Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Bluegum wood
Bluegum (Eucalyptus globulus, family Myrtaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,540–2,580 lbf (6,850–11,476 N), and air-dry it weighs about 61–51 lb/ft³ (977–817 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 637–638.
Other names, by country: None.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,540–2,580 lbf (6,850–11,476 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,540-2,580 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 61–51 lb/ft³ (977–817 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.67–0.80 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) about 0.80 for forest-grown material and 0.67 for plantation-grown; air-dry density 61 and 51 pcf respectively.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 12.0% tangential
- Radial 8.0%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Tropical Timbers of the World (Chudnoff, 1979 edition), the only published source read for this wood
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE); crushing strength is compression parallel to the grain. The sheet collects these from published tests: it prints 4 data sets, from different tests and sources, so they can differ widely; all are shown, in the sheet's order, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 12,200 psi (84 MPa) | 2.16 million psi (14.9 GPa) | 6,180 psi (43 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 21,200 psi (146 MPa) | 2.95 million psi (20.3 GPa) | 12,000 psi (83 MPa) |
| Green | 11,200 psi (77 MPa) | 2.01 million psi (13.9 GPa) | 5,250 psi (36 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 16,600 psi (114 MPa) | 2.37 million psi (16.3 GPa) | 9,940 psi (69 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale yellow-brown; sapwood grayish-white. Grain usually interlocked; texture moderately coarse; luster rather low; without distinctive odor or taste; frequently contains gum veins that may detract from the appearance.
- Working properties
- Saws well, torn grain is common when dressing quartered faces. Rotary peels well if bolts are heated.
- Durability
- Heartwood moderately resistant to decay; sapwood vulnerable to powder-post beetle attack as well as termites.
- Uses
- Pallets, fenceposts, general construction, utility plywood, flooring, pulp and paper products.
- Where it grows
- Found mainly in Tasmania (Australia) but extensively cultivated in plantations in subtropical regions, has been favored in California and Hawaii.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 637–638, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh bluegum against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.