Thread: Help identifying timber - and how to finish it

Looks like some very nice Blackwood to me.

Might sound strange, what does it smell like? Blackwood has a distinctive and lovely smell - vanilla/tea/tannin all rolled together - I love it!

If you haven't used it before - long grain works beautifully, endgrain can be a pain to pare down without ultra sharp chistles - tends to collapse and tear easily. Perhaps steer clear of hand cut dovetails..............

Depending on the finish you want (shinyness) blackwood can often need a pore filling session to fill the fine pores to allow a fully smooth and shiny surface - mainly a problem under varnish than oil.... depends on the look you want. Again, sounds strange - but try egg whites! much more healthy than epoxy, plenty of info on google to walk you through the process. try 'egg white pore filling'

Steve

The other option for grain filling depending on what finish is chosen is feastwatson proof seal. I use it under standard lacquer and oil varnish. it does a good job at pre sealing the timber to allow an even coat to be applied to the timber

Originally Posted by Wood Collector

The other option for grain filling depending on what finish is chosen is feastwatson proof seal. I use it under standard lacquer and oil varnish. it does a good job at pre sealing the timber to allow an even coat to be applied to the timber

Proofseal is not a grain filler. Sanding Sealer is the grain filling sealer in the Feast Watson range. The other option would be Timbermate, a terrific Australian made filler that can also be diluted with water for grain filling.
Very nice bit of timber by the way.

Thanks very much for the replies. I've had this wood for many years and it's good to finally be using it. My dad mentioned some time ago that he thought it might be blackwood. It does smell a bit like tea so i reckon the mystery might be solved.

I really appreciate the help.