Buloke

    (Allocasuarina luehmannii)

Also known as: Bull-Oak

Buloke grows in small groves or scattered amongst Black-oaks on sandy or poor ground. It doesn't get to huge proportions around here, usually to about 10 metres high with a 300mm diameter trunk at best.

Buloke can be hard to distinguish from River-oak and Belah from a distance but the cones are a distinctive way to identify them. Bulokes cones are about 15 to 20mm across and are pumpkin shaped.

The timber is hard! - it is currently (2015) rated as the hardest timber on the planet (that has been Janka tested) though I am not convinced - there are a lot that still haven't been Janka tested! Buloke also splits easily while drying - very easily! It is difficult to dry in large pieces without serious checking, but if it is cut into boards 25mm thick or less, it can be reasonably stable.

Turning Buloke green avoids some of the splitting but you have to allow for a lot of movement during the process. The medullary rays are very obvious, sometimes blatantly, giving it a striking appearance. 

Bull-oak machines OK though the rays can be brittle so a little care needs to be taken. It sands well and polishes to a beautiful finish with waxes but I haven't had any luck using oil on it.

The pictured lidded box was finished with Wipe-On poly after giving up on getting a good oil finish. The finial is turned from immature Australian Ebony so there are faint streaks of pale timber through it that let the viewer know it isn't plastic.

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