Black wattle

[oakchip]

Had to remove a good size black wattle, (Acacia decurrens or Acacia mearnsii ), from my block yesterday and was hoping to salvage some blanks for turning.
After having a close look at the end grain it seems very open, with bad tearout from the chainsaw. I think it would be a pain to finish.

Thought I would just check to see if anyone has had any experience with this wood before I chuck it on the woodheap.

Any advice/experience much appreciated

Cheers
Oakchip.

[Farnk]

Hi Oakchip!

I love this stuff. I removed one from our place when I was just starting out turning.
I kept a few logs, but wish that I kept the whole tree!

The colour transition from light, straw coloured outer wood to the darker reddish/chocolate inner wood lends itself to some really interesting forms.

My one was an older tree that was full of lycid borers (sp?) which had left lots of interesting holes and pathways through the timber. These gave some real interest to things like bud vases and small bowls.

I was still coming across these borers happily munching away 3-4 years after the logs had been stacked away to dry!

It did split pretty readily tho, so seal the ends well.

[rsser]

Yeah, my experience too. Borers seem to breed fast in the stuff. I fed a tree's worth into the fireplace.

[brendan stemp]

It makes very good firewood and that's all I would use it for!

[oakchip]

Thanks for the replies.

Brendon, is that because of the grain structure or that it has a tendancy to split very easily.
I have just pulled out a cootamundra wattle and the timber seems much harder, or is this a bit dicey too.

Cheers
Oakchip.

[woodwork wally]

I have turned both and the coota is a lot easier to work but they both split easily when drying I have done budvases and pens from them and the black wattle has beautifull colors through it As for borer holes superglue and sand to fill them happy turning and cheers Wally

[oakchip]

Thanks Wally,

I have saved some of the better pieces from both trees and sealed the ends and branches with paint. Will give them some time and then have a try. If all else fails, the woodheap is always there.:wink:

Cheers
Oakchip.

[issatree]

Hi All,
I'm with Brendan, but one difference is you don't have to use an axe to split it, it just splits of its own accord.
Turned a Bowl many moons ago, left it in the Lathe during Lunch, came back to finish it, but it had about an 1 1/2 in. split in it, Yeah & you all know where that went .
Regards,
issatree.
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[Rum Pig]

We use a Black wattle up here but I'm pretty sure it is a different tree to your BW. The one we get is great to turn a bit hard if left to fully dry but you get some nice colour and patterns from it. I keep as much as I can get:2tsup:

[Little Festo]

Black wattle is definatly worth a try. Just got some large logs the other day - before the grubs could get a look in ( I've just fumigated my main wood storage area, an old 20,000 gallon concrete water tank that fits neatly on the end of my shed).

When I was in Darwin there were only a few types of wood we could get regularly, Gmelina, African Mahogany and Darwin Black Wattle.

It tends to be quite hard, picks up the silicon in the soil, BUT finishes up beautifully.

A few piccies of my earlier stuff in Black Wattle. Only mad people carve it - so the fluted piece gives it away:youcrazy:.

Peter

[rsser]

Mad maybe Peter but the carved piece is fabulous.

[Little Festo]

Mad maybe Peter but the carved piece is fabulous.


Hello Ern,

Hope all is well. I think madness helps when carving pieces like this. The return for effort is not too good but it is nice when you finish them. I have become a bit smarter in choosing the wood though, softer timbers definetly speeds things up but then again I have just made my first fluted burl.

I dislike sanding, with almost a passion, but seem to be drawn to doing work where there is lots of sanding. The sanding is so important and cannot be "shortcut out". I have a few power tools that help a lot but don't eliminate hand sanding.

Must get a forum get together in the future, becoming a bit of a hermit here. I've been getting stuck into quite a lot of turning, been really enjoying it though.

Peter

[oakchip]

Great looking bowls Peter:2tsup:

Definately going to have a go with it now. Can you turn it green to rough out stage or is it too fragile.

Oakchip.

[Little Festo]

Yes can be turned green. I would actually recommend you to do that. There is a lot less dust and the wood turns a bit easier too as it dosen't seem to be as hard when it is dry. Turn it with wall thickness of about 15-20% of the diameter. I generally paint them with endcheck/timbersealer, maybe paint them twice, let the first coat dry then check them every couple of weeks and if there are any cracks developing apply some CA glue to the cracks. I also paper bag them too and if I'm not in too much of a hurry to turn them maybe plastic bag them. Plastic bags are ok for black wattle as the wood dosen't tend to rot or start to "spault ugly" although the sap wood can develop very nice spauling. Maybe after 3-4 months take them out of the plastic bage and paper bag them. If possible put them in a coolish place, definitely out of direct sunlight.

Black wattle is a bit more challenging to turn but definitely worth the effort. As always sharp tools help.

Hope this is of some help and I hope you enjoy turning some masterpieces from your cache of black wattle.

Peter