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All,

My friend from New Zealand wants to build a sauna and needs a recommendation as to which lumber to use for paneling in the sauna.

For those unfamiliar with a Sauna, it is a Finnish steam bath where you heat a small room up to about 200 degrees F or 95 degrees C and throw water on the rocks that are placed on top of the heater to create steam.

This fellow is looking for a species of lumber that will not weep sap and is relatively easy to work with (ie not one of the super hard, super heavy species). Bonus for a species that smells nice and is rot resistant.
 
Not an kiwi or an aussie. But I know my fare share about sauna's. Rot inside is an non issue if you use in ones in a while. (Micro)organisms don't appreciate 100 degree C.
But human skin also. You need very light types of wood everywhere you can touch. An nice looking oak or other hardwood bench will burn your buttocks. It's not relaxing when you need to be in fear of touching anything other then your towel.
Softwood, no splinters, no resin, no cracking under changing moisturelevels and temperatures.
 
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