Lyptus questions

[Bruce Volden]

OK, I bought enough lyptus for several projects. Having never worked with it before I was just wondering if there is anything I need to know? I have already learned that it is quite hard and splinters ever so lightly when cross cut (I have quality blades too). Ripping was very easy and required no clean-up. Can I use my regular TB glue? Staining........? Any insight is appreciated:)


Bruce

[Nancy Laird]

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_rp009/psw_rp009.pdf

I did a quick google search and came up with this site, which seems to answer some of your questions. If you google eucalyptus wood, you'll find a lot of stuff.

Nancy

[Geoff Barry]

I built a bookcase out of lyptus. As you have already noted, it is hard and splintery. I found it helpful to immediately round over every 90 degree corner to avoid splintering. I also found that it tended to split rather easily. Did I mention the splinters?

Until you round off or otherwise relieve the sharp edges, be careful moving it around - I had some splintering from the bottom of the sides just from putting it down on concrete. After I rounded over the bottom of the sides (which served as the "feet" of the bookcase) with a 1/4" roundover bit, no further problems. I broke the corners of the shelves and sides with some light sanding, and that seemed to take care of the tendency to splinter there, too.

For finishing, I used Waco natural danish oil, and then several coats of tung oil -- I got a nice irridescent shimmer. Beautiful wood. Darkens when exposed to sunlight. But boy, did i pick up a lot of splinters. I'll take a picture of the finished bookcase later so you can see the result of the danish oil/tung oil finish. I think I posted pictures of the work in progress sometime last spring. Have you heard about the splinters?

[John Gregory]

We made a dresser from Lyptus a while ago. see it here (http://woodworksutah.com/Lyptus%20Dresser%201.jpg) here (http://woodworksutah.com/DresserSide.jpg) and here (http://woodworksutah.com/Lyptus%20Dresser%20back.jpg). Our grandson wanted it stained dark so it was. I enjoyed working with it, and would again. It is heavy to haul back to the shop and work with, very hard, but finishes nicely.

[Rennie Heuer]

I made this altar suite for our church a little over a year ago. I love the look of the Lyptus, its weight, and color. The down side, as mentioned by others, are the splinters - ouch! :eek: - and the variance in color. Buy from a dealer that will let you pick through the selection for the best color match.

For a finish I used a 1# cut of dewaxed shellac followed by: Altar - about 8 coats of wipe on satin poly, and for the font and pulpit, 4 coats of a water based poly that I sprayed on with an HVLP gun.

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