Thread: Tallow wood

Tallowwood E. microcorys Hard, heavy, greasy, reasonably easy to work.

What to use it for? You are only talking about a small amount of timber, so smaller products are the go or as a feature wood in an item. If you can resaw the timber into 1"x4"'s or smaller to creat solid panels for a table top (Coffee Table etc) or as a kick guard for a cabinet, watch your toes!

G'day Jedo, Pat is correct on the species, excellent outdoor timber exremely greasy in texture often has a greenish hue to it. Doesn't like many glues or finishes due to it's greasy nature, also has more extreme PH than some, which encourages corrosion/staining in some fixtures and the timber itself.
Makes nice boxes

our propety is fenced with it as the posts, often sued for slab huts and other rustic joinery....its long lasting...grainy Eucalypt, soft brown color....theres a stump up the hill from here 7m wide..tree must have been 300 ft tall..

cheeeeers

Originally Posted by reeves

our propety is fenced with it as the posts, often sued for slab huts and other rustic joinery....its long lasting...grainy Eucalypt, soft brown color....theres a stump up the hill from here 7m wide..tree must have been 300 ft tall..

cheeeeers

The biggest microcorys I've seen on the deck was waayyy too big for the lucas - maybe 3m diameter and about 30 dead-straight m to the crown, which was about 1.8m possibly more, with 2 leaders about 0.6-0.7m diameter that kept going for another 25m and the foliage extended at least another 10-15m beyond that. The thing had been struck by lightning at least once, where the fork was, so it was probably even taller at some stage. They are BIG f#%^$*s and bloody hard:eek:. This one was just too big and had a huge pipe up the middle, so I had to leave it alone.

Mate thats a big tree, don't know how you walked away from it. I would have given it a go. The Lucas does some have some limitations but I think I could have milled it in our Lucas,it would have needed a fair amount of stuffing around but would have got thru it. We frequently do forest red gum upto 1.8m girth, using a modified Lucas. We also use a 20t or 30t excavator for loading logs onto a rail and trolley system for running into the mill.
I would have quartered each log with a chainsaw and done it that way, would even load it onto our 120t float and bring it too the mill.
Regards
Kerry

Originally Posted by kabe1953

Mate thats a big tree, don't know how you walked away from it. I would have given it a go. The Lucas does some have some limitations but I think I could have milled it in our Lucas,it would have needed a fair amount of stuffing around but would have got thru it. We frequently do forest red gum upto 1.8m girth, using a modified Lucas. We also use a 20t or 30t excavator for loading logs onto a rail and trolley system for running into the mill.
I would have quartered each log with a chainsaw and done it that way, would even load it onto our 120t float and bring it too the mill.
Regards
Kerry

If I had a 120t float, and an excavator, I might have given it a bash. No, the thing was just too big to handle for the return. If it had been a red stringybark....

At times beggars can't be choosers. We have about 1200m3 of crows ash in the round to try to find a buyer or buyers for and as much hoop pine if you know anyone.
regards
Kerry

Well, seem to have generated a wider interest with my query. . .
I have the said timber now - it's as heavy as gubbery. . .
Looks nice - straight, close grain. Greasy. Fruity smell.
This timber was once a veranda post on a mine manager's house. Probally 80 - 90 years old.
I'm told that baulks of tallow wood were once used in mine-cage shafts as runners: used as cross pieces on stobie poles: used for shafts on buggies and carts.
Nice to get something for free - including your wisdom and advice.
Thanks mates. . .
Jedo

For fasteners on that one consider drilling & taping, welding won't work.