Spotting a smart opportunity
The old workhorse of the Queensland timber industry, the robust spotted gum, has been given a sleek makeover, turning it into a potential export earner for the Smart State.
The timber, traditionally used for power poles, railway sleepers and girders, has now emerged in an elegant line of indoor furniture designed for the international market.
The new direction for the reliable hardwood is the result of research by a team from the Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (DPI&F) and industrial designer Lucy Allnutt, from the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Wood Innovations at the University of Melbourne.
Previous attempts at using spotted gum to manufacture furniture for export used traditional joinery methods which were unsuccessful. Problems included opening joints and jammed drawers and doors, resulting from temperature and humidity changes during transportation.
“Spotted gum is a higher movement timber which tends to shrink or swell as it is affected by those changes,” says DPI&F Forest Products Technician, Gary Hopewell.
After studying temperature and humidity changes that occur between Australia and overseas destinations, including the effects of air-conditioning and heating, the team came up with strategies to counter such obstacles.
Going against the grain, they recommended using flexible metal fasteners to join parts, in place of traditional joinery methods, and flat-packing the furniture for travel. Flat-packing is cheaper, an added advantage to exporters.
The furniture, a range of chairs, was exhibited at the Furniture Fair Tokyo in November 2004 and at the Milan Furniture Fair in April this year.
Science Leader for DPI&F’s Innovative Forest Product Group, Michael Kennedy, sees an exciting future for Queensland spotted gum, the eucalypt which accounts for more than half of Queensland’s hardwood forest harvest.
“The technical problems have been solved. It is now
up to manufacturers, exporters and distributors.”
The furniture will be on display later this year when world forestry experts converge on Brisbane for the 2005 International Union of Forest Research Organizations World Congress. It will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 8-13 August.
Find the Congress website at www.iufro2005.com
Last reviewed 19 January 2006