Tallowwood timber is an incredibly resilient, hard and multipurpose, Australian native hardwood species and it's wood properties are suited for a large range of building and home improvement applications from flooring and decking to building and structure framing as well as using it in your landscaping projects.
The colour of this wood type, varies from pale to dark yellow-brown and is opposite from the normal white sapwood colour. Tallowwood wood texture is reasonably coarse, generally coming with an interlocked grain and primarily free from gum veins. This hardwood has the tendency to possess a distinct luster and oily look about it.
In the past, this hardwood has been used in structural bearings, mallet heads, wheel spokes, and tool handles. Now this wood is utilized in many engineering projects including, wharf, dock and jetty use, bridge building, (sawn and round post), sleepers, cross-arms supports, poles, and use in mining.
In the building and construction industry Tallowwood hardwood is used in many different ways. This lumber is commonly used in structural framework and dressed wood for, cladding, internal and external flooring, lining walls and ceilings, as well as in joinery. The hardwood is also used extensively in fencing and landscaping (garden retaining walls). Creative and decorative uses include outdoor furniture, turnery and joinery. Boat building is also another application that this multipurpose wood has, along with, the building of old style coaches and carriages and use in making structural plywood.
Tallowwood is a very hard wood. It has a ranked of 1 on a 6-class scale (1 being hardest – 6 the softest), yet is fairly easy to work with, due to the hardwood's natural greasiness. It machines and turns very well and easily accepts paints, stains and polish. Pre-drilling is advised before nailing or screwing to prevent the wood spiting.