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TASMANIAN OAK

Eucalyptus spp.

Eucalyptus spp.of the family Myrtaceae, including Eucalyptus delegatensis, Eucalyptus obliqua, and Eucalyptus regnans; native to Australia. Obviously, this is NOT an oak --- Early settlers to Australia found these woods to be as strong and versatile as oak, so they named them oak even though they aren't. Of course, they ALSO named them ash, and they aren't that either. All three of these species go by the names Australian oak AND Tasmanian oak plus many other names. Eucalyptus regens also grows in South Africa where it is also known as Australian mountain ash. Some of the more common names are:

Eucalyptus delegatensis = alpine ash, gum-top stringybark
Eucalyptus obliqua = browntop, messmate stringy-bark, wollybark
Eucalyptus regans = swamp gum, mountain ash, giant gumtree

Walter Troy, who contributed my own sample piece tells me that it is very representative of what the wood pretty much always looks like --- fairly bland.

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions


small piece of Tasmanian oak and its end grain. This was contributed to the site by Walter Troy, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The color on the face grain shot has slight green tint that is not in the wood itself.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above. The closeup is a bit washed out ---the wood is darker than shown --- but the update color is correct.


flat cut surface closeup and quartersawn surface closeup of the piece directly above


quartersawn figured Tasmanian oak veneer --- HUGE enlargements are present. These samples were contributed to the site by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


Tasmanian oak veneer, quartersawn and flat cut --- HUGE enlargements are present. These samples were contributed to the site by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

web pics:


freshly milled slabs




plank with a color that looks ridiculous


scales, all from the same vendor --- I don't know if the color variations are due to the wood or the photography


curly plank


fiddleback planks


figured plank with a color that I have to conclude is just silly


burl


veneer --- the 2nd sheet looks like a burl to me but it was not listed as such


veneer sheet and closeup --- this was not listed as figured or a burl or anything out of the ordinary, but it certainly doesn't seem ordinary to me, it looks like a burl --- in fact, I've seen veneer sheets that look just like this and they were listed as eucalyptus burl


floor and stairs both are tasmanian oak


flooring


guitar back and sides listed as Tasmanian white oak, which I think is a meaningless designation (the "white") since Tasmanian oak doesn't come in red and white the way actual oak does.