White Cypress Pine for Decorative & Structural Applications
 White Cypress Pine is known in the industry as just Cypress, which is closer in characteristics to a hardwood than a conifer. Forest with large concentration of Cypress can be found throughout western New South Wales as well as in southern Queensland. It is a hardy tree, able to survive poor soil conditions and low rainfall, which is why it can only grow to medium size of about 18 meters tall with occasional growth spurts of about 30 meters.
Cypress or Callitris glaucophylla is a softwood with a heartwood that ranges in color from pale yellow like forest fawns to dark chocolate. The tree is easily distinguished by its black or dark brown knot holes making a good contrast with its heartwood and sapwood. Its sapwood is a pale and wide yellow. The texture is very fine with even and straight grains. The wood also exudes a resinous scent, which is very evident especially when the timber is newly installed or sanded. When the wood is being sanded, the dust it makes may be an irritant to some people. The wood also has a minimal greasy feel.
The heartwood is durable and able to excellently resist termite infestation, making it very versatile and extensively used. Typical of all softwoods, the White Cypress Pine is immune to lyctid borer attacks. It is usually used for a wide range of applications for both aesthetic and structural purposes. It is mostly utilised for furniture-making, general framing, panelling, joinery, and flooring.
The timber of Cypress is brittle, which is why you need to exercise care in managing the wood. The presence of the knots and resin also have an effect and due to its brittleness, it is not recommended to ‘dress timber’ at low moisture contents because it is prone to splitting when nailing so pre-drilling is highly advisable. It is also very susceptible to fine surface checking since the White Cypress Pine is a singular timber that produces a great painting performance particularly when done in its unseasoned state. Furthermore, by slowing down the first drying stage, the formation of checks when coating can be prevented. The timber is considered quite unusual since both its sapwood and heartwood shows strong resistance to preservative impregnation even during the application of high pressures.
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