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On this page
  • Victorian Ash - VIC Australia
  • Tasmanian Oak - TAS Australia
  • Blackbutt - NSW, QLD Australia
  • Jarrah - WA Australia
  • Tasmanian Blackwood - TAS Australia
  • Spotted Gum - NSW, QLD Australia
  • Cypress - VIC, NSW, QLD Australia
  • Jelutong - Asia Pacific
  • American Walnut - North America
  • American Maple / Rock Maple - North America
  • White Oak - North America
  • American Ash - North America
  • Pine
  • Reclaimed Timber

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  1. Machinery & Materials
  2. Materials
  3. Timber

Timber Species

Information on the the many species of timber

PreviousSeasonal MovementNextPurchasing Timber

Last updated 4 years ago

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Victorian Ash - VIC Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Overall, easy to work with hand tools and machinery

  • Glues, turns, and finishes well

  • Used for veneer, plywood, turned objects, joinery and furniture

  • Also used in construction, flooring and framing

  • Used for veneer, plywood, turned objects, joinery and furniture.

  • Also used in construction, flooring and framing

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Britton Timbers

  • Mathew's Timber

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $14.00

    • 38x150 - $23.00

    • 50x150 - $40.00

Tasmanian Oak - TAS Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Overall, easy to work with hand tools and machinery

  • Glues, turns, and finishes well

  • Used for veneer, plywood, turned objects, joinery and furniture

  • Also used in construction, flooring and framing

  • Used for veneer, plywood, turned objects, joinery and furniture.

  • Also used in construction, flooring and framing

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Urban Salvage

  • Mathew's Timber

  • Britton Timbers

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $13.00

    • 25x200 - $14.00

    • 38x150 - $22.00

Blackbutt - NSW, QLD Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Machines well

  • Does not react well to steam bending

  • Can be prone to gum veins, pockets and surface checking

  • Versatile timber, strong and durable

  • Fire resistant

  • Ideal for structural applications e.g. framework construction, flooring, cladding or fencing

  • Also used in joinery and furniture

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Britton Timbers

  • Mathew's Timber

  • Urban Salvage

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $25.00

    • 38x150 - $38.00

    • 50x150 - $51.00

Jarrah - WA Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Difficult to machine due to high density, coarse texture and interlocked grain

  • Moderate blunting effect on cutting edges

  • Very durable as and highly resistant to termite/insect attack

  • Glues and finishes well

  • Ok to steam bend

  • Great for outdoor applications

  • Also used in joinery and furniture

  • Prized for turning with tight knots, swirling gran and rich colours. Used in flooring, veneer and cabinetry

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Timber Lord

  • Britton Timbers

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $13.00

    • 25x200 - $19.00

    • 38x150 - $21.00

    • 38x200 - $31.00

Tasmanian Blackwood - TAS Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Overall, easy to work with hand tools and machine.

  • Glues, turns, carves, and finishes well.

  • Great for steam bending

  • Important that safety precautions are taken when sanding, as the wood dust can cause irritations.

  • Not ideal for external applications – low durability

  • Ideal for making furniture and joinery, internal veneers and paneling.

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Britton Timbers

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $17.00

    • 38x150 - $30.00

Spotted Gum - NSW, QLD Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Overall, is easy to work with hand tools and machine

  • Attractive fiddle-back appearance

  • Great fire resistant rating, strength and resilience

  • One of the most widely available recycled timber in Australia today

  • Best used as structural and external applications, e.g. wharfs, framing, flooring, decking and cladding

  • Can also used in joinery and furniture

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Mathew's Timber

Cypress - VIC, NSW, QLD Australia

Workability and common applications

  • Reasonably hard timber

  • Can be satisfactorily machined and turned to a smooth finish

  • Special techniques, such as surface roughening, are required for gluing

  • Great for outdoor use, usually used in framework construction, flooring, cladding or for fencing oyster stakes and jetty piles in low-salinity environments, as well as beehives.

