Milling eucalyptus! Did I get this wrong?

[@Jake12220]

I hate how so many comments are from people thinking eucalyptus is a single species when it's a whole family of trees and shrubs with very different timber qualities. The stuff often grown outside of its native range is often the fast growing species that produce terrible wood, where most of what we use in Australia is slow growing and produces fantastic quality wood.

[@colddiesel]

There are some 800 different species of Eucalypt. Most of what grows outside of Australia is Southern Blue Gum(Eucalypyus Globulus) or similar species.. It grows much faster on more fertile non-Australian soils. This was a very young (12 years) and small log, absolutely certain to split. Old, slow grown (regular droughts help!) timber which has been dried for twice as long as you think necessary won't crack anywhere near as much. If you could find yourself a 500 year old Toona Ciliata Australis you could retire on the sale value. Gorgeous timber.

[@FromTheWood]

I known eucalyptus wood very well for over 30 years. Eucalyptus is the most abundant wood in Portugal. It is a wood so bad for carpentry that most of it is for firewood to burn in the stoves. Some are used on roof frames. Some is used in veneer, but in a small amount. It have no other use. What will happen to these boards, in 3 or 4 months is that they will open cracks and the boards will warp in a way you can not imagine. I advise you to not use the wood before letting it dry for a few months. good luck. (sorry mt english)

[@szilardpinter]

From The Wood thank you for your comment appreciate that! Well that's what I was worried about, but I'm not surprised after what I seen so far! Cheers

[@FromTheWood]

I forgot to say that most of the wood (trees with 4 or 5 years) is for the pulp industry - paper pulp. Cheers

[@FromTheWood]

The Contige eucalyptus (Eucaliptus globulus Labill), located in Contige, Sátão, is one of the largest eucalyptus ever classified in Portugal, with an impressive 11 meters of perimeter at the level of the chest.: //www.wilder.pt/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Eucalipto-Eucalyptus-globulus-de-Contige-Sat%C3%A3o-Viseu.jpg

[@wylie5525]

It takes 4 or 5 years to get it dry enough to burn in a stove, and then it is fantastic. It burns really hot and long. The smaller diameter wood is used in roofs. But the Spanish come to the Azores to cut it and use it for paper

[@Jake12220]

Just to be clear, the eucalyptus introduced and grown in Portugal may be crappy wood(likely the fast growing species) but a lot of the species here in Australia are amazing for carpentry or any other use. The main species l cut locally generally only has around 20% moisture content in the heartwood when cut, is hard as a rock and is considered suitable for use untreated in ground for 30+ years because it is highly mold, fungus and termite resistant whole looking something akin to mahogany. Some eucalyptus species produce some of the finest timbers in the world, but others are basically useless.

[@aussieislandlife3408]

In Australia we'd call this a hardwood not softwood. They do grow quickly and are used in plantations for construction timber and pulp. They do suck up a lot of water to see them through the dry season - cut them at the end of the dry and I think you'd find a different outcome. I know you didn't have a choice. I think I'd leave bark on, whole logs, sealed ends and have another go in 2 - 3 years....You may find the wood gets very hard. Love your videos.

[@BlaiseBrogan]

Hi mate, your problem is mostly that the wood is cut down at the wrong time of year all wood to be killed should be felled in the winter. This means that it has a much lower moisture content to start with. Also eucalyptus grows too fast here in the UK as there is no dry season for the wood to strengthen up. One thing with your stack of wood you should line up the stickers with the base rails of your platform and always have a sticker about 1-2 inches from the end. Also try flipping one board then not the next one in the stack this way the wood helps the slab below it to dry straighter as the forces are working against the cupping of the one above. Great work though and a great channel.

[@szilardpinter]

Blaise Brogan thank you very much, that was really helpful! My father told me many times about harvesting trees in the winter is the most ideal! ( he also milling his own lumber) Unfortunately in my case I don't have a lot of choice, I take the logs when ever they being offered, regardless the season! Thank you for commenting! Regards Szilárd

[@BlaiseBrogan]

Mate I know you have to take them when you can you could mill them in 1/2 then leave them for a few months, but great you are saving wood!

[@williamleahy1377]

eucalypts grow fast thats wat they do,doesn,t make a difference wen benching it,keep ya logs damp if storing them,use a lucas mill look them up on google we have zero probs

[@Jake12220]

@@williamleahy1377 totally depends on the species and conditions. Some eucalyptus grows fast, especially in wet conditions, but many are very slow growing with extremely dense hard timbers. As for sawing in the winter, it generally doesn't matter much of Australia when u cut them at least the species we bother with.

