Replies

1. 
   Jimma | Feb 25, 2004 06:06pm | #1

   My son has just finished the interior trim of a house using lyptus.

2. 
   notDusty | Feb 25, 2004 06:37pm | #2

         chief,               I also was recently introduced to Lyptus by my hardwood supplier.I have not used it yet but will give it a try. It was beautiful , and had grain like Honduras Mahogany , and color similar to Cherrywood . At $3.00 a foot we will all give it a try. I think I will maybe make a raised panel door out of say one board. This will tell how it machines and to begin to learn about the different characteristics.

                                         dusty

3. 
   forestgirl | Feb 25, 2004 08:35pm | #3

   You might be interested in the posts in this thread:
   http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=13512.5

   Post #8 is from Jon Arno, so don't miss that one! 

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

4. 
   Michmesquite | Feb 25, 2004 09:49pm | #4

   Have done two major projects with the wood.

   It is very workable but will dull your tools quickly. Finishes like fine Hon. Mahogany. I am paying about $3.75/BF for 8/4 stock.

   Wear gloves when handling rough stock, the slivers are very big and nasty.

   Photos of the two projects.

   
1. 
   IanC | Feb 26, 2004 05:48pm | #7

   Michael,  Nice looking work.  Like the clamp rack too; wish I had enough Besseys to fill one.  Also noticed your old Craftsman vise.  When I bought mine I thought that lightweight wood handle would never hold up.  Still fine after 30 years and a lot of projects. 

   Edited 2/26/2004 9:48:43 AM ET by IANCUMMINS

1. 
   Michmesquite | Feb 26, 2004 08:20pm | #8

   Thanks.

   Those vices were originally used by my neighbor who by anyone's standards was a "Craftsman" and the vices are nearly 40 years old.

   He died several years ago and his widow gave them to me when she found out I was making the bench.

5. 
   CRAIGCONEY_M | Feb 26, 2004 09:21am | #5

   I've used it on a couple of mid-large projects.  4/4 stock, 3/4 MDF core, and 1/4 ply.  The stock is very 'splintery' to use a lack of a better word. 

   Stock tends to have alot of rosin ( resin-pitch?) to foul up blades and bits.  IT will burn easily if you do not keep constant motion of the stock across the cutting surface.

   Rough cut the width of your finished stock before jointing and planing to finished size.  My experience with it has been if you joint and plane a wide board,then rip down to thinner stock, the stock will bow and twist on you.  Forgive me for not having the proper terminology on this one.

   It's gorgeous when finished -  the payoff for the pain.  The slivers will find you. They go deep & break off when you try to extract them.  Use gloves in handling it whenever it can be done safely. 

   It is very heavy & dense- I'd compare it to white oak for density.  it is very 'tough' and does not like traditional means of 'distressing'.

   If anyone has a good process for making edgebanding out of the stock, I'd like to know how. 

   I think that this is  a wood that I will reserve for smaller projects which requre little machining of the stock.  (ie routing, profiling, carving )

   I'll try to post pictures in the next couple of days if I can figure out how to shrink the file size of the photos.

1. 
   eddiefromaustralia | Feb 26, 2004 03:21pm | #6

   Hi Guys,

   I haven't worked Lyptus, but I've worked Rose GUm a bit (the main contributor to the hybrid)

   Just as a comparison, Rose gum is not one of our hard to work timbers.  Machines fairly well for us (but we may have a different baseline to you guys that I'm comparing to)

   We get used to splinters off most eucalypts.  Typically a shade less than 1/4" long - say 1/8-3/16".

   Now, if this was red ironbark or river red gum, then I'd concur - they're hard to work.

   Cheers,

   eddie

2. 
   mauric6943 | Feb 29, 2004 05:56am | #9

   Craig - I'm thinking about using lyptus ply and doing a solid edge banding.  What problems have you experienced with the edge banding?  Also, you mention that the wood finishes nicely.  How was the match between the lyptus ply and the edge banding?  How did you finish your project(s)?

   TIA

   maurice

   [email protected]

1. 
   CRAIGCONEY_M | Feb 29, 2004 11:22pm | #10

   I matched the color of the stock with the unit of plywood at the yard.  I used WB stain and lacquer.

   Edgebanding- the only problem I experienced was with trying to bend it around a cutout- it split on me when I tried to contact cement it on a concave detail- it was about 1/32" thick.