Softwood
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Alaskan Yellow Cedar
Durability: Durable
Colour: Light
Sizes available: 50 mmTrade Name: Alaskan Yellow Cedar Botanical Species: Chamaecyparis Spach, Cupressus nootkatensis Lamb Other Names: Pacific Coast or Alaska Yellow Cedar, Yellow Cyprus Country of Origin: Pacific Coast of North America Air Dry Density: 500kgs/m³ Durability: Durable Strength: 6 (on a scale of 1 – 10) Seasoning: • Dries fairly easily and without undue degrade. Characteristics: • A pale yellow-coloured wood, with a fine even texture, which is straight grained. • It has no appreciable colour when dry. • Very stable. • Acid resistant. Working Qualities: • The timber is easily worked and finishes excellently. • It can be glued, stained, polished and varnishes well. Uses: • High class joinery, boat building, cabinet work and veneers. Product Attributes: • Consistent yellow colour. • Straight grain. • Machines and turns very well. • Veneers available. • fixed widths available. Product Limitations: • Available in 50mm thickness only. -
Baltic Spruce
Durability: Non-Durable
Colour: Light
Sizes available: 50 mmTrade Name: Baltic Spruce Botanical Species: Picea abies (or, excelsa) Other Names: The common name in Australia & New Zealand is Baltic Pine although elsewhere it is normally called Norway Spruce or Whitewood of the country of origin i.e. Swedish Whitewood. Color Heartwood colour is white to pale yellow with the sapwood indistinguishable. Air Dry Density: 450kgs/m³ (average) Durability: Non-durable Texture: Fine texture Grain: Unlike other similar European timbers the growth rings are not very prominent and the wood is more lustrous. Although the small tight knots are common the timber is usually straight grained. Tree: In most areas the tree grows to an average of 36 metres high with diameters about 750mm, however in the Carpathian Mountains of central Europe they grow up to 60 metres and almost 2 metres in diameter. Uses: Flooring, framing, panelling & cabinetry work. Additional Info: The timber is easily worked with hand or machine tools and when planed comes to a very smooth clean finish however the presence of very small tight knots may cause some difficulties. It takes nails and screws, and glues well and is a very good base for all coatings including stains, paints and varnish. The sapwood however is susceptible to Anobium borer and should be regularly inspected. -
Kahikatea
Durability: Non-durable
Colour: Medium
Sizes available: 25, 50 mmTrade Name: Kahikatea Botanical Species: Podocarpus dacrydioides Other Names: White Pine Country of Origin: New Zealand Air Dry Density: 465kgs/m³ Durability: Non-durable Strength: Seasoning: • The timber dries easily and well, but there is a danger of sap-stain during air drying. • There is small movement in service. Characteristics: • The creamy-white wood of kahikatea is light and easily worked. It is straight grained with a fine even texture, providing long, clear lengths in wide widths for sawing. • It is not durable and is especially subject to damage by house borer. • Nevertheless, it has many excellent properties including the absence of odour. Working Qualities: • The timber works easily and well with both hand and machine tools. • It holds nails and screws well, glues and finishes smoothly to a surface ideal for painting, varnishing or polishing. Uses: • Building construction, scaffold planks, fascia boards, weatherboards (when treated), flooring, framing, joinery, kitchen furniture, boat building, domestic woodware, mouldings, casks and boxes. • It is an excellent turnery wood. • Also used in the manufacture of ice cream spoons and cocktail sticks, toothpicks etc. • Selected logs converted into plywood and decorative veneers. • It is not recommended for exterior use with stain or a dark finish. • Often H3 treated for boat building purposes. Product Attributes: • The wood is odourless • Veneers available. Product Limitations: • Subject to damage by house borer. -
Macrocarpa
Durability: Moderately Durable
Colour: Light