[@Dana-ns5py]

I've only gotten smaller sections and usually turn them into bowls. Once turned, I let them warp and twist. When done they have really pretty colors and very organic, natural looks to them.

[@szilardpinter]

Local 926 President thank you that's sounds like a good idea! I like turning so I might try that! Cheers

[@nevilleburley8760]

Not an expert but it looks like Corymbia maculata or spotted gum. Works better when allowed to dry naturally and can be a good timber. The sapwood is prone to borer attack.

[@petersmith5199]

Oh dear! You should have asked advice before you went to all that trouble. I made the same stupid mistake thinking a huge tree I cut down last year was going to provide me with some nice 'free' wood. Just last week I was given the perfect description of dried English eucalyptus. "A string vest". I've never seen anything like it. I still have it all, maybe one day I'll think of a use for it... instead of burning! Great video as usual.

[@szilardpinter]

peter smith yeh lesson learned! Pretty much all of it warped twisted cracked since! I’m not sure if any of it salvageable! I would surly stay away from eucalyptus in the future! Cheers

[@Thom4123]

I really hope you get the answers you need to prevent this cracking and checking. It such a beautiful wood and would be a shame not to be usable. Good luck I hope someone will have the answers.

[@WoodworkingBrewer]

The patterning of the wood is amazing its just a shame its cracking, I could imagine what uses it would be good for ( Welsh Dressers) any way mate you'll figure it out all the best Szilard keep up the great videos.

[@szilardpinter]

Woodworking Brewer thank you.

[@agylub]

The variety of Eucalypts is amazing. Sugar Gum will twist 45 degrees in 6". Lemon Scented will grow straight for 10 metres. The right variety makes beautiful furniture. It's all about the right timber for the job. Blue Gum ( E. Globulus ) grown in arid conditions makes great flooring. As firewood it is fantastic.

[@ferencgacsi773]

Ok, I'll comment in English before I get told off:) I think it has a good looking texture, it could make a nice table top or something if it wouldn't warp and bend too much during the drying process. Even if it cracks, I'd fill the gaps with fluorescent resin;) Cool channel by the way, wish I could have the space to do things like these:) Regards from Stoke, UK:)

[@szilardpinter]

Ferenc Gácsi thanks Mate! Much appreciated! 🙂👍

[@amitdesai2421]

I am searching some information since last year about how to saw eucalyptus and prevent it from cracking, I think quarter sawing is best way to saw eucalyptus, another way is to split the log first and the cross cut the planks, and then you have to dry it very slow by wrapping with a plastic, if not then it will bend, warp and twist. I'm going to do some experiments shortly.....!

[@alh2236]

Another really interesting video, 12yr old tree! Jesus that grows quick! Amazing how it cracks so quickly as it drys. Looks to be interesting wood though. If it drys so quickly could the approach be leave it as a log for longer to slow it drying?

[@szilardpinter]

Al H thank you! I might end up doing this!👍

[@miles67733]

I think that would help but I just picked up some wood from a small stand that was cut down and even large diameter trunks with 1-3 weeks after being cut were already checking.

[@crazytimber1767]

Great wood and Great color of the wood

[@WoodUCreate]

I was thinking you'd need a wood stabilizer like Pentacryl or wood juice. I bought some Pentacryl for this very purpose but haven't tried it just yet. This stuff goes across the entire piece of wood, not just the ends. With that being said, it's also not very cheap, but worth a try I'd suppose.

[@szilardpinter]

James Jacobsen thank you! The question is if it would work with wet wood?

[@FallofftheMap]

Found this video while researching using the eucalyptus we have here in Ecuador as whole dried logs for the columns in a cob house. It’s a common building material here, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good choice.

[@VKMilling]

We have wood here called Sweetgum, same deal. It's best left to dry as a log, off the ground. They are both extremely unstable, to the extent that you can dry them to 8% and they will still move on you. Best to leave them for a good long while OR cut your slabs WAY oversized like 12/4 or 16/4 so that you can have enough to mill down the ridiculous amount of movement you'll see. There is so much moisture in it, I can cut a 20' long log at 30" diameter and never use a drop of lubricant.

[@MoonpieCreations]

Vikingblooded Kraftwerks I was actually going to say this looks just like sweet gum. I have three logs drying in my carport right now look exactly like that. Although mine is not cracking because it didn’t get direct sunlight that may be a problem here.

