Karri

Eucalyptus diversicolor

Appearance

Karri heartwood ranges from reddish-brown through to pale pink over a creamy white sapwood. The grain is slightly interlocked to straight, with a somewhat coarse but even texture and a natural lustre. One of the tallest hardwoods in the world, Karri yields long, clean, straight lengths.

Workability

Karri is dense, hard and strong, so sharp tooling helps and pre-drilling is recommended for nailing and screwing. It dresses to a smooth finish and takes paint, stain and clear coats well, which suits it to flooring, joinery and furniture work.

Common Uses

Availability

Commercial logging of Western Australia's native forests ended on 1 January 2024, so karri is no longer routinely logged. Like jarrah it grows only in the south-west of WA and isn't grown in commercial plantations, so little new karri is entering the market. What is available now comes mainly from forest-management salvage, recycled timber, and stock already in the chain.