Bowl Blanks in Brisbane

[Houston]

I live in Houston but expect to be in Brisbane for a business trip later this month. Where would be a good place to go to pick up a few bowl blanks? What are favorite Australian woods to look for?

I've had co-workers bring back a couple of blanks from Melbourne before that were fun to turn and something different (for me). I was told that one was She-oak and the other was an iron bark burl.

[ss_11000]

Try to get some burls, any outback/CQ timbers and Tasmanian timbers etc.
I recommend:

Gidgee
Dead Finish
Lace Sheoak
Emu Apple
Camphor Laurel (even tho its not native to Aus)
Redgum
Wilga
Huon Pine
Sassafras (black heart)
Conkerberry
Mallee (red/brown)
Jarrah
[/URL]

Check out [URL="http://web.aanet.net.au/ttit/"]this (http://web.aanet.net.au/ttit/) website for information on timbers (the website is made by Vern who is on these forums as TTIT). If you want to see what over 200 timbers look like: check out this (http://web.aanet.net.au/ttit/eggpage/alleggs.htm) part of the site.

cheers.:2tsup:

[barnsey]

Nice site Stirlo - thanks for that.

Houston - hope you have a great trip - there are many sources once you get here - local mags will give you a guide. Have a word to those on the forum who show timber species like Stirlo's references to see if you can pick up some offerings.

That site is particularly focussed on cental Queensland which is an arid/semi arid area while there are many other timbers around the more rainforest/coastal regions. If you want and have the time I'm happy to talk to you and help when you are here if you want to PM me.

Jamie:U

[TTIT]

Dave Drescher at SouthEast Queensland woodworking supplies used to carry a range of blanks in Queensland timbers. He's at 1/50 Randall St in the Brisbane suburb of Slacks Ck. You can email him on [email protected] to organize something if you want.

Of course if you're planning on seeing the real Queensland, drop in to Emerald and I'll show you what real wood looks like :;:U

[Houston]

I tried to post a thank you once and didn't succeed - let me try again.

I do appreciate the words of advice. I don't think I'll be able to fit a sample of all of the woods suggested by Stirlo into my luggage, but I'll look for a few of them. All are different from what I can get easily in the states.

TTIT, I don't think I'll make it to Emerald in the short time I'll be in Brisbane. You wouldn't want me over there driving on the wrong side of the road anyway.

Barnsey - I'll figure out the PM process and drop you a note.

Thanks again for your help. This forum seems to be pretty active and is really showing off some high quality work.

[Houston]

As a follow-up to my question on where to buy bowl blanks in Brisbane:

I connected with "Barnsey" once I arrived in Brisbane and he was very kind to pick me up at my hotel and take me over to SE Queensland Woodworking supply. David Drescher gave me a short course in Australian timbers using wood from his showroom and his private stock as examples. I ended up picking out small turing blanks of camphor, rose mahogany, red cedar, mango, myrtle burl, and Huon pine.

I restrained myself a bit because I wasn't sure if US Customs would let me back in the country with my stash. David advised me to steer clear of anything with bark or worm holes. That pretty much ruled out the burls and some of the interesting small trees. Unlike Australia, the US Customs form does not have a question that specifically asks if you have wood or wood products. As it turned out, no one looked at my luggage in Los Angeles so I sailed through without any discussion.

Thanks to the Forum members for their advice and special thanks to Barnsey for his hospitality. Not only did he take me to find the turning blanks, but Barnsey also gave me a quick tour of Brisbane and a few lessons in the Australian language along the way!

[TTIT]

Onya Barnsey :2tsup: Glad it worked out for you Houston. Look after that Rose mahogany - sweetest timber ever grown :U:U:U