Thread: Is this Kauri ?

Hi all. My mate gave a load of rough sawn timber, he said it was from a Kauri tree his father had milled years ago. It felt quite light so I pushed some through the thicknesser, I haven't used it before but it looks more like Pine/Mac to me.


Also if you know what it is, would it be suitable for a chopping board, side or end grain.

grain looks like kauri to me........ kauri is just a native pine tree just like rimu.
I have kauri chopping boards been using them for over 15 years keep them oiled up and they are fine

Looks pretty much like Kauri for sure, if it was Mac (it isn't) it would still smell, the Kauri won't or barely will, which is why it was used for butter boxes etc

The right hand bit in the btm pic with the heart & holes in it could be white pine, Kahikatea, hard to tell from the pic, the heart gives it that look

the dark heart timder looks like tawa/ nz oak / no heart in kahikatea its also quite stringy borer love it and it was used for butter boxs and later scaffold planks up to the eighties . If kauri it will make a distinct klunk if banging two bits together compared to even heart rimu I did my slave trade in nz native timbers before mdf shit board etc .

Just for clarification the timber in both photos are from the same board, I just took them in different light while I was working outside. The second photo is probably the most true colour.

Thank you all for the input.

Originally Posted by m101a1

no heart in kahikatea

I'll take some pics for you some time, 40+ years of timber joinery

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

I'll take some pics for you some time, 40+ years of timber joinery

beat ya by 10 yrs but be keen to see , nether saw any distinct heart but that was mainly 40 yrs ago for kak and then only planks or tanilised tg+v for doors and truck decks used heaps of tawa in shopfitting jobs , hard to get straight lengths more than 2mts long .

I'd use that as a chopping board. Beats the crap outta Kmart or the Warehouse hands down.

Doesn't look like Kauri to me. Kauri normally is a Browny yellowish colour. That looks very blond. Also not Totara. Possibly Kaihikatea.

I thought kahikatea soon as I saw it but the darker grain on the right hand side of the left bit has the fleck of kauri.

Absolutly it's kauri. I have quite a stash here including a bit of swamp kauri that I'm yet to decide on what to make with it. It's a soft timber that dents easy

I would say kauri - as it is maybe not for chopping boards - it is soft - but give it a try - Grandad had a kauri chopping block in his butcher shop but that was laminated with bolts holding it together - if you go down the chopping board route suggest oiling with olive oil and do it regularly- some one on here said kauri used for butter boxes - believe no that was kaihikatea -

Some of those cheap shop chopping boards are absolute garbage - the wood splits and shrinks as it dries out and they are by far too soft. Only good for 6 to 12 months and they are stuffed... I think that one if oiled regularly and cared for (not used with a cleaver) it would be a much better option. A piece of untreated pine shelf board is better than the Warehouse and Kmart cheapies.

I'm making a breadboard style one from the Kauri for my mate as the timber is from his farther and has sentimental value. I will make a rimu one for him as well as mine has lasted through years of abuse and it's nicer looking too.