Machinability of plantation-grown Eucalyptus globoidea timber

ABSTRACT

Eucalyptus globoidea is an emerging plantation species. Its naturally durable heartwood has the potential to be used for solid wood outdoor products. Good machinability of a timber is essential for solid wood processing but was unknown for E. globoidea.

The ASTM D1666 standard was used to assess the machinability of E. globoidea and compared to that of Pinus radiata, the dominating resource for the local wood processing industry and well-known for its good machinability. This study showed that E. globoidea machined equally well or better than P. radiata in planing, boring, mortising, grooving, edging, and turning. Sanding E. globoidea (723 kg/m³) was not possible at the prescribed settings, whereas a smooth finish was obtained for the lower density P. radiata (461 kg/m³). Reducing the sanding depth resulted in a satisfactory sanding finish. Defects that determined the machine scores were identified. When boring, mortising and grooving E. globoidea timber, most defects were chipping caused by the tool exiting the piece. When edging, most care needs to be taken at the corner.

The comparable machinability of E. globoidea and P. radiata according to ASTM D1666 indicated that the well-established P. radiata wood processing industry should be able to process E. globoidea.

KEYWORDS:

• ASTM D1666
• Pinus radiata
• white stringybark
• wood processing

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to appreciate the technical assistance of Gert Hendriks and Monika Sharma (School of Forestry, University of Canterbury).

Author contributions

Conceptualisation: Clemens Altaner; Methodology: Hamish Scown, Clemens Altaner, Hyungsuk Lim; Formal analysis and investigation: Hamish Scown, Clemens Altaner; Writing – original draft preparation: Hamish Scown; Writing – review and editing: Clemens Altaner, Hamish Scown, Hyungsuk Lim; Funding acquisition: Clemens Altaner; Resources: Clemens Altaner, Hyungsuk Lim; Supervision: Clemens Altaner, Hyungsuk Lim.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant financial interests to disclose. Clemens Altaner is Science Team Leader of the New Zealand Dryland Forests Initiative (NZDFI).

Additional information

Funding

This work has been financially supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Specialty Wood Products Partnership (FFRX1501).