending on whether you like it. Expect good hand tools to require frequent resharpening, cheap hand tools to fail to do anything, HSS power tools to try to set it on fire, and the grain to unreliably interlock. I love it all. You may not if the other guys are correctly describing what sounds like rubbish that grows in California. Cheers
    Spoken like a true Aussie!

    I'm constantly in awe of the grit, resourcefulness, and good humor of the woodworkers down under...particularly Derek Cohen.
    For this wood, it sounds like I'll need a chainsaw and a HAP40 hand plane.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Thanks Matt.

    A good thing about the eucalypts is that they do not break out when you hit them with an axe

    More seriously, I think Wayne is correct when he says that they are out of their element in California. I have heard the tales of their wild and unruly behaviour in the USA. They are generally very hard, dense and interlocked timbers in Oz, but reward with having exceptionally wonderful figure and colour.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,876
    In California if spaced close they grow fairly tall. If spread apart they grow like a big bushy oak tree that branches out at 10' or less. They were brought to California as hardwood timber trees but they brought the wrong kind of trees. I have a feeling there may be two or more "blue gum" tress species down under?
    Eucalyptus globulus is the California version
    Bill D

    the picture I found shows the spiral pattern that causes the splitting problems. If you cut a tree you have to split the wood in a week or it will be too tough to split, at least by hand.

    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blue_...s_globulus.jpg
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 12-06-2017 at 8:47 PM.

  10. #10
    My friend is getting it from up in Chico, farm country.
    I'm not sure about the growing conditions there.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    2,162
    Hmm, E globulus is not meant to look like that. Otherwise known as Tasmanian Oak, it is supposed to grow gunbarrel straight and top out at 150-200 feet. Twist is rare. It is actually our state floral emblem. There are other blue gums. It is a bit of a common name.

    If that is the best blue gum available, I would hesitate to use it for firewood, let alone a musical instrument.

    Do I assume that these are what is burning in California at the moment? Cheers
    Every construction obeys the laws of physics. Whether we like or understand the result is of no interest to the universe.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Tasmanian Oak (affectionately known as Tassie Oak) is a colloquial name for a few species. Still, they tend to be unstable unless quarter sawn, which is how he boards are sold. I use these for drawer sides ..



    It has a similar density to White Oak.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Posts
    1,048
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman View Post
    ... Do I assume that these are what is burning in California at the moment? Cheers
    I'm the wrong guy to ask about plant names, but not mostly. I'm sure there are Eucalyptus groves & windbreaks burning, since they are planted all over the state, but the current fires are in the lower hills which are mostly a mix of scrub pines & small (twisted) oaks (Live Oak?), Manzanita, and similar scrubs. Lots of grass too. As the fires climb they'll get into pine & fir forests, but the winds are mostly driving the fires down western slopes (towards communities & eventually the ocean.)

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
    Posts
    7,655
    Blog Entries
    1

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,876
    Eculptus fire wood burns very fast and hot as it is loaded with oils. The bark on live trees catches fire and the firestorm winds blow the burning sheets of bark hundreds of feet. Same for the leaves. Remember most of California normally has no rain for about 9 months or so stuff gets dry and burns quickly.
    Bill D

    http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/thread...s-grove.30515/
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 12-08-2017 at 10:24 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •