Cooba is common through most of inland Australia around watercourses and
a few can be found on the Comet River on the Central Highlands. They can
grow to 18 or 20 metres high with trunks to 500mm diameter or more.
Similar in habit and turning properties to a.salicina but usually has a much
straighter trunk and smells much better to work. The timber is quite stable
while air-drying so even logs in the round show little evidence of checking.
At around 900kg/m³, it is a strong timber
while still easy to work. It turns very nicely green or dry and sands well
too. Finishing with oil is futile as it just seems to absorb it
indefinitely however a wax or synthetic finish comes up fine. The bowl
pictured below had about 12 coats of Danish oil before I gave up and went
for a wipe-on poly finish.
