Thread: Using Wattle?

Should certainly be worth a try. Blackwood is an acacia and it's pretty good.

Very much depends on the type of wattle.

I would think dimension, heartwood availability and density would be the major factors quite aside from how it looks.

may have to consult a wood specialist to see how well it dries.

Not sure what variety of wattle it is, just garden variety stink-bomb tree.
The trees are only young but some are up to 5m tall

Originally Posted by whenu

Not sure what variety of wattle it is, just garden variety stink-bomb tree. The trees are only young but some are up to 5m tall

Stink-bomb tree?? Not heard that name applied to any local Acacia species - must be a Kiwi invention!
As others have said, there are wattles & wattles (something in excess of 600 of 'em, depending on whose counting) so much depends. In general, the woods of most Australian 'wattles' are dense & hardish, but there are several notable exceptions. Blackwood (A. melanoxylon) can be as soft as pine in some localities. Wattles in general tend to have long-fibred wood, and are well-suited to applications involving a bit of bending stress (which is how they got their common name - they were early-on used for "wattle & daub" buildings). The little bowsaw pictured is made from the small wattles that grow like weeds & regularly blow over in my yard. The trunks only get to about 100mm diameter max, with lots of pale sapwood, but it's good for small stuff.
It's unlikely you have Gidgee or Mulga or one of the really hard, dense species, but they make superb tool handles, amongst other uses.....

Cheers,

Edit: Hmmm, it just occurred to me after I hit 'send' to look up 'stink bomb tree', with the help of my mate Google. The first 5 hits tell me i's the name for Ginko biloba, which is certainly not an Acacia. Have we got an identity crisis here????

Thanks for all the info.
I only used the "stink-bomb" name as the seeds have a strong pungent smell when crushed