Eucalyptus bluntchiselii

[haemish762]

After trying jacaranda yesterday i thought i'd have a go at a bit of grey gum. It turned out to my dismay that it's as hard a concrete. I now have the upmost respect for anyone who regularly turns with eucalypts! It takes the edge off your chisel pretty quickly!!
Any how, i managed to make a small froit bowl. I am getting there slowly.
cheers Haemish

[soundman]

I've been playing with some grey gum & yeh its hard but not as hard as some.
Comes up as a nice creamy wood.
Remember the harder the timber the better the polish it will take:D

[reeves]

ye sthe eucylypts cna be pretty hard, most people seem to avoid them...
i got some bloodwood off a while back....and yes blunt chisels resulted....

still i have seen people turn ironbark so i guess sharpen up and dig in...

got some redgum off a while back..tough a #### and splitty..

cheeeeeeeers

[DavidG]

Red gum Iron bark there all the same.
Good P&N gouge, touch up on grinder regularly, do not turn too fast.
No problem.:)

The black veins can remove the edge reasonably quick. :(

[E. maculata]

I've been playing with some grey gum & yeh its hard but not as hard as some.
Comes up as a nice creamy wood.
Remember the harder the timber the better the polish it will take:D

Ain't my grey gum Soundy, probably that Mountain cwud, mine's deep pink to deep red coloured timber and is 14:eek: on janka figures.

[soundman]

Ther is so much variation in australian trees. I have two diferent spicies of grey gum in my yard alone. The wood in both is prety pale.
Are you sure you don't have some spotted gum that gets gum veins like that picture. the colour in that can vary wildly too.
It's all good stuff.
cheers

[hughie]

Hi All,

I have had a go at turning Iron Bark as long as its green it OK. But I have found you have to soak it in some soap type solution to control the distortion when it starts to dry.
The up side of trying dried timber is that I have got far better at sharpening my gouges....lol
But if you really want a challenge try some structural Plywood, from what I can gather its made from dried hardwood. It took me many trips to the grinder just to get a small bowl finished. This included using HSS steel and Tungsten tips as well. It will be awhile before I return to this sort of timber.
It just became an exercise in tool sharpening.
hughie

[E. maculata]

Egads, upon closer inspection I do believe that the Soundman is correct again:eek: I will wager that is Spotted Gum, the graln swirls & direction added to the kino colours with the way the veins stitch are quite distinctive

[RETIRED]

Egads, upon closer inspection I do believe that the Soundman is correct again:eek: I will wager that is Spotted Gum, the graln swirls & direction added to the kino colours with the way the veins stitch are quite distinctive
Whatyousmokin Mon?;)

[rsser]

What's he snorting more like? :D

Try Brushbox or the desert acacias if you like sharpening your tools.

Hollowing a shallow brushbox bowl of about 10" diam. required a touch-up after every pass. The silica does it I'm told. Shorter bevels are supposed to help.