Thread: Slabbing a casuarina

Casuarina q/s looks very pretty...

Its a beautifull timber.
If your'e milling it into narrow boards there will be greater wastage in sawdust using a chainsaw mill than with a bandsaw. I saw some she-oak being milled with a norwood recently resulting in excellent recovery.

Through and through cutting of cas is a waste of good wood. It should be quarter sawn to take advantage of the medulary rays.

beautiful timber but very high shrinkage make sure you cut well over size.

and stack well

Hi guys, Thanks for the above info. Here on the Southern Yorke Peninsula, of South Australia, Coastal Casuarinas, ( Sheoaks ) grow quite well in various places, and the timber is a beauitful deep redish-brown, with the oak-like rays standing out quite distintly. I have been lucky to be able to score two ," beauties, " both with about 400mm.dia straight trunks, x about 3.6metres of useable trunk, plus the branches which are also reasonably straight for once. Haven't got them home as yet, as both are still standing on the side of a sandhill, on a friend's property down towards Foul Bay, and I have the, " minor problem, " of figuring out how best to remove them, without damaging the surrounding living trees, ( both are very dead,- and solid ). also know of several other Coastal Casuarinas, dead, but still standing, of about 250mm. - 300mm. dia, which got singed in a scrub fire during the drought several years ago, and never recovered.
*** Many years ago, ( in younger days,- now that's getting scary !! ), I can recall visiting an elderly lady in Yorketown, whoes late husband was a Cabinetmaker, and she showed me a Dining Table made from local Sheoak planks, which her husband had milled, dressed and constructed the table from,- base, legs and all,- then French Polished it. Can always remember that table. Have never, ever seen anything like it since. Don't even know if the table stayed in the family, or eventually got sold.
Old-timers sure knew many tricks of their trade, and how to use a common local native timber to make an item of lasting beauty.
Perhaps a few viewers reading this, will become encouraged to have a go at utilizing not only Casuarinas, but other native timber too, into things more useable, & useful than simply turning blanks.

Roger

I disagree rusty nail backsawing also gives some nice figure for examples search my albums

Originally Posted by rogerjenkins

Hi guys, Thanks for the above info. Here on the Southern Yorke Peninsula, of South Australia, Coastal Casuarinas, ( Sheoaks ) grow quite well in various places, and the timber is a beauitful deep redish-brown, with the oak-like rays standing out quite distintly. I have been lucky to be able to score two ," beauties, " both with about 400mm.dia straight trunks, x about 3.6metres of useable trunk, plus the branches which are also reasonably straight for once. Haven't got them home as yet, as both are still standing on the side of a sandhill, on a friend's property down towards Foul Bay, and I have the, " minor problem, " of figuring out how best to remove them, without damaging the surrounding living trees, ( both are very dead,- and solid ). also know of several other Coastal Casuarinas, dead, but still standing, of about 250mm. - 300mm. dia, which got singed in a scrub fire during the drought several years ago, and never recovered.
*** Many years ago, ( in younger days,- now that's getting scary !! ), I can recall visiting an elderly lady in Yorketown, whoes late husband was a Cabinetmaker, and she showed me a Dining Table made from local Sheoak planks, which her husband had milled, dressed and constructed the table from,- base, legs and all,- then French Polished it. Can always remember that table. Have never, ever seen anything like it since. Don't even know if the table stayed in the family, or eventually got sold.
Old-timers sure knew many tricks of their trade, and how to use a common local native timber to make an item of lasting beauty.
Perhaps a few viewers reading this, will become encouraged to have a go at utilizing not only Casuarinas, but other native timber too, into things more useable, & useful than simply turning blanks.

Roger

I used to live on eyre peninsula and yes you will get some beautiful dark red almost purple sheoak with much denser figure than the sheoak the western australians see and much harder then the river sheoak of the east it is beautiful wood and I have turned a set of very nice set of goblets out of it in my younger days. Great wood one of my favourites!
Travis

Originally Posted by weisyboy

beautiful timber but very high shrinkage make sure you cut well over size.

and stack well

Depends on the variety and where it comes from weisy