In America, the only time we ever say "Timber" is when the tree we are chopping down starts to fall over. "TIMBER!!" we then yell.

As for the radios, we always said "wooden".

We generally use the word timber when you Americans would say "lumber". Never heard of a lumber radio, though a weird little valve portable sold on ebay here yesterday ($20, only one bidder) looked like the cabinet was made from an apple crate covered in genuine crocodile skin. Brand was "Windsor", first time I've seen that brand.

Timber to us is wood used for construction, or sometimes a stand of trees fit for logging.

Maven

Maven.

The AORSM volume 14 for 1955 radios shows various Windsor models including: P49, P59, R50/51, R54, R84 & a record-player. The models starting with "P" are battery portables - one of which is probably the one you saw on Ebay. Windsor radios were made by Albert Wright of Sydney.

Cheers.

I think North American lumberjacks learned that cry of "TIMBER" from their French-speaking confreres, shouting "TOMBEE" (fallen).

Maven

Both timber and wooden are common expressions here for such radios. I tend to use both on this site so keyword searches for both terms lead people to this site. It is a white-hat SEO trick.

Timber is probably more common amongst those with ties to the building industry though as most Australian carpenters refer to wood as timber.

Thought you all might like to see some aussie timber gems.

Many timeless classics amongst the photos above. Nothing beats a well-restored timber radio for that classic old-time look.

Currently working, off and on, on the similar but horizontal triple-wave version of the STC. Unfortunately mine doesn't have the black mouldings or the claw feet.

The close fit of the chassis in the radio shown here explains the small width of the chassis in my radio (model 632). In 6 valve triple wave form as mine is, it is very congested underneath.

Also, the circuit, which had every appearance of being in original condition when I got it, is different in some respects to the AORSM circuit, particularly around the grid bias arrangement.