Eucalyptus wood what to use it for?
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Well i too would be interested in an answer , as i was a tree surgeon for ten years , and cut many a eucalyptus down and it was a sod to split , it was heavy and if you left it to season it started to look like a grapefruit segment , cross section of course , and it never burned very well ! It must be good for something other than koala food, looking pretty in a bouquet and smelling nice ! oh yeah and the fact that said customers thought it was a good idea to plant , then paid people like Gill and i to cut them down , as the grow like hell !
greensurfingbear
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I had the same query myself and found this not sure if it covers your particular species of Eucalyptus - http://www.swst.org/meetings/AM08/proceedings/WS-45.pdf
I've also heard that Eucalyptus burns really well.
I've also heard that Eucalyptus burns really well.
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When a boy, about 60 years ago, I was given a boomerang from friends of my parents in Australia. You can say it was heavy and this was and it was said to be made from.eucalyptus. It was three times the weight of the ones you see nowadays for sale in toy/sports shops along with Frisbees, I nearly killed my father with it. As he was behind me when it returned and overshot one day. It really returned well but depending on the wind, it would often overshoot and land behind the thrower. It often landed on hard ground and did not come to any harm, It's final demise came about when it
landed on a surfaced road, much to my sorrow Stuart.
landed on a surfaced road, much to my sorrow Stuart.
Eucalyptus - There are lots of species, and I’ve burnt lots of different ones over the years.
Generally they burn hot with good coals and no spitting. To get the best firewood out of them, split the wood when its green and let it dry out for 6 to 12 months. Then burn it.
The timber’s produced are hard. They are generally sawn green, the ends are sealed and then they are stacked to seasoned (the old rule to thumb is an inch per year). The wood produced can vary from white, golden hues, to pinks and reds.
In my part of the Australia, Mountain Ash is very common, they easily grow 60 or 70 meters and some of the largest (still living) ones are over 80 meters !
Apart from burning and timber (for furniture and construction), the dried wood is often turned, especially if its an interesting piece.
From a bushcrafty point of view, you could carve a coolamon bowl, a hardwood spear point spear (to attach to a light weight shaft), a woomera, club, bullroarer, digging stick etc
I carved (chipped) a wood working mallet from a lump of red gum. Handle and “head” all in one piece. It is very dense, heavy, red coloured timber and perfect for the job.
Some species make a fair tinder. The bark can be roughed up to make a “birds nest”; one advantage is that only the outside gets wet and the inside is always dry (if you pull the outside off).
Stringy barks (trunks) can be peeled to produce sheets of bark for construction jobs (if you have seen old photos “bark huts” in colonial Australia); but the sheets can also be used as mats etc.
Some young saplings can have the bark stripped to use for cordage (a bit like a willow).
So there are lots of possibilities ...
Generally they burn hot with good coals and no spitting. To get the best firewood out of them, split the wood when its green and let it dry out for 6 to 12 months. Then burn it.
The timber’s produced are hard. They are generally sawn green, the ends are sealed and then they are stacked to seasoned (the old rule to thumb is an inch per year). The wood produced can vary from white, golden hues, to pinks and reds.
In my part of the Australia, Mountain Ash is very common, they easily grow 60 or 70 meters and some of the largest (still living) ones are over 80 meters !
Apart from burning and timber (for furniture and construction), the dried wood is often turned, especially if its an interesting piece.
From a bushcrafty point of view, you could carve a coolamon bowl, a hardwood spear point spear (to attach to a light weight shaft), a woomera, club, bullroarer, digging stick etc
I carved (chipped) a wood working mallet from a lump of red gum. Handle and “head” all in one piece. It is very dense, heavy, red coloured timber and perfect for the job.
Some species make a fair tinder. The bark can be roughed up to make a “birds nest”; one advantage is that only the outside gets wet and the inside is always dry (if you pull the outside off).
Stringy barks (trunks) can be peeled to produce sheets of bark for construction jobs (if you have seen old photos “bark huts” in colonial Australia); but the sheets can also be used as mats etc.
Some young saplings can have the bark stripped to use for cordage (a bit like a willow).
So there are lots of possibilities ...
all of the above.
Plus, the grain varies hugely. Some varieties, like jarrah and redgum, have a very straight grain and are easy to split with an axe. Some, like Wandoo, have a twisty tangled grain and are impossible to split!
Jarrah can be used for beautiful furniture and has a huge variation in colour from sapwood to heartwood. It also splinters easily and is a bugger to carve - you have to be really careful not to pull out a splinter.
Plus, the grain varies hugely. Some varieties, like jarrah and redgum, have a very straight grain and are easy to split with an axe. Some, like Wandoo, have a twisty tangled grain and are impossible to split!
Jarrah can be used for beautiful furniture and has a huge variation in colour from sapwood to heartwood. It also splinters easily and is a bugger to carve - you have to be really careful not to pull out a splinter.
As luck would have it, I needed to strip a eucalypt for another project. So I decided to show you how to use the bark as lashings.
I used a knife to get a start, I just cut through the bark, down to the wood:
Once you have a start, the bark will peel easliy (just using your fingers):
This isn't a particularly good sample, the bark strips were probably only 30 - 50 cm (1 or 2 feet):
The proof of the material is in the using, so I suspended a 20 L jerry can (approx 20kg).
Initially I used a single lashing, and it broke, but here is a loop, so effectively a double layer of about 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) wide strip.
I used a knife to get a start, I just cut through the bark, down to the wood:
Once you have a start, the bark will peel easliy (just using your fingers):
This isn't a particularly good sample, the bark strips were probably only 30 - 50 cm (1 or 2 feet):
The proof of the material is in the using, so I suspended a 20 L jerry can (approx 20kg).
Initially I used a single lashing, and it broke, but here is a loop, so effectively a double layer of about 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) wide strip.
