Ran into a tree service guy that I know, today. He knew we were building a mill. He asked how it was doing. I told him about the Aus Pine. He

. He said "you can't saw that stuff". You can hardly chainsaw it. I asked about the embedded sand theory. He said in the bark, maybe. Doubtful in the wood. The bark is very well attached.
He also said that when he bids a job, he checks first to see if it was ever cut back, before he bids. If it was, he adds 25% more to the job. Has to replace all chains and some of the bars, after cutting "regrown" Aus Pine. Why??, It's too da** hard!!!!!!!!!!