Thread: Coachwood

coachwood is a particular tree it has a smell like vanilla ,very strong smell,beautiful to turn and use ,i make bowls from it you can get it from the timber shop on the highway near balina. grows down near there somewhere...bob

Found this:

Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum)

Also called scented satinwood or tarwood, is a medium-sized hardwood tree, straight-growing with smooth, fragrant, greyish bark. It is in the family Cunoniaceae.
It is native to eastern Australia in the central and northern coastal rainforests of New South Wales and southern Queensland, where is often found in gullies and creeks and often occurs in almost pure stands.
The stem has distinctive horizontal marks, or scars, which often encircle the trunk. Larger trees have short buttresses. The heartwood is attractive with a colour ranging from pale pink to pinkish-brown. The sapwood is not always distinguishable The grain is straight, finely textured and even. On the tangential face the wood is often highly figured. The wood has a characteristic caramel odour.
Its timber is light and easily worked. It is used for flooring, furniture and cabinetwork, interior fittings, turnery, gun stocks, wood carving, veneers as well as spars and masts for boats.

and this:

Related to the NSW Christmas Bush, the Coachwood is a straight medium sized tree growing to 25m in rainforest habitat in deep sandstone gullies. In the park it can be clearly seen on walks heading towards de Burghs Bridge. The bark is grey and smooth, with patches of white lichen which change to pink in the Autumn.
The large, tough, lance-shaped leaves are serrated, and distinguished by a "bump" at the base of the leaf.
Masses of creamy white flowers gradually turn pinkish as summer progresses. The flower colour is actually in the sepals, as there are no real petals (apetalum). Ceratopetalum apetalum belongs to the same family and is very similar to the NSW Christmas Bush, but its leaves are larger and the sepals become pink rather than red.
The light coloured timber was used in the early Sydney colony for coachbuilding and in World War 2 for rifle butts made in Australia.
The main flowering time is November, with the sepals showing pink in December.

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Originally Posted by robyn2839

coachwood is a particular tree it has a smell like vanilla ,very strong smell,beautiful to turn and use

More like caramel.
Beat me to it, Springwater.
Bill, you shouldn't have any trouble with the Spotty, it's been frequently used for structural purposes & for tools. Of course, it's denser, so whether weight's a problem depends on the user's muscle.

As everyone has said, coachwood is lovely to work with - provided you predrill.
If you do want to use it, you might try looking for some furniture of the 50s and 60s. It was used in the solid for wardrobes, dressing tables etc and because of the style are usually going cheap in secondhand shops. It makes a good source of well seasoned timber and in those days they were using the best for furniture.
Jim

Also used for building mosquito bomber frames during WWII.

Originally Posted by gnu52

I shaped some of the tailgate frame for my wife's 1938 Dodge out of seasoned spotted gum today, not easy but doable, but I am wondering about weight & brittleness issues. Thanks, Bill

The whole body frame of the mistress was made from tassie oak, and the base (Floor members)of our current project (See link below) was also the same. So I wouldnt worry too much about brittleness (Weight is another matter), just dont glue up too much (things need to move).

I always wanted to build a racer using Huon for the body frame. Strong Light, bug and rot resistant. It was done in the 20's in Tasmania. Do it in the weyman style (Fabric covered) it would way nothing