[@szilardpinter]

Wow! Thanks mate appreciate that! Yeh I stopped using lubrication after the second Slab, quickly realised there is no point in it! So I just leave on the ground for now, to dry! Cheers

[@VKMilling]

Ken Moon - Moonpie Creations sweetgum is one of those woods that you can dry to 8%, cut a board and watch it warp on you. Make sure you cut it as slabs as thick as is usable.

[@szilardpinter]

Ken Moon - Moonpie Creations interesting! I kept the first couple of test Slabs indoor! Did not see any sunlight, and it was cracking and warping the same way! The fibres collapsing as they dry, that seems to be the biggest problem!

[@MoonpieCreations]

If this is anything like sweet gum, you need to let the log sit for a year before cutting. Or coat the entire slab right after you cut it to slow down moisture lose. It seems to be losing moisture to fast that causes the fibers to contract. But as Vikingblooded Kraftwerks said, even after you dry these types of wood the fibers are so tight that they may still warp on you after they are dry. Ken

[@user-mc9ql5to1i]

This log would be best quarter sawn. If you look you will see that the cracks occur in the pith. This section should be" boxed " or removed. Sawing it requires careful attention to the stress in the log. If you look at Bambra Agroforestry on you tube you will see an excellent demonstration of the technique.

[@spacejunkengineering1351]

Hasznos kis szekér , nagyon szép mintázatú szeletek !

[@spacejunkengineering1351]

Hello dear Bunica Ayahuasca! You know I wrote a comment to Szilárd Pintér in Hungarian, because my mother tongue and my mother tongue are Hungarian too and we have really understood each other so far,if you have any idea what I wrote for you or ask (PLS) !! to turn it off or be kind, take the tiredness and turn it into English, maybe Bosnian! What's good, thank you!

[@szilardpinter]

Köszönöm! Lehet hogy nem lesz jobb masra mint tuzifa!

[@KravchenkoAudioPerth]

That cracking is called checking in English at least. It can happen if wood is dried to rapidly. Or if in this case the wood has a large amount of internal stresses. Generally what ever is near the center of a tree is on the unstable side of the cuts. But I am curious to se if this cracking is also occuring on the outer edges of the slabs. If it is you have a bunch of fire wood.

[@szilardpinter]

Kravchenko Audio well yeah! Checking everywhere! Firewood is value too 🙂👍! Cheers

[@KravchenkoAudioPerth]

I did some logging to back in the late 1980's and we found that any trees that were fast growing were not that great for quality of wood. The ones in the north side of a mountain or shaded by larger mature trees that grew slowly are the ones that turned out the best wood.

[@GOLDSMITHEXILE]

LOL If you want a challenge you should try turning it.....I know that shrinking to an oval shape is normal with green wet wood but eucalyptus is on a whole new level of "unusual" One interesting thing though is how it reacts to ebonising, the heartwood and sap wood react differently. The heart wood goes black, the sap wood goes a blue-gray. I have caved some spoons from it. Once it has dried out it seems stable and will produce a fine surface

[@juliodifelippo]

Hi, the argentinian eucaliptus its used in buildings (roofs, floors..) or maybe some veneer. Its a low quality wood, because its not stable, and after drying use to crack, but is used, mostly on bakeries that still use a tradicional oven to make bread. Sorry for my english. Un cordial saludo.

[@juliodifelippo]

Also is used to make pallets!

[@szilardpinter]

Thank you very much for your comment appreciate that! Cheers

[@jamesonelam]

Hopefully they stop checking on you. Those grain lines are gorgeous

[@ScottBelleriWorkshop]

Wow, awesome bandsaw, and cool log-handling device. Did you make them both?

[@szilardpinter]

Scott Belleri thank you! Yes I made them indeed!

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

@@szilardpinter the bigger the diameter of the wheels, the easier it is to move on rough surfaces,., you more than likely know that anyway.

[@LaSanya2001]

Do you have any information on how hard and rot resistant Eucalyptus is? I especially want to know if its rot resistant because I thought I might use it in the garden, thanks

[@Jake12220]

Depends on the species. Some will rot or get eaten by bugs, others have the highest in ground rating possible. I mainly cut fine leafed Ironbark, it's listed as being good for 30+ years in ground without any treatment (that's in worst case scenario), l doubt you could get it outside of Australia though and it would likely cost way too much to use for garden or retaining walls. Smaller trees are commonly cut as fence posts in areas where its native as it lasts longer than treated steel posts in ground.

[@FallofftheMap]

You really don’t want to use eucalyptus around your garden. It releases a chemical that suppresses growth in most other plants.

