Black wattle?

[bigbob]

This is two pieces of what i think are black wattle, retrieved from a large tree a mate cut down. Unfortunately I only took the two sections about 18'' long by about 12'' dia. If its not black wattle it is some type of Acacia anyway. It is very heavy and dense, but after leaving it to dry out for over 6 months, I split it along a check and cut a couple of pieces on the bandsaw. Unfortunatly it is developing more checks or cracks at the end grain. Reckon it would make great riser material. Any opinions?

[Stickbow Hunter]

That doesn't look like Black Wattle to me mate as it is not dark browns etc. It seems as though it isn't dry and that is probably because it was so thick.

Jeff

[greybeard]

Bob,

The black wattle I harvest in my region has a distinct early/late growth appearance. Unfortunately it is plagued by grub infestation.

I like it as a riser material and the lower limbs of larger trees can yield excellent limb laminations.

01 Black Wattle Stump.jpg (153.24 KiB) Viewed 2138 times

04 Black Wattle 002.jpg (20.97 KiB) Viewed 2138 times

Daryl.

[bigbob]

The bark on your log look a little different to mine, same colour but mine is more segmented. The timber colours are quite different too, as mine has a large outer section of lighter wood, and only a small centre which would approximate 1/3 of its volume.It is very heavy for its size, albiet it still has a fair moisture percentage. i neglected to weight the newly cut logs at the time. These pieces are approx 6 months old and as Jeff said are a little 'wet' iipost a photo of the remaining 'log' tomorrow.Thanks for your collective imput.

[greybeard]

Bob,

A bit of information regarding the experiences I encountered trying to dry timber at a controlled rate.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9273


Daryl.

[bigbob]

Thanks Daryl there were a lot of interesting posts.Judicious use of clingwrap may be of some use.Going downstairs now to take those photos of the remaining 'log'

[bigbob]

Took a couple more shots, one of the bark, and the one of the flitch has been wet to show grain.Look nice grain to me, just hoping that I can salvage some for a riser.

[muntries]

The grain features in the top two photos look very much like Southern Sassafras, where was the tree harvested?

[bigbob]

G'day muntries. Thanks for your response, it is appreciated. A mate and I cut the tree down in his yard here on the Sunshine Coast in Qld. If it is Sassafras how does it measure up?
Just did some research and obviously not Southern Sassafra due to location and not Northern due to different timber colour and grain, also mass weight is too low for this timber. i really have no idea.

[bigbob]

Any suggestions? About the timber that is, smart alec!

[muntries]

if you had some leaves, flowers of seed I might be able to better ID it. The bark looks superficially like some of the mountain blackwoods you sometimes see growing in the Otways and Strzlecki Ranges in Vic. That occurs up into QLD so a possibility... but Blackwood tends to be a much darker timber but it does have the black heart patterns you see in the top photos (which actually occurs because of a fungus).

[bigbob]

Thanks again muntries. At the time I took notice of the leaf dimensions, colour etc, and made a mental note to file them away for future reference. Unfortunately, as is the norm these days I dont have the password into that area of my brain [ I clean forgot] but I will be speaking with the mate soon that owned the tree we cut out, so if he has any info I will post it up.Thanks for your input.

[greybeard]

Hi Bob,

Does this look like the log you had?

Wilga.jpg (119.2 KiB) Viewed 2214 times

Daryl.

[bigbob]

Does look very similar, perhaps the 'creases' in the bark are not as pronounced but that is not an accurate assessment. What tree is i, and do you know what colour flower it has, and if it is deciduous?

[Keith Lee]

The tree in greybeards pic looks like Red ash or Soupwood or White Myrtle all the same tree Bob.

[bigbob]

Thanks Keith, did you mean soapwood? I am still at a loss because the curve ball is that the tree was deciduous. Havent cut any out of the log i've got recently, as I dont own a chainsaw these days and its too wide for my table saw.Might just use wedges and split it .

[greybeard]

Keith,

The tree trunk in the photo is Wilga.

Daryl.