Vancouver wood for Aussie wood??

[Daninvan]

I have a home-brew Alaska mill that I use to mill up logs from city trees growing here in Vancouver Canada.

I’d be interested in swapping for pieces of whatever is growing in your neck of the woods - I have zero Australian wood right now!

I can do the “standard collector” 6x3x1 inch, turning blanks, or other small-ish sizes. Some pieces might be part/all rough sawn. Here's what I am offering up:

Pear – Don’t know what kind, yielded edible pears. Light coloured, some pink tinges
Yew – Likely English, not Pacific. Some cracks, splits, bark inclusions
Spalted Cherry –small amounts
Arbutus – AKA Madrone, mostly old growth. Very sweet, my best stuff!
Old growth Red Cedar –quartersawn 40+ rings/inch small amounts
Spalted Maple
Alder
London Plane
Cherry - mostly from Japanese flowering cherry trees
Horse Chestnut
Norway Maple - spalted
Monkey Tree - small amounts, frankly a rather dull one
Box Elder – some red colouring, small amounts

I also have some woods that I have not been able to 100% identify, softwoods, aromatic, likely include Port Orford Cedar and Deodar Cedar, as well as others.


Thanks, Dan.

[Sebastiaan56]

Hi Dan,

Ill swap you some Black hearted sassafras bowl turning blanks for some old growth cedar, particularly quarter sawn. I'll PM

I spent 3 months in Vancouver about 22 years ago, loved the place,

Sebastiaan

[Daninvan]

OK, I can see that I need to sweeten the pot a bit. Hopefully there is more than one guy in all of Australia interested in a wood swap! Here is some additional info on what I have available to swap.

Pear –Light coloured, some pink tinges. Smooth, easy to work. Big pieces available. Dense, but not super hard.
Yew –Beautiful orange colouring with touches of purple in it. A ‘hard’ softwood, very smooth. I do have small amounts with no bark or stuff.
Arbutus – Arbutus menziesii AKA Madrone, mostly old growth. Pale with touches of pink. Damned hard to get to dry, lots of shrinkage/warpage/crackage. I have large pieces available from several trees.
Western Red Cedar – Thuja Plicata old growth quartersawn 40+ rings/inch. I have large pieces. Mostly rived from a log.
Red Alder - Alnus rubra - light brown, a ‘soft’ light hardwood, easy to work.
London Plane - Platanus × hispanica – quartersawn pieces have stunning figure, sometimes compared to snakewood. Similar to American Sycamore.
Cherry - mostly from Japanese flowering cherries. Very dark, hard, and some beautiful colours. I have wood from a number of trees, all are different.
Horse Chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum - kind of a pale wood
Norway Maple – Acer platanoides - The whitest maple I have ever seen. Some pieces have very nice scattered quilting. I have large amounts this wood. The tree was too big for my 36” chainsaw blade . . .
Monkey Tree - Araucaria araucana - small amounts, frankly a rather dull one, but super rare. Related to the Norfolk Island pine, I probably should have cut it into turning blocks rather than planks.
Box Elder AKA Manitoba Maple – Acer negundo - some red colouring, small amounts. Not 100% sure on the id of this wood, but 99%.
Spalted Cherry / spalted maple. After further reading I understand that these are hard to import into Australia so I’ll take them off the table.

Here are some extra woods that I’ll throw out for consideration:
Yellow Cedar - chamaecyparis nootkatensis - Old growth, quartersawn, 40+ rings/inch. Stunning, clear wood, highly aromatic. A friend who would know claims it ‘smells like weed’. I have a large amount, but all smaller pieces, nothing much over a couple inches across – the log was quite ‘splitty’.
Pacific Dogwood –Cornus Nuttallii Aud. - Only a few small pieces, amazing colours, pinks, purples, super hard too. You’ll have to offer me something special to prise this out of my hands!
Holly – small amounts, very white
Weeping Willow – Salix x chrysocoma Dode – a lightweight wood, pale with a touch of colour and scattered figure

I also have some woods that I have not been able to completely identify, softwoods, aromatic, likely include Port Orford Cedar and Deodar Cedar, as well as others.

Most of my wood has been cut into planks of 1” thick or so, but if you are looking for turning blanks, ask, I do have some smaller ones.

