Machinability Study of Australia’s Dominate Plantation Timber Resources

Abstract

This study tested the machinability of three major timber species grown in Tasmania, Australia, under different resource management schemes: plantation fiber-managed hardwood (Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Eucalyptus nitens Maiden) and plantation sawlog-managed softwood (Pinus radiata D. Don). P. radiata was used as a control to identify significant differences in machining fibre-managed plantation timber against sawlog-managed plantation timber with numerically controlled computer technology and manually fed timber production techniques. The potential to fabricate architectural interior products such as moldings with plantation fiber-managed hardwood timber that is high in natural features was the focus of this study. Correlations between wood species, variation in moisture content, and density of individual machinability characteristics were analyzed to determine factors impacting the overall quality of plantation wood machinability. Correlations between species and within species groups from the resulting machinability tests are highlighted and discussed. The results indicate that the machinability of sawlog-managed softwood P. radiata is superior in some circumstances to fiber-managed hardwood E. globulus and E. nitens specimens, according to the American Society for Testing and Materials D1666-11.