Sizes available: 25, 50 mmTrade Name: Macrocarpa Botanical Species: Cupressus macrocarpa Other Names: Monterey Cypress Country of Origin: U.S.A Air Dry Density: 485kgs/m³ Durability: Moderately Durable Strength: Seasoning: • It is difficult to kiln dry with cell collapse and checking. • Low shrinkage factor. Characteristics: • Honey brown in colour and beautifully scented. • It is a moderately stiff, strong timber. Working Qualities: • Macrocarpa machines and turns well owing to its fine texture. • Will accept a variety of paints, oils and varnishes. Uses: • Structural beams, framing, flooring, sarking, wall paneling, cabinetry, exterior cladding, decking, pergolas, furniture and landscaping. Product Attributes: • Naturally resistant to insect and fungal attack. Product Limitations: • Difficult to kiln dry. -
Malaysian Kauri
Durability: Moderately Durable
Colour: Light
Sizes available: 25, 40, 50 mmTrade Name: Kauri – Malaysian Botanical Species: Agathis borneensis Other Names: Country of Origin: Malaysia Air Dry Density: 540kgs/m³ Durability: Moderately Durable Strength: 6+ (on a scale of 1 – 10) Seasoning: • Malaysian Kauri presents no special problems in drying and can be kiln dried from the green in 25, 40 and 50mm. • Heavier sizes can be air dried to prevent surface checking. • The timber has high degree of stability and is subject to medium shrinkage. Characteristics: • Heartwood is pale cream to golden brown in colour, the sapwood is straw to pale brown, texture is fine and the grain is mainly straight. • It is non-tainting. Working Qualities: • It is an excellent timber for sawing and machining. • It planes and sands well with only slight chipping in regions of reverse grain. • It screws and glues well and stains and polishes well. • Turning properties are excellent. • It can be drilled cleanly. Uses: • Kauri has a traditionally world-wide reputation in boat building, i.e. planks, masts, spars, and oars, because of its excellent working properties and high degree of stability it is used for exterior / interior joinery, furniture, weatherboards, panelling, sarking, mouldings, picture framing and turnery. Product Attributes: • Pale cream to golden brown timber. • Takes stain and polish well. • Veneers available in Fijian Kauri. • Fixed widths available. • Good stability. • Fine texture with mainly straight grain. • Easily machined or turned. Product Limitations: • Can be easily bruised. -
NZ Matai
Durability: Durable
Colour: Medium
Sizes available: 25 mmTrade Name: Matai Botanical Species: Podocarpus spicatus Other Names: Black Pine Country of Origin: New Zealand Air Dry Density: 600kgs/m³ Durability: Durable Strength: 6+ (on a scale of 1 – 10) Seasoning: • The timber has high degree of stability and is subject to medium shrinkage. Characteristics: • Heartwood is a straw to yellow colour with the occasional reddish tinge and even colour, the sapwood is white and can be easily distinguished, the texture is fine and the grain is mainly straight. Working Qualities: • The timber planes and sands well with only slight chipping in regions of reverse grain. • It screws and glues well and stains and polishes well. • Turning properties are excellent. • It can be drilled cleanly. • Pre-boring for nailing is recommended. Uses: • Used extensively for T & G flooring in older houses, interior joinery, furniture, panelling, sarking, mouldings. Product Attributes: • Pale cream to golden brown timber. • Veneers available. • Fixed widths available. • Good stability. • Fine texture with mainly straight grain. • Easily machined or turned. • Takes stain and polish well. Product Limitations: • Wider widths are often difficult to source. -
Oregon Pine
Durability: Durable
Colour: Medium
Sizes available: 50, 100 mmTrade Name: Oregon Botanical Species: Pseudotsuga menziesi Other Names: Douglas Fir. Country of Origin: North America also Plantations in New Zealand Air Dry Density: 550kgs/m³ Durability: Durable Strength: 7 (on a scale from 1 – 10) Seasoning: • Relatively easy to dry but the tangential surface is prone to surface checking. • End splitting is likely if drying is too rapid. Characteristics: • Heartwood is a pale pinkish brown and the sapwood is almost white. • The wood is typically straight grained with a fine even texture but varying in density according to the locality of growth. Working Qualities: • Care is needed in dressing because the softer early wood may be compressed and later, on recovery, produce a ridged surface. This characteristic makes it unsuitable for steam bending. • Inclined to split when nailed near ends of piece. Resin content can be high, causing occasional bleed-through of paint films. Uses: • General timber for internal framing, interior joinery, boat building, sarking. Product Attributes: • Consistent colour. • Machines and turns well. • Quarter sawn boards available. • Good lengths available. • Very stable in use. • Veneers available. Product Limitations: -
