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Kauri Timber
Discover kauri timber, one of the world’s greatest timbers, at The Kauri Museum in Matakohe, Northland. Many years ago, long wide planks of faultless, superb timber were cut from the mighty kauri tree trunks. The timber was used for many purposes: ship building (including masts and spars of sailing ships), houses, furniture, bridges, fences, dams, patterns (used for metal casting), vats and tanks, barrels, large rollers (in the textile industry), railway sleepers, mine-props, carving, wood turning and many other uses.
Swamp kauri refers to kauri timber which has been recovered from under the ground. This kauri comes from forests which were buried by natural cataclysmic events long ago. Carbon dating has indicated that logs were buried up to 50,000 years ago. Leaves and cones are often preserved with the logs but these quickly deteriorate when exposed to the air.
Natural stains have produced rich dark brown and greenish hues which emphasise the beautiful figure in the grain.
Older kauri is on display in the museum. In fact, The Kauri Museum features a 30 million year old Australian kauri from the Yallourn coalfield in Victoria. It is fantastic that this kauri has resisted the forces of change over such a long time and still exists as solid wood.
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