[@Psychlist1972]

That log mover is brilliant

[@szilardpinter]

Pete Brown thank you!

[@mehdigharib4710]

@@szilardpinter did you make it? I'd like to make one but don't know how. Also, did you try banding the eucalyptus tight and keeping it in a cool place to dry? The main aim is to dry it VERY slowly

[@thomashamiltom]

In California we have way more eucalyptus than we should and I have a mill. It twists and warps and checks all over, even when kiln dried, leaving weird moist patches throughout. Eucs have an interlocking grain pattern and grow in a spiral. Old growths in Australia provide decent stable lumber, but young trees produce junk. We use it to make beams or outdoor slab benches where it doesn’t matter.

[@thomashamiltom]

We also make 18”x18”x48” blocks and butterfly the large cracks to make simple nice coffee tables! If you want 4/4 boards, you’ll want to cut to 8/4 and plane down :/ one log we cut had boards almost completely split in half in the middle of milling! Look us up @lumbercycle

[@colddiesel]

Absolutely correct, When Australia and its Eucalypts were first discovered it produced superb timber but it came from old trees often 500+ years or more and that did not warp or crack. That log might look big but it's a baby, mature Eucalypts are massive trees, Eucalyptus Regnans for example can get to over 300 feet

[@oldmanterraform7900]

Hello Mr Printer,from visual this looks like sugar gum,they are also know to grow fast,native of south Australia.

[@PappyJag1]

Szilard, what did you use to seal the ends ~~~ Thank you

[@madisonsch]

I have turned some sort of Eucalyptus that grew in North Florida and made lamps out of it. It cracked up and down and have quite the twist to it.

[@szilardpinter]

Madison Schill yeah I just chopped it up for firewood! It absolutely useless for anything else!

[@ivokolarik8290]

I just like to add if you do not remove the bark it will slow down the drying

[@wh865]

Eucalyptus needs to be cut down the center first (not traditionally top to bottom)

Fantasztikus ez a fa! De honnan a csudából szerzel ekkora eukaliptusz törzset?? Az megél Angliában? :O

[@szilardpinter]

Zoltán A. Nagy lehet hogy kedvez neki az esos eghajlat! Eleg sokat latok belole erre felenk!

[@davviboost7296]

Any updates? :) What happened to the wood?

[@augustwest8559]

There’s good reason we don’t see eucalyptus lumber. It’s so full of water you can expect 50% or more loss. The wood is very nasty to work dry. The gum or resin and toughness is second to none.

[@rollingnome]

This hardwood splits & shrinks like a mother bitch! Makes good coasters though! As long as you season it for a couple of years. Gorgeous grain pattern. Nice video.

[@bazokire]

Eucalyptus always cracks if milled in the first year. They need to be seasoned for a year or more.

[@shanechambless8]

It has the highest BTU output

[@spacejunkengineering1351]

Hát, nagy kár lenne érte ! Ez nem az én szakmám , csak szeretem a fát ! Én száradás után legyalulnám , kezelném fekete lazurral azután híg műgyantával ! Nagyon jó dohányzóasztalokat lehetne belőle készíteni ! Csak egy ötlet , hátha nem a tűzben végzi ! :-) ! Igazából azt sem tudom milyen keménységű az eucalyptus !

[@Travisphoenix334]

So what did you decide? Any way to use eucalyptus? What if was dried in a kiln?

[@szilardpinter]

Travis Chenoweth not sure yet! I have seen pictures being used for flooring, but it might was a different species. I think kiln drying will make it even worse!

[@Travisphoenix334]

www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Drying_Eucalyptus.html

[@szilardpinter]

Travis Chenoweth thank you I checked it out! Very useful!!

[@Travisphoenix334]

Are you on Instagram? If so, I'm under c_and_d_makers

[@Travisphoenix334]

Szilard Pinter Glad it was helpful. Seemed to be a good source with helpful links.

[@whatthefunction9140]

Eucalyptus checks like mad! Why!

[@szilardpinter]

Far too high moisture content compared to other species

[@jeffreystanley4958]

You know what. You are a hillbilly lol so am I I like your projects you are a hard worker

[@szilardpinter]

Jeffrey Stanley thanks Mate! Appreciate that!😀👍

[@mgt00656]

ZenoA2 bacteria leaching system rapidly.

[@szabojani1]

Ha haza látogatsz egy szeletet hozhatsz nekem belőle :)

[@bazokire]

Eucalyptus always cracks if milled in the first year. They need to be seasoned for a year or more.