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Superbunny
10th March 2021, 07:28 PM
One of my students has been making a coffee table top from the timber pictured below. He did not know what timber it is and I don’t know also. All I can say is it’s heavy stuff and is fairly light in colour and looks a little like Tas oak but I’m sure it’s not. The last picture shows some yellow in the timber. Anyone know what it might be?

elanjacobs
10th March 2021, 09:05 PM
It does look a bit like Tas Oak, possibly "feature grade"

riverbuilder
10th March 2021, 09:11 PM
Blackbutt is my call.

Euge
10th March 2021, 10:19 PM
A southern eucalypt is my guess, Looks like it has gum veins & large birdseyes which occur in many species. I've seen it in shining gum (E.nitens) for example and have a narrow table which look a bit like it.

Positive ids of eucalypt wood is difficult without botanical material or description of source, native forest, region etc. Flowers, bud & fruit capsules are the most useful for id of eucalypts as many woods even under the microscope are similar. Some millers know from milling many logs in one area. Wood colour reduces the possiiblities just a bit.

edit: It could even be blue gum (E globulus)

Eug

elanjacobs
10th March 2021, 10:21 PM
Endgrain pics might help too

riverbuilder
11th March 2021, 06:44 AM
My second choice is Messmate, commonly grown with Victorian ash and Tasmanian Oak, very similar.

rustynail
11th March 2021, 03:06 PM
Do me for Messmate.

Superbunny
12th March 2021, 03:52 PM
Here is a picture of the end grain. I must admit it does look like tas oak but I’ve never seen it like this.

elanjacobs
12th March 2021, 03:56 PM
With the endgrain, my vote is either old growth Tas Oak or Messmate. Doesn't look quite right for Blackbutt IMO, but trying to positively ID "eucalyptus genericus" is a bit of a crapshoot

rustynail
14th March 2021, 04:25 PM
End grain picture even better for Messmate. Euc Obliqua.

Superbunny
14th March 2021, 07:18 PM
Well thanks guys, messmate is what we’ll go with for now. I guess it’s harder than you think to identify wood.

Mobyturns
15th March 2021, 09:35 AM
Possibly WA Blackbutt?