Pine Radiata
Durability: Non-durable
Colour: Light
Sizes available: 25, 40, 50, 75, 100 mmTrade Name: Radiata Pine Botanical Species: Pinus radiata Other Names: Monterey Pine Country of Origin: North America Air Dry Density: 500kgs/m³ Durability: Non-durable Strength: 6 (on a scale of 1 – 10) Seasoning: • Dries well with little degrade. Characteristics: • The timber is low in density and fairly soft, often with very wide annual growth rings. • The heartwood is light brown to yellow, the sapwood white to pale yellow, but often indistinct. • The grain is usually straight, but knots are common. Working Qualities: • Radiata Pine is very easily worked with standard tools, although its knotty character and resin canals can cause premature blunting cutters. • Its open grain structure readily accepts preservative treatment, which can provide protection to the highest level. Uses: • Suitable for furniture and cabinets, joinery, paneling, construction mouldings and decking. • When used outside tanalised timber should be used. • Selected logs are sliced for attractive decorative veneers for paneling. Product Attributes: • Veneers available. Product Limitations: -
RIMU – New Zealand Rimu NZ
Durability: Moderately Durable
Colour: Medium
Sizes available: 25, 50 mmTrade Name: Rimu Botanical Species: Dacrydium cupressinum Other Names: Red Pine Country of Origin: New Zealand Air Dry Density: 560kgs/m³ Durability: Moderately Durable Strength: SD7 Seasoning: • Medium Characteristics: • Rimu is a medium density softwood with a fine textured grain, the heart wood is reddish brown. • The middle zone known as coloured Rimu has a light brown colour and the sap wood a Pale lighter brown tone. Working Qualities: • The timber works easily and well with both hand and machine tools. it glues and finishes smoothly to a surface ideal for painting, varnishing or polishing. Uses: • T & Gflooring, joinery, kitchens, furniture, mouldings, cabinetmaking Product Attributes: • The Heartwood has a beautiful lustre when oiled. • Veneers available. Product Limitations: • Tendency to be brittle with age. -
Western Hemlock
Durability: Non durable
Colour: Medium Brown
Sizes available: 100x50, 200x50Trade Name: Western Hemlock Botanical Species: tsuga heterophylla Other Names: Alaskan Pine Country of Origin: Canada – North America Air Dry Density: 495kg/m3 Durability: Non Durable Strength: SD6 Seasoning:
Dries fairly easily , Stable in service when vertical grain.Characteristics:
Heart wood is straw colour to medium brownWorking Qualities:
The timber is easily worked with both machine and hand tools & finishes excellently.
It can be glued, stained, polished and varnishes well.Uses:
High class interior joinery, boat building, T&G Paneling, Blinds & louvers, Display screens, Mouldings, cabinet work.Product Attributes:
Pale colour.
Straight grain.
Machines well.
Fixed widths AvailableProduct Limitations:
Available in 50mm thickness only.
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Western Red Cedar
Durability: Durable
Colour: Medium
Sizes available: 25, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100, 150 mmTrade Name: Western Red Cedar Botanical Species: Thuja plicata Other Names: Giant Arbor Vitea, Red Cedar Country of Origin: U.S.A, Canada Air Dry Density: 390kgs/m³ Durability: Durable Strength: 4 (on a scale of 1 – 10) Seasoning: • Smaller sizes dry easily, larger boards need extra care to prevent Internal checking and collapse. • Almost no tendencies to warp and check once dry with little swelling or shrinking movement. Characteristics: • A light timber with a distinctive odour, it is non-resinous and straight grained, with obvious growth rings. • Assumes a uniform reddish-brown colour once dried. • After long exposure wood becomes silver grey, this weathered look is often sought after. Working Qualities: • The timber is easily worked, but its brittle nature can cause splintering and its soft character can lead to chip-bruising. • Care should be taken when planning and moulding. • Sharp cutters will also help create a nice finish. • Stains and paints well. Uses: • Interior panelling, fine furniture, interior and exterior joinery, weatherboards and cladding. Product Attributes: • Available in fixed widths. • Veneers available. • Stains and paints well. • Long lengths available.
