Eucalyptus

[Johnny65]

Hi All
I've got some big lumps from this eucalyptus stump.
I've not had any before, any advice for turning etc.

 

[Keith 66]

I cut a similar size eucalyptus up for an old boy some years ago, It can have quite spectacular grain or be very boring, It tends to split & shake readily in a spiral fashion. Larger pieces will split worse. The grain can be heavily interlocked as well. Once dry it burns very well!

 

[Sachakins]

Got a 4ft x 18" log last year, free from a tree a neighbour cut down.
Left it whole to season in the open. That way they can sometimes dry with hole pockets, so great for resin filled feature bowls. Hope to cut it up late spring to see what bowl blanks I can get, hoping it's really holey!

Can be an irritant to some, so good face mask and cover up, especially when sanding.

 

[Stigmorgan]

I've got a few big pieces, the centre is very soft, the rest of the grain spirals up the log and has a lot of small voids between the grain, I've tried turning it and found it very hard.

 

[Orraloon]

Its a very broad range with some beautiful timber and some not worth the bother. Just saying eucalyptus and not knowing which one could be anything from really good to utter c#@p. Try some wood data base searching. The list of species is quite long.
List of Eucalyptus species - Wikipedia
That said for turning if I see something with nice grain and colour I will give it a try. All the eucs are hard with some very hard and heavy.
Regards
John

 

[Rodpr]

I have a eucalyptus in my garden and had to have it cut back as it had overgrown its position. I kept some logs and most split very dramatically (and quickly) but some were good for turning. First photo is the first bowl I ever turned on a powered lathe - turned when the eucalyptus was very green and has since changed shape quite dramatically. Second was turned from a seasoned log (which had split nicely down the middle!). I don't know what kind of eucalyptus it is but the colour contrast is nice.