Shopsmith Forums

Hi Dwight,

If you try this again, maybe a tounge-in-groove joint will improve the glue's holding ability, or use a glue joint router bit on the edge, to improve the hold. For both of these applications, you will have to add a little more material to your project.

I was in the middle of posting when I decided to look up gluing to lyptus. I then found Troy had posted exactly the same things I wanted to say. So I'll just add these two links you can use for reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyptus

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgt ... gtr113.htm
Chapter 9 of this Forest Products Lab's manual deals with gluing, but I didn't find a reference to gluing eucalyptus or lyptus.

The manual, however is a very good reference for most all things dealing with wood.

charlese wrote:I was in the middle of posting when I decided to look up gluing to lyptus. I then found Troy had posted exactly the same things I wanted to say. So I'll just add these two links you can use for reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyptus

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm
Chapter 9 of this Forest Products Lab's manual deals with gluing, but I didn't find a reference to gluing eucalyptus or lyptus.

The manual, however is a very good reference for most all things dealing with wood.

Hi Chuck,
Is there something about Lyptus that concerns you about glueing it? The first link that you give shows it glued in strips to maple and purple heart. As no mention is made there about glueing difficulties, I wonder if there really are any?

Is there a problem ? I really don't know! Lyptus is a hybrid of two Eucalyptus species, according to Wickipedia. Being non-familiar with eucalyptus (but I thought it was oily) I was wondering. That's why I gave links to these sites. As we can see, there some builders that really love lyptus. It works good, is heavy, is hard, but no one says how it glues.

I was pretty sure the Forest Products Laboratory would have something on eucalyptus, but it evidently has not been used as a popular wood long enough for them to evaluate.

I have noted that wood turners are the first to experiment with exotic woods. They find out about the characteristics of these woods before anyone, but it is hard to find any documentation. It is usually limited to turning publications.

This is a quote from Wickipedia - subject eucalyptus: "...Outside of their natural ranges eucalypts are both lauded for its beneficial economic impact on poor populations[1][2]:22 and derided for being an invasive water-sucker,[3] leading to controversy over its total impact and future.[4] It is a fast-growing source of wood, its oil can be used for cleaning and functions as a natural insecticide, and it is sometimes used to drain swamps and thereby reduce malaria risk.

charlese wrote:Is there a problem ? I really don't know! Lyptus is a hybrid of two Eucalyptus species, according to Wickipedia. Being non-familiar with eucalyptus (but I thought it was oily) I was wondering. That's why I gave links to these sites. As we can see, there some builders that really love lyptus. It works good, is heavy, is hard, but no one says how it glues.

I was pretty sure the Forest Products Laboratory would have something on eucalyptus, but it evidently has not been used as a popular wood long enough for them to evaluate.

I have noted that wood turners are the first to experiment with exotic woods. They find out about the characteristics of these woods before anyone, but it is hard to find any documentation. It is usually limited to turning publications.

I understand your concern. It does look like the hybrid is being produced by Weyerhaeuser and is a recommended (environmentally) replacement for oak, cherry and mahogany. I wood guess then, that it wood knot be hard to work with. If Weyerhaeuser wants to sell it, they wood knot want it to be hard to work with. Just a thought.

I've turned four "ring" bowls out of lyptus, using TiteBond III to glue the rings together. That was close to two years ago, and no glue joint failure yet, even while bouncing a couple of the bowls off the floor a few times. (Yes, I freely admit that I'm clumsy!)

Lyptus is very hard- sharpen the lathe chisels frequently. If you attach it to a faceplate, I'd predrill the holes for the screws also.

Rockler carries lyptus in several different thicknesses. I used 1-1/4 inch stock for the bowls.

Gary

If you ever wonder about gluing different substances together, this site may help...

http://www.thistothat.com/index.shtml