Beefwood is a medium-sized tree to 14 m, usually with a single trunk and diameter up to 600 mm. Bark is deeply fissured, rough dark grey to the branches, while new bark is rufous red. It grows in the northern Goldfields, Murchison, eastern Gascoyne, southern Pilbara and the Kimberley.
Heartwood is a rich red colour, and straight-grained, with distinctive rays on quartersawn timber. Sapwood is a pale yellow.
Green density is the density of wood in the living tree, defined as green mass divided by green volume, and useful for estimating transport costs. It varies with season and growing conditions.
Air-dry density is the average mass divided by volume at 12 per cent moisture content (this is the average environmental condition in the coastal capital cities around Australia).
Basic density is oven-dry mass divided by green volume. This measure has the advantage that moisture content variations in the tree during the year are avoided.
:Green density is about 1230 kg/m3, air-dry density about 965 kg/m3, and basic density about 820 kg/m3.
Tangential and radial shrinkage are about 3.3 and 2.0 per cent respectively.
Goldfields craftsmen rate beefwood as very poor for sanding, average for boring, screwholding, stability and finishing, good for machinability and gluing, and excellent for turning.
Minimum values (MPa) for strength groups for green and seasoned timber come from Australian Standard AS2878-1986 'Timber - Classification of strength groups'. In grading structural timber, each species is allocated a ranking for green timber of S1 (strongest) to S7, and for seasoned timber SD1 (strongest) to SD8.
MOR is modulus of rupture or bending strength, MOE is modulus of elasticity or 'stiffness', and MCS is maximum crushing strength or compression strength. Hardness refers to the Janka hardness test and is a measure of resistance to indentation.
Minimum values (Mpa) for green timber
Strength Property | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MOR | 103 | 86 | 73 | 62 | 52 | 43 | 36 |
MOE | 16300 | 14200 | 12400 | 10700 | 9100 | 7900 | 6900 |
MCS | 52 | 43 | 36 | 31 | 26 | 22 | 18 |
Minimum values (Mpa) for green timber
Strength Property | SD1 | SD2 | SD3 | SD4 | SD5 | SD6 | SD7 | SD8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MOR | 150 | 130 | 110 | 94 | 78 | 65 | 55 | 45 |
MOE | 21500 | 18500 | 16000 | 14000 | 12500 | 10500 | 9100 | 7900 |
MCS | 80 | 70 | 61 | 54 | 47 | 41 | 36 | 30 |
Where test data were available, they are shown in bold print. Most values are from Bootle (1983), Wood in Australia. Types, properties and uses. (McGraw-Hill), or Julius (1906), 'Western Australian timber tests 1906: The physical characteristics of the woods of Western Australia'.
Where no strength data were available, air-dry density was used in accordance with the Australian Standard AS2878-1986 Timber - Classification of strength groups to predict the strength group. Consequently, the strength values quoted are from the above two tables.
:AS2879 rates beefwood as (S3) and (SD4), which was confirmed by the above air-dry density. The more important strength properties based on strength groups are given in the table below.
Property | Units | Green | Dry |
---|---|---|---|
Modulus of Rupture | MPa | 73 | 94 |
Modulus of Elasticity | MPa | 12400 | 14000 |
Max Crushing Strength | MPa | 36 | 54 |
Hardness | KN | - | - |
Limited availability because of the scattered nature of the resource.
Aborigines used the dark hard resin as an adhesive in tool manufacture. The timber has considerable potential for craftwork, particularly as inlays in marquetry.