Red Grandis availability?

[Jamie Buxton]

Of course I’d like to use Honduran Mahogany for something like this, but the material selection is not in my scope of work and isn’t really up to me to decide or take liability for. All I can do is make a suggestion initially to nudge them toward to a more rot resistant species, which I’ve done and that’s where my jurisdiction stops...though, of course I hear you and am thinking the same things.

Out of curiosity, what’s the source of the wood durability metric? Wouldn’t mind seeing what some other woods rate. My understanding is that with most woods that have been rot resistant in the past, it all came down to old growth logs that had many years to build up the oils, etc that provide that rot resistance as well as trees that are big enough to be mostly heartwood and not a bunch of immature sap wood (that doesn’t have the same durability.) I would venture a guess that most species that we think of as rot resistant are worse now as an average than they actually were in the past because of less old growth in the forest and on the market. Sad but true unless you are knowingly sourcing from old growth timber, which has its own complications.

Here's a paper from the US Forestry Service. It discusses weathering tests started in 1972, and the paper was published in 1995 after 20-plus years of weather exposure. Not much discussion of exotics. The general conclusion is that heartwood is way better than sapwood. https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1995/highl95a.pdf

[Mel Fulks]

It grows fast and it's new...what's not to like !! Some where there is a mad scientist trying to breed faster growing rats!

[Richard Baxter]

I remember this stuff came out around 20 years ago, it was called Lyptus and it was supposed to be the latest and greatest hybrid lumber. It was so hard on tooling a lot of people gave up on it. I believe it has a lot of silica which eats up carbide pretty fast

[Mel Fulks]

I can understand getting stuff to look right. And sometimes using the same wood type as the originals is good , that is if the
original material was GOOD. Sometimes non- original materials are better. But Red Grandis was not used on that house when it was built. And it has no feature that would make it even a "GOOD choice". I would only use it if they will pay you
to treat the boxes with the non- oil copper naphthalate. Even though they are specifying the new stuff they will blame
you when it fails.

[Jim Becker]

Not Lyptus...

Red Grandis


Hardwood



Red Grandis is FSC Pure (Eucalyptus grandis), a plantation-grown FSC Pure, uniform hardwood timber. Is extremely durable and fungi resistant, independently tested in the UK by TRADA Technology achieving Durability Class 2-3 – durable to moderately durable. Structurally tested – BRE tests also prove D35 structural properties and C36 density. Supplied as sawn hardwood, for added dimensional stability, less waste and reduced production time


APPLICATIONS

Cabinetry

Doors

Exterior Millwork

Flooring

Interior Millwork

Stair Risers

Turned Objects

Windows






LENGTHS

8 to 15 ft long

DISTRIBUTION

Grown in plantations in Uruguay

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis)

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: BASIC

0.60

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 12% MC

0.85

JANKA HARDNESS

1420

COLOR/APPEARANCE

Color ranges from a lighter salmon pink to a darker brownish red. Appearance has been likened to both Black Cherry and Honduran Mahogany. Color tends to deepen with age.

GRAIN/TEXTURE

Color ranges from a lighter salmon pink to a darker brownish red. Appearance has been likened to both Black Cherry and Honduran Mahogany. Color tends to deepen with age.

ENDGRAIN

Diffuse-porous; medium pores arranged in diagonal rows; exclusively solitary; tyloses occasionally present; growth rings indistinct; rays usually not visible without lens; parenchyma vasicentric.

ROT RESISTANCE

Mixed reports, with most sources rating the heartwood as moderately durable in regard to decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack.

WORKABILITY

Generally easy to work, though it can burn easily. Glues, stains, and finishes well.

ODOR

No characteristic odor.

ALLERGIES/TOXICITY

Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Red Grandis.

PRICING/AVAILABILITY

Should be reasonably priced, especially for an import. (This is most likely due to the source of the wood: which is exclusively grown on plantations.)

SUSTAINABILITY

This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[Mel Fulks]

Jim , thanks for correction. I promise to be more careful , as I do remember that the conjoined twins Ching and Chang
always insisted on being called by their right names. Regular twins deserve equal treatment .

[Bill Dufour]

In California most Eucalyptus is either blue or red gum. Both grow very fast, rot very fast, and burn very fast. The tallest hardwood trees in North America are blue gum eucalyptus plated in 1882 at UC Berkeley. Roughly 212' tall
Bil lD.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/55149

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwV_nlNoO2c

[Mel Fulks]

Bill, thanks for help and more info!

[Jim Becker]

In California most Eucalyptus is either blue or red gum. Both grow very fast, rot very fast, and burn very fast. The tallest hardwood trees in North America are blue gum eucalyptus plated in 1882 at UC Berkeley. Roughly 212' tall
Bil lD.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/55149

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwV_nlNoO2c

Keep in mind that members of a "family" don't necessarily share all the same characteristics, especially when individual variants grow in different places around the world. The Red Grandis being discussed is a member of the Eucalyptus family, but that's a very big family globally.

Jim , thanks for correction. I promise to be more careful , as I do remember that the conjoined twins Ching and Chang
always insisted on being called by their right names. Regular twins deserve equal treatment .

Yes, Lyptus as a short word for a form of Eucalyptus, but not necessarily the same species as is "marketed" as Lyptus, according to what I've read. IE...not identical twins.

[Joe Calhoon]

I remember the plantation grown Lyptus. It was touted as being a good exterior material. That went away in a hurry for door producers.
it was night and day different than Red Grandis. Time will tell if Red Grandis is suitable for exterior work.