Eucalyptus wood?

[WoodSmith]

Anyone every done anything with eucalyptus wood?
I got a hold of some firewood length pieces and was going to try to carve it or cut it into small boards.
thanks

[Ianab]

Hi Woodsmith

Do you know what type of Euc. you have got there? There are about 200 species that can be cut for timber and they vary a lot from species to species. If you can find out more about the tree I (or one of the Aussie members) can probably tell you more about the wood.

Generally expect the wood to be dense, strong and hard. It may be difficult to dry, because of shrinkage and checking. Usually it is best quartersawn for stablilty.

Cut some up and see what happens anyway  

ian

p.s. if all else fails it does make good firewood :D

[Ianab]

I posted these pics a while back of us sawing up a couple of Bluegum eucalyptus.





Some of the wood has checked and warped a bit while drying, but most of it looks OK, or at least useable with a bit of trimming and some heavy planer work  :D