Finally, let me state that I have never cut down a tree for its wood. I salvage wood from trees that have fallen in storms, been taken down due to disease, size, development, etc., or driftwood. Every one of them has a story I can tell you about too, if you are interested. So you can feel good about this wood too!

I can post/email pictures if you have some requests. I’d be looking for a similar volume/value of Australian wood to whatever you are interested in from me. I am interested in pieces suitable for boxes or small cabinets.

Lemme know!

[robyn2839]

i have dead finish,hairy oak,camphor laurel,mango,osage orange, flame sheoak,rose mahogony,gidgee,jacaranda,mangrove,crows ash,bloodwood,conkerberry,peach,brigalow,red ironbark,blackbean,huon pine,scribbly gum,saffron,moreton bay ash,cedar ,coachwood,soapwood,silky oak,tallow wood, sassafras, tas blackwood,rosewood,leophard wood.anything there of interest?. bob

[robyn2839]

wondered why no reply , looked at the date of posting, waste of a good reply ,will have to check next time, dont i look silly. bob

[HappyHammer]

It was only a couple of weeks ago Bob:?, he might come back....:;

HH.

[Daninvan]

Robyn,

I'm interested in practically any/all of what you list! Give me a day or two to find out what some of those are, and I'll give you a wish list. What do I have on my list that interests you?

Thanks,

Dan

[robyn2839]

any of them mate , do you know what is involved in sending timbers?overseas?hear from you later.give me sizes you would like as well .bob

[Daninvan]

Robyn,


OK, I educated myself about shipping from there to here and the other way. Also about the woods on your list.


For the shipping, I checked on the Australian Post website, to ship 5-7 kg to Canada will cost you A$56. Shipping 7 kg to you will cost me C$75 courtesy of Canada Post. A somewhat better deal for you! The size of the package does not seem to matter as much as the weight. Naturally, smaller amounts are less expensive. We could do 3 kg each way for about $40 each. (No bark or bug holes or other stuff, just to be safe! Each piece should be labelled)


I am OK with either amount, or a different amount if you had something else in mind. Let me know what you prefer.


Let me know what sizes you are interested in too, I can let you know what species I have in those sizes. Are you a turner, are you looking for turning blanks? Boards? plain figure/wild figure?



I am looking for boards with nice figure that I can use on the fronts of small cabinets, 14” x 7” x ¾” would be a good minimum size for me. Because weight is such an issue, I’d like to go for some of the lighter woods, even though the heavier ones sound pretty amazing. So, how about a mix of Camphor Laurel, blackbean, coachwood, silky oak, tas blackwood to get close to agreed weight, then top it up with a few smaller pieces of some of the other ones?


If you wanted to do a similar thing, the lightest woods on my list are the cedars, alder, and willow.


Let me know,


Thanks, Dan.

[Daninvan]

I guess Robyn's not interested, but if anyone else is, I'm still game!!

Dan

[robyn2839]

still interested just trying to get sizes you require.bob

[Daninvan]

Sorry Bob, didn't mean to give up on you there. I'll be in and out of town for the next few weeks so responses will be a bit spotty from my side.

Dan

[mick61]

G`day bob I wouldnt mind some conkerberry I have brownmallee burl to swap. I am after a couple of pieces for turned boxes say 75x75x75 or smaller if that size is not available.mick:D

[robyn2839]

hi mick you would be pretty lucky to find in this size.it tends to be hollow over about 50ml ,but if you want i can send you some .bob

[mick61]

G`day bob I didn`t realise it was only available in small sizes I saw a box made by ken wraight and thought I would like to turn some I haven`t seen any down my way that is probably why. I am happy to send you a similer size piece of brown mallee or something else you would like I have some nice red gum in 100x100 by 100 year old.
Mick:D

[robyn2839]

give me your address and i will send some . bob

[billrule]

I guess someone should mention the tiresome fact that the greatest issue likely to be a problem is the AQIS requirement for quarantine standards.
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/timber/types gives a bit of a rundown. My guess is that if it had no bark, appeared healthy, wasn't of a proscribed species, and you got a friend with official-looking letterhead to write that they had inspected it and classed it as being free from signs of infestation or contamination, you will probably get away with it.