  • Not as often used in indoor applications but ok for furniture, turnery, joinery, carving, parquetry and linings

Suppliers

  • Bowens

Jelutong - Asia Pacific

Workability and common applications

  • Vow density rating lends itself to ease of workability

  • Plain grain and fine texture make it extremely popular with carvers and pattern-makers

  • Very easy to turn and carve

  • Used for architectural models, drawing boards, picture frames, wooden shoes (clogs), furniture parts, doorknobs, dowels and pencils

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Britton Timbers - prices as of Feb 2019

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x300 - $26.00

    • 38x300 - $39.00

    • 50x300 - $51.00

    • 75x150 - $39.00

American Walnut - North America

Workability and common applications

  • Works easily with hand and machine tools

  • Glues well

  • Can be polished to an exceptional finish

  • Good for steam bending

  • Dark heartwood will lighten over time with exposure to UV light

  • Used in high end furniture, cabinet making, architectural interiors, joinery, doors, flooring and paneling,

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Mathew's timber

  • Britton Timbers

  • Timber Lord

    • 25x150 - $26.00

    • 38x150 - $41.00

    • 38x200 - $55.00

    • 50x150 - $58.00

American Maple / Rock Maple - North America

Workability and common applications

  • Dries slowly with a large shrinkage, so can be susceptible to movement

  • Very hard with a tight smooth grain, with care it machine fine

  • Turns well, glues fine and can be polished to an outstanding finish

  • Good for steam bending

  • The lighter coloured sapwood tends to darken over time with exposure to the UV light.

  • Used in Furniture, paneling, kitchen cabinets, workshops and table tops, interior joinery, architectural features.

  • Hard wearing properties make this timber ideal for high traffic applications

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Mathew's timber

  • Britton Timbers

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $17.00

    • 38x150 - $30.00

    • 50x150 - $45.00

White Oak - North America

Workability and common applications

  • A hard and heavy wood, with low stiffness and medium crushing and bending strength.

  • Resulting in extremely good steam bending properties

  • Easy to machine, glue and finish

  • As a slow-drying wood has a high shrinkage rate, making it prone to checking and susceptible to some movement.

  • Used in making of vats for spirits and wine

  • In Australia is mostly used for flooring, joinery and furniture

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Urban Salvage

  • Mathew's timber

  • Britton Timbers

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $15.00

    • 38x150 - $31.00

    • 50x150 - $48.00

American Ash - North America

Workability and common applications

  • Ok to steam bend

  • Fine outdoors as highly durable to external factors

  • Highly workable, takes to glue well and polishes to a very high finish.

  • Responds well to steam bending

  • Excellent woodturning timber

  • Versatile timber used in a range of interior applications, e.g. flooring, furniture, joinery, mouldings, sports equipment etc.

  • Available as a thermally modified to be suitable in outdoor applications e.g. cladding and decking

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Mathew's Timber

  • Britton

  • Timber Lord

  • General cost per meter

    • 25x150 - $14.00

    • 38x150 - $22.00

    • 50x150 - $31.00

    • 75x150 - $57.00

Pine

Workability and common applications

  • Pine can be worked easily by hand or machine

  • Lightweight, straight, grained and lacks figure often with knots.

  • Pine grows very fast therefore is a more sustainable timber option

  • Very cheap

  • Usually used in building and construction, prototyping, mould making, wood and paper pulp, masts and poles and other construction needs.

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Bunnings

    • Standard construction pine sold at set lengths (not per meter)

    • Prices ranging between $4 for 1.2m, and $37 for 2.4 in different widths and thicknesses

Reclaimed Timber

Workability and common applications

  • Properties subjective to type of species

  • Often have many defects e.g. screw holes, staining, nail holes

  • Be aware nails may left in timber therefore material cannot be machined

  • Most sustainable timber option

Suppliers and pricing per meter

  • Urban Salvage

  • Timber Revival

  • Prices will vary

Figure 1. Living Styles. 2020.
Figure 2. Lemon, Chelsea. Chelsea Lemon Design. 2016.
Figure 3. Lacewood. 2020.
Figure 4. Street, Dave, Viv. Ironwood Studio. 1992.
Figure 5. Coglan, James. ExLab. 2019.
Figure 6. Markowitz, Adam. Markowitz Design. 2015.
Figure 7. Outdoor Furniture Online. 2017.
Figure 8. Kaptein, Paul. My Modern MET. 2019.
Figure 9. Inoda, Svedje. Inoda + Sveje Design. 2014.
Figure 10. Li, Grant, ExLab. 2019.
Figure 11. Crowe, Duncan. ExLab. 2019.
Figure 12. Turtle, Sophia. ExLab. 2019.
Figure 13. Traylen, Alex. ExLab. 2019.
Figure 14. Recycled Timber Furniture. 2020.