Is Matai a hard or soft wood?
Heart Matai This is quite a dense, hard timber that takes an oiled finished very well. It is reddish brown in colour and is a lot less streaky apprearance than Rimu, has a lovely warmth to it and makes a nice piece of furniture.
Is Rimu a hardwood or softwood?
softwood
Rimu is a fine, even-textured, medium-density softwood. The seasoned heartwood is reddish-brown, sometimes yellowish-brown and has pigmented figure which fades on exposure to light. The intermediate zone has an even, light-brown colour and sapwood a lighter brown tone. It is straight grained.
What kind of wood is RIMU?
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….Rimu NZ.
| Durability: | Moderately Durable |
| Strength: | SD7 |
How do you identify NZ native timbers?
Characteristics:
- The sapwood is approximately 2 inches wide, a pale brown colour with an orange tinge.
- The heartwood is moderately hard and heavy, usually pinkish in colour, occasionally red and streaky, but turning brown with age.
- It is lustrous but lacks a distinct figure and the texture is intermediate and uneven.
What is matai timber used for?
It is very durable except when in the ground and is a choice timber for flooring and weatherboards. The amount cut falls a long way behind rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) which is the most important native timber; nevertheless, it is second in quantity. Matai occurs throughout the country in lowland forest.
What type of wood is Matai?
NZ Matai
| Botanical Species: | Podocarpus spicatus |
| Other Names: | Black Pine |
| Country of Origin: | New Zealand |
| Air Dry Density: | 600kgs/m³ |
| Durability: | Durable |
What is rimu wood good for?
Rimu is a superior building wood, and was commonly used by early colonists in constructing houses, cabinets and furniture. Māori found a variety of uses for the wood aswell; as spears, canoes, torches and a host of other tools and implements. The gum is bitter but edible and was applied to wounds to stop bleeding.
Is rimu a pine?
The European name for rimu, especially in the South Island, is red pine.
What is the hardest wood in New Zealand?
Black maire is hard (probably New Zealand’s hardest wood) heavy and strong, and mature black maire is extremely durable. As a result it was used by early European settlers as a substitute for lignum vitae for bearings and pulley blocks.
Is NZ kauri a hardwood?
New Zealand kauri | The Wood Database – Lumber Identification (Softwood)
How long does a matai take to grow?
Mataī begins life as a divaricating shrub – a tangle of interlaced branches with tiny brown leaves. Growing slowly in shaded forest, it may take 50 years to reach 2 metres, and eventually reaches 3–5 metres in height.
What is matai timber?
Normally straight grained, a few knots, hard wearing. New Zealand’s premier timber floor, rich in colour, and a highly desired timber used throughout the 20th century. Although not as plentiful as Rimu, we generally have good stocks of Matai timber to make most sizes of floorboards.
What does matai wood smell like?
The sapwood is white. It is a straight-grained timber with a fine, even texture. Tips: When freshly sawn, Matai gives off a smell “somewhat like fresh stable manure”. Heartwood is harder than Kauri and more dimensionally stable than any of other native softwoods.
What is the density of matai wood?
Density: Approx 700kg/m3 (at approx12% MC) Dimensions: Because of its dotted existence, it is cut mostly on portable mills as they come across it and their size capacity is 200×50. Appearance: The dry heartwood of Matai is straw yellow to chestnut yellow, with an occasional reddish tinge.
What is colour matai?
Colour matai – is a combination of the two. Often a dramatic colourisation will occur in the same plank of wood. Very striking in small quantities.