Spotted Gum
Scientific name:
Eucalyptus maculate
Other names:
Spotted iron gum
Lemon-scented gum
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Spotted gum is a very high quality timber. Currently, spotted gum is the highest volume native hardwood harvested in Queensland, equivalent to 60% of the total. In plantations, spotted gum has good growth rates, and adapts well to a wide range of site types. On favourable sites, these species grow to 45 m in total height and 1.3 m in stem diameter, but attain only half these dimensions on poorer sites. They have straight slender trunks with smooth bark. This is shed in patches leaving slight depressions in the surface, which give a characteristic spotted appearance.
Weight:
1010 kg m-3 at 12 % moisture content; approximately 1.0 m3 of seasoned sawn timber per tonne.
Use:
Spotted gum’s uses include flooring, construction, poles, furniture, and tool handles.
General characteristic:
The heartwood of spotted gum ranges from a lighter brown to deep red-brown, while the sapwood is generally white. The texture of spotted gum is somewhat greasy to the touch. The species has an interlocked & wavy grain and possesses a fairly coarse texture.
Working properties:
Spotted gum works rather easily with both hand and power tools, in part due to the greasy nature of the wood’s surface. This species accepts both nails and glue well. It takes stain, paint, and polishing readily and produces a very attractive finish.
Drying and shrinkage:
Can be satisfactorily dried using conventional air and kiln seasoning methods. Shrinkage to 12% MC. (The shrinkage values apply to C. citriodora subsp. variegata). Tangential 6.1%, radial 4.3%. * Plantation-grown (41 years): tangential 5.8%, radial 3.4%. Unit shrinkage. Tangential 0.4%, radial 0.3% (natural and plantation grown).
Durability:
The heartwood is resistant to impregnation with preservatives, and the sapwood is very susceptible to lyctid borers and so needs preservation for post and pole use. Sapwood readily accepts preservative impregnation but penetration of heartwood is negligible, using currently available commercial processes.
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