Thread: Not Beefwood or Is It ?

Looks like Beefwood to me .

I was confused for a long time as to what Beefwood actually was .Like 30 years confused. No books I had ever seemed to be able to describe what tree it actually was . The books I was looking at were the books describing Antique Colonial furniture.
There were The She Oaks / Casurina trees used pre 1820 Sydney Rose Mahogany , Red Cedar and this Beefwood but what tree was it ?
Then a guy sent me a beefwood sample from NSW . Still no tree name to go with it . Later I chopped up a dead dry Banksia log and that was a good match to my sample and Beefwood Id seen in pictures of old stuff . I still couldnt see why the name may be Beefwood though . Nothing in furniture or pictures Id seen ever looked like any Beef Id seen .

Then a Big live tree was dropped in the local Cemetary . A coastal Banksia . I offered to cut most of it up and take away the wood to use and they gave it to me . What greatly surprised me was the look of the fresh wet wood when it was cut . This stuff has a high water content . And with a select piece cut looks 100 % exactly like a juicy wet chunk of corned Beef . If you cut a bit and put it on a plate in a Kitchen next to some peas and mash potato you'd have every one fooled .

Here's pics of the tree I cut and posted on Instagram .

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So I reckon Ive solved My Beefwood query .

Rob

It is quite possibly, White Silky Oak - Grevilea hilliana; or Silver Oak - Grevilea parallela.

Common names are a source of endless confusion, there must be a dozen woods known colloquially as "beefwood"!

Feckit, are you thinking of "beefwood" as Grevillea striata, aka "western beefwood"?

Banksia integrifolia is indeed one of the so-called "beefwoods", but Grevillea striata (which grows in all states except Victoria), is another. They are in the same family (proteaceae) & have the medullary ray structure common to most members of the family (Cardwellia, Orites, Macadamia etc.).

Banksia would be a more sensible wood to make a cabinet from (S.G. ~0.5), so I reckon Rob is on the money. G. striata is very dense (S.G. ~.95) and not the most workable of woods I've struck. The pieces I've had were also a much darker colour than your wood - they still look 'beefy' when dry. Provenence is a very useful guide - if you knew where your cabinet was made, that'd be a helpful clue in figuring out what the wood might be....

Cheers,

I was typing a reply and Ian wrote exactly what I was going to say. You would never make furniture out of Beefwood as it leaches resin for ever that come through whatever finish you use.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Thanks Rob.

Thanks Ian.

I was thinking that the original cabinet timber had been G. striata, however after I'd dismantled it and cleaned it up that all changed and I've no idea what it is. The long board that I cleaned up is G. striata.

Unfortunately I don't know the provenance of the cabinet, but I'm happy to go with NOT G. striata, and more likely Banksia integrifolia.

Cheers

I wish I had more of it.

Originally Posted by Old Croc

I was typing a reply and Ian wrote exactly what I was going to say. You would never make furniture out of Beefwood as it leaches resin for ever that come through whatever finish you use.....

That's a fair warning Crocy - I think TTIT mentioned the same vice in another recent thread. I guess I was lucky with the couple of bits I used, there was no bleeding. They were already well-seasoned when I got them, and sat around for years before I turned any of it (into handles), so the resin may have set itself. But I didn't get the urge to rush out & find more, the stuff I had didn't finish to the sort of surface I'd expect from a hard, dense wood and looks a bit blah.

I don't know if it's just random chance or soil type or what, but some woods can be very variable in the amount of gum they contain. I've had a few pieces of ringed gidgee for e.g. that bled like crazy, while most of what I've used has been fine. P'raps the worst bleeder I've met was some weeping myall. I made a couple of gauges from a nice figured piece & ended up re-finishing them 4 or 5 times, but eventually the bleeding stopped. That's another wood that didn't endear itself to me, I reckon it is the most edge-dulling wood in Australia!

I know I'm always saying we shouldn't draw conclusions on the basis of one or two samples, but when the first two bits of a particular species you try behave badly, it's hard to keep an open mind that it may have brothers or cousins out there with very different working properties...

Cheers,

I have had mixed experience with wood described as G striata, some absolutely fits the "oozes resin for years" tag while other pieces have been very accommodating. However as Ian rightly points out provenance is everything - and so is the knowledge of the person providing the ID for the wood. There are many more species of Grevillea, indeed the whole proteaceae family that this wood could be.

Another candidate is the "Wheel of Fire Tree" - Stenocarpus sinuatus.