Thread: Aussie white woods - suggestions appreciated

Russell
Does Australian grown Paulownia count. It is a white wood. Could it be a solution.

Whitewood
(John)

Maybe, I've never seen it before, although I see it has been mentioned in a few other threads here. I'll have to try and find a sample and see.

Thanks. Russell.

Holly is the whitest timber I have seen. I was playing with some on the lathe this evening and it is beautiful to work with - very close grain that cuts so smoothly you barely need sanding. Very close to pure white - very slightly grey in some parts of the log and a very light brown in others but it is mostly the white/grey colour. I picked up a few logs at an auction but I have no idea where you might get it. Apparently it does grow as a weed in some areas of NSW - near Bowral I think I read somewhere on a forum thread.

Matto

I have some White Beech that is definatlly White, some of the silky oaks are also very white but it's probably not such a good wood for Intarsia. I also have a couple of bits of Mango that are very white. Some Coach Wood is a nice light white too.

Holly hey? Didn't know there was Holly in Australia.

I have a couple of old Mango branches from my family home, but it's nowhere near white, so I guess there must be a lot of variation in Mango.

Is that Qld White Beech you have? I think there's a few woods called White Beech. Unfortunately, I'm not an ID expert. Mine I got as 150x25 boards, about 4 of them, 2m long years ago from some guy who was making boats out of it, but didn't need it anymore. It's a very plain board, with only a very slight grain pattern, but it has small white flecks of a chalky substance in it - not enough to make it a white colour though.

My 1 piece of silky oak isn't white either

But at least I know a few things to look out for now, thanks.

Russell.

Just White Beech no Qld in there. Try Trend timbers in Sydney they have a wide selection of timbers.

I can get as much jacaranda as you'd want, but I don't bother because there seems to be no market for it. If I thought it'd sell, I'd stock it.

I'd heard Jacaranda splits very easily, which is probably why most people don;t want it for large projects, but for my small stuff, it's probably fine.

Anyone have a finished picture of some so I can see what it looks like?

Craig, do you sell timbers in Brisbane? When I go back to work in November, I might be able to come see what you have?

Russell.

Leopardwood is a good white wood, still some grain visible but a lovely timber

hey boomerang i do intarsia and have the same problem you do . whitest wood ive seen is norfolk island hibiscus but its rare as hens teeth , ive rung heaps of wood suppliers and urban salvage people to no avail .i use liquid amber for white which isnt native but beggers cant be choosers ,poplar is fairly white too , if you have any succes let us know

Holly, Hibiscus and the base of a mature Bonewood are all true white timbers, but not sure they are commercially available.

You can also bleach timbers white, provided they are open grained. If you have some Silky Oak, cut a strip and put that in the bleach overnight, then leave it to dry.

Cheers

silver quandong might be the one you want.

Cheers
Michael

I know it's not an Aussie native, but recently I cut some Chinese elm, it was pretty white, I just slabbed it as a trial to see how it went, that might be an option for you, unless you are specific with being an Aussie native?

i have a heap of chineese elm here not teh true stuff but teh plain white stuff caled chineese elm. i was going to put some up on ebay next week to.

what size baord did u want?