Messmate

Botanic Name   Eucalyptus obliqua
Common Names   Messmate
Origin   Common occurance in Tasmania & Victoria. also tablelands of NSW & Southern QLD.
Cultural Information   N/A

Timber Appearance

General Description   heartwood pale brown, sapwood pale yellow, can be a rich warm timber with oil finish.
Working Qualities   Texture moderately coarse but even, Grain sometimes interlocked. Growth rings visible but not prominent, gum veins common.

Timber Properties

Density   GD about 1080 kg/m3 and ADD (Air dry density) about 780 kg/m3
Hardness   7.1 (Janka scale) dry.
Strength Group   SD3
Stress Grades   N/A
Seasoned
  
Unseasoned
  
Seasoning And
Shrinkage to 12% MC 		  shrinkage
Tangential
   11%
Radial
   5%
Durability   Heartwood not sufficiently durable for external use but fine without heart.
Lyctid Susceptibility   Sapwood susceptible to lyctid borers.
Preservation   difficult to impregnate with preservatives.
Machining   Generally easy to work, glues well, satisfactory for steam bending, fuming with ammonia gives a grey colour to the surface.
Uses   General construction, furniture, flooring, panelling, turning.