Bird's Eye Radiata?

**Scribbly Gum** · 27th June 2010, 06:20 PM

I was in the shed this afternoon preparing some timber for a couple of boxes that I am making for our Club Exhibition. I had set up my jack plane for cleaning up the pieces of Tasmanian Blackwood that I was going to use when I picked up a scrap of radiata to test the cut.
This old piece had been kicking around the workshop for eons, and was often used for clamping as a cawl and for other dogsbody tasks. It had picked up that dirty radiata look that aged and dusty PR can get. My first swipe was a good one and told me that the blade setting was just right, but what it revealed amazed me.
I gave the surface a few more strokes of the plane and - voila - what beauty is this?
Have any of you seen a sheen with bird's eye type grain from pinus radiata before?
This surface needs more work as there are plenty of workshop scratches still left in it, but you can see from the photo,(which does not do it justice - I couldn't quite get the light right to show it off properly) it is quite beautiful.
Your feedback is anticipated.
Cheers
SG

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 27th June 2010, 07:26 PM

Good find!

A year or two back, Bunnings had a pile of timbers on a pallet at dirt-cheap prices. The rag ends of the last few pallet loads, y'know?

While fossicking through - as one does

- I found quite a few lengths of glorious bird's-eyed radiata. It was so heavily populated - a few eyes per sq. inch - that I nearly had conniptions getting the pieces off the pallet and to the check-out before anyone else saw them.

And just recently, I knocked up a set of cheap 'n nasty free standing shelves from 110x19 KDHW; we just drove into Bunnies, threw a handful of straight lengths into the ute and drove back to the shed.

When I was sorting the pieces, I couldn't believe my eyes... I'm kicking myself now for not replacing the timber with "plainer" stuff and reserving this for other use.

This is the tail-end offcut, very lightly sanded and wetted with 100% Tung Oil:

**Scribbly Gum** · 27th June 2010, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Good find!

A year or two back, Bunnings had a pile of timbers on a pallet at dirt-cheap prices. The rag ends of the last few pallet loads, y'know?

While fossicking through - as one does

- I found quite a few lengths of glorious bird's-eyed radiata. It was so heavily populated - a few eyes per sq. inch - that I nearly had conniptions getting the pieces off the pallet and to the check-out before anyone else saw them.

And just recently, I knocked up a set of cheap 'n nasty free standing shelves from 110x19 KDHW; we just drove into Bunnies, threw a handful of straight lengths into the ute and drove back to the shed.

When I was sorting the pieces, I couldn't believe my eyes... I'm kicking myself now for not replacing the timber with "plainer" stuff and reserving this for other use.

This is the tail-end offcut, very lightly sanded and wetted with 100% Tung Oil:

OMG!
Beautiful.
SG

**benupton** · 27th June 2010, 11:15 PM

I have seen some like that before but never new it was birds eye.

**RufflyRustic** · 28th June 2010, 08:10 AM

Oh Yes SG!!

It is very surprising what jumps out at you in the radiata pine section sometimes. I always keep an eye out for pitch pocket pine pieces of which there are plenty, but real birdseye is always a find. Here's two of my projects that use both. The cabinet is now a tall telephone cabinet in HWMNBO's friend's home and the chest, well, it didn't come together in the end, but one day it would be worth building that design again, but with much improved joinery.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f40/on...es-pine-69230/

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f40/wi...cabinet-73199/

**artme** · 28th June 2010, 09:25 AM

Great find SG and your find Skew was a true gem.

It's surprising what gets found when you fossick.

**Alastair** · 28th June 2010, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by Bupton

I have seen some like that before but never new it was birds eye.

To be pedantic,

What SG is showing is "birds' eye", while Skew is showing a "fiddleback" figure.

my 2c

**benupton** · 28th June 2010, 04:39 PM

Sorry I was talking about the pine.

**IanW** · 29th June 2010, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by Bupton

I have seen some like that before but never new it was birds eye.

I'm not sure that's what it is at all! I may be dead wrong, but I don't think you get real 'birdseye' in pine because of the cell structure & the way it buds. The marks on the pine look to me like leaf scars, which are relatively common on the inner wood - your board looks like it has come from a long leader on a fast-growing tree.

Whichever - it's better than boring old crapiata...

Cheers,

**Barry_White** · 29th June 2010, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Good find!

that I nearly had conniptions getting the pieces off the pallet and to the check-out before anyone else saw them.

99.99% of the people that go into Bunnings wouldn't know what Birdseye or Fiddleback was. In fact they probably would reject it because they would think it had flaws in it.

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 29th June 2010, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by Barry_White

99.99% of the people that go into Bunnings wouldn't know what Birdseye or Fiddleback was. In fact they probably would reject it because they would think it had flaws in it.

Indeed. *nods*

Their ignorance is our gain, thank Ghu.

**RufflyRustic** · 29th June 2010, 06:23 PM

seconded Skew

**texx** · 29th June 2010, 09:44 PM

looks more like hoop some times called queensland pine to me , i used to see that a lot when polishing floors in old queenslanders in the older burbs in brisbane

Thread: Bird's Eye Radiata?

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Bird's Eye Radiata?

Similar Threads

Bird's Eye Huon Statesman FP

Borers in bird's eye red box

slash/radiata

Radiata workbenches

Radiata Pine (pinus radiata)

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions