Thread: Milling Sugargum

Haven't milled sugargum before but picked up a couple of logs recently and was advised to seal the ends really well and mill sooner rather than later as it tends to degrade the longer it is left.

Can't say anything about the milling but as DJ said you need to seal the ends

The timber itself is hard and dense and.....makes great firewood!

I know nothing about Milling but I can say that Sugargum Burl is to die for.

Cheers Bob.

Have milled about 1/2 a dozen of these
Some pics here
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f132/n...illing-108713/

It's a great timber. Class 1 durability reported in the attached reference.

It has a number of uses:

Sugar gum profile - Department of Environment and Primary Industries

I would like to grow some on our block but it appears to not do so well in wet areas like Gippsland.

Grows fast in the Wimmera where we used it as firewood.
However, it is beautiful in furniture and takes polish really well.

Reminds me a bit of Grey Ironbark...very pretty stuff.How easy does the saw go through it?MM

Originally Posted by MAPLEMAN

Reminds me a bit of Grey Ironbark...very pretty stuff.How easy does the saw go through it?MM

Chainsaw goes through a bit easier than Spottie.

Originally Posted by BobL

Chainsaw goes through a bit easier than Spottie.

Cheers for that..B.T.W,very tidy work,superb finish..may i ask what angle your sharpening at? Is it more than 10 degrees? MM

Originally Posted by MAPLEMAN

Cheers for that..B.T.W,very tidy work,superb finish..may i ask what angle your sharpening at? Is it more than 10 degrees? MM

Thanks MM
I don't fuss too much about the top plate filing angle, it's somewhere between 5 and 10º.

BTW with a bit of care I can get the same finish with stock chain with 25º top plate angle. I reckon 90% of finishing problems with chain saw mills is due to operators trying to push them too hard. The extra minute or two I can save per cut by pushing them harder and generating a poor finish is well and truly consumed in extra surface prep needed once the slabs a dried.

I've just made a bookcase from it...beautiful timber! Very hard and heavy, but very stable timber, stays straight once machined and like others have said, takes a beautiful finish. Has some nice varied colours in the grain. If you are using it for firewood, that is a terrible waste in my opinion

Hi there,
I have milled a truck load of sugar gum before, mostly into rails. I think it has a durability no. 1. It is like red box to mill.
You could use it for nearly anything, flooring, decking,furniture. Not sure what the structual grading is.
Good stuff though.
Mal.