Thread: INFO on Huon Pine please

I was once told that Huon is one of only a few species that is a sapless tree. I could be totally wrong though

Amos,

Used to be able to buy Huon Pine Oil and it was used as an artificial pheronome to attract insects however in these days of political correctness concentrates such as this classified as Carcianogenic resulted in the removal from this practice. Huon trees survive for so long thanks to the effect of the natural repellant that is the smell in Huon.
Google Huon tons of real info out there. I did make comments on your recent pen elsewhere.Hesitated to elaborate on the CSIRO response.

Kind regards Peter.

I have about 3/4 of a cubic metre in the workshop, and the aroma alone is enough to keep me enthusiastic.

I don't do turning, so I don't know what its turning properties are like, but I use it for my shoji and kumiko work.

The aroma does fade over time, but it is still noticeable in pieces I made several years ago. Obviously, it you apply finish to the wood, you lose the aroma.

Because the timber isn't grown and harvested as other timbers, the quality can vary. Some timber can be quite knotty and therefore (for me) unusable, whereas other pieces can be an absolute joy to use. And because it's heavily protected (and rightfully so), it's certainly not cheap.

The colour tends to be reasonably consistent between different pieces, though some timber is more yellowish than others. And I've found that the yellower wood tends to have the stronger aroma.

The grain tends to be very tight, but depending on the piece, it can be a bit wavy, and constant chopping and changing of the planing direction is necessary. I only use Japanese hand-planes (kanna), and the finish they leave on the timber is like a mirror. Keep your hands clean when working on it though, because perspiration or oily hands will leave grubby marks.

The timber is quite gentle on machinery and hand tools.

In a nutshell, I love the stuff.

Des

Thanks Des, good thing we don't know your address--we could always organize a "Huon Pine Raid", and if hundreds of Huon pens appeared we would know the culprits!!!Amos