Eucalyptus

[Steve Nix]

Anyone have experience with turning eucalyptus. Friend of mine cut down what looks to be a nice size (12-14”) tree and offered it to me, should I go get it.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

There are over 100 species of eucalyptus here on the Island. Generally the ones with the type of bark that I see in your picture are good to turn. Looks like a Robusta species. They do tend to crack a little... very hard wood. I would turn it... Good luck

 

[Bill Boehme]

There are hundreds of varieties of eucalyptus. Most have stringy or paper-like bark. Some of the best known varieties to woodturners are the Australian burls from the red mallee and brown mallee trees.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

A fellow club member gave me a piece. I turned a hollow form and could not finish it so wrapped it in a plastic bag laying on its side. When I remembered to get back to it it was spalted on one side and fine on the other. Yes it does turn well.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

A fellow club member gave me a piece. I turned a hollow form and could not finish it so wrapped it in a plastic bag laying on its side. When I remembered to get back to it it was spalted on one side and fine on the other. Yes it does turn well.View attachment 23478 View attachment 23479

Thats going to be a nice piece! Half spalted! wow.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Thats going to be a nice piece! Half spalted! wow.

Thanks . Not much of this around here . This came from closer to the Gulf. Smells nice to turn. Wish I had more.

 

[Steve Nix]

Well I turn my first piece of eucalyptus this week and boy does it warp and crack. This first pic was taken shortly after the first coat of walnut oil. 15” x4.5”
This one is 24 hours later.. so I decide that I may have left the wall too thick,.45”, so I turn another piece. 14”x3 “ with .25 wall thickness sanded to 400 grit with no finish. Place in a sealed paper bag to dry. The following pi’s is after 3 days in a bag


I have the rest of the tree cut in half logs and anchor sealed and will let dry a year or so before attempting to turn another bowl. Comments welcome,

 

[Bill Boehme]

Turning it thinner means that it will warp more, but will be less likely to crack. If you want nice round bowls, you will need to twice turn them. The first time leave the walls extra thick ... I would think with eucalyptus it should be more than the normal 10% rule ... maybe 15% or even 20%. Then let dry for maybe a year before doing the final turning. Make sure to not have the pith in the bowl like the one in your last picture or else you will risk more warping and cracking.