Turpentine bush

Turpentine bush is a bright green shrub that grows up to 3 m tall, with very rough, scaly grey-black bark. It grows in the Goldfields, Murchison, Gascoyne and Pilbara.

Wood description [more info]
Heartwood is a golden-orange colour with a distinct dark brown grain. Freshly cut timber may be oily. Sapwood is a contrasting whitish-cream.

Wood density [more info]
Green density is about 955 kg/m3, air-dry density about 850 kg/m3, and basic density about 715 kg/m3.

Shrinkage [more info]
Tangential and radial shrinkage are about 2.9 and 2.5 per cent respectively.

Workability [more info]
Goldfields craftsmen rank turpentine bush as poor for machinability, sanding and gluing, average for boring, screwholding and stability, good for finishing, and excellent for turning.

Durability [more info]
-

Strength group and properties [more info]
Green and dry strength groups are (S4) and (SD4). The brackets indicate conservative provisional ratings based on the air-dry density. The more important strength properties based on the strength groups are given in the table below.

Uses [more info]
The timber has considerable potential for woodturning.

Availability [more info]
Limited availability because of the scattered nature of the resource.