Greetings Gary,
I´m about to gather my tools and travel to Ethiopia. I will build different kinds of furnitures, and my primary type of wood will be Eucalyptus. I have never used Eucalyptys, but have heard that it can be quite hard to work with. Since it grows fast, it twists a lot. Is this information correct?
Now, i wonder if you have any experience of working with Eucalyptus? Is there anything i should know before i get started?
/Nils
Replies
Hi,
I have no experience working with eucalyptus. I have picked up some lyptus boards and they're heavy! As for fast growing meaning twisty, I'm not so sure about that. I think twist is more dependent upon how the boards are dried. Drying stresses can introduce more twist and other defect than growing habit.
Now it might have a rowed grain which is different from twist. This alternating grain pattern makes for difficult machining and hand tool work. But use higher angle bevels on your plane irons and keep your tools sharp. Or bring some good rasps with you for shaping purposes.
I would think that any time you're headed away from good sources of steel that bringing extra irons, blades, scraper blades, saws, etc. makes good sense. But I don't know if you'll find that true in Ethiopia. Have fun on your trip. Gary
There are many species of Eucalyptus, and so the working qualities vary quite a lot. Jarrah (E. marginata) and karri (E. diversicolor) are two well-known (and well-respected) furniture woods from Australia, but there are many others.
Blue gum (E. globulus) is the species that is most widely planted in other parts of the world. (I grew up in Northern California, where it's everywhere.) It's what first comes to mind when most people think of Eucalyptus.
Blue gum is used in woodworking, but it is indeed prone to twisting, so it can be difficult to stabilize. I haven't had any in hand for quite a while, but my recollection is that it isn't as heavy or as hard as jarrah. And apart from the problems related to the twist, it cuts and shapes reasonably well.
And if the twisting gets too out of hand, most species of Eucalyptus make excellent firewood. ;-)
-Steve
I have worked with Eucalyptus but it was grown in Honduros on a certified plantation. I found it very easy to work. The only problem is it tends to tear out easily. I think that is because it is fast growing. I did not find that it twisted much but would cup easily when I resawed it or used a dimension less than 3/4 of an inch. It has a really nice reddish figure. I don't know what species you will have access to but that is my experience. Your adventure sounds interesting. I would like to know about that.
Here in Australia species of eucalypts are the most common woodworking material. Most timber(lumber)yards supply kiln dried hardwood (KDH) that consists mainly of blacbutt, bluegum, spotted gum and other eucalyptus species. Used both in construction for floorboards also for furniture. Jarrah (from Western Australia) and redgum are also popular with woodworkers. The latter two are dense and can be worked to a very nice finish. All these woods are easily machined and have very few defects e.g. twisting or knots. In this country, wood common in Europe and the US (cherry,walnut,beech etc.) is very expensive and hard to obtain.
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