Thread: I bought a tree

You were robbed at 180. But so you don't feel too badly, I'll let you make 20 and I'll take them off your hands, that way you don't have to look at that pile of saw dust and feel bad knowing you were robbed.

It's the decent thing to do.

oz

Do you think that could be Australian red cedar?

Originally Posted by glenn k

Do you think that could be Australian red cedar?

Umm...no mate it's not cedar..frawgs never hang around in cedar trees. Bark looks wrong anyway. The weight would tell you. [light]

Looks like maybe one of the wattles? local version of blackwood? melanoxylon...
which grows all over the east coast and in SA too according to Winn.

Then I looked at your area [FNQ] and there's a timber up there they call 'Mackay Cedar', not sure of the botannical name but quite pretty and reddish.

Fer what it's worth.

I just milled a piece of the crooked slab and this is what it looks like


It is not quite as pink as it looks in the photo, more greyish brown. The part where the bark was is whitish..
The larger piece is 575mm x 128 mm x 35 mm and weighs 1.6kg. Don't know how to work out the weight in cubicmetres.
The bottom piece was ripped to 5 mm and oiled in the centre, the little dots are my fingerprints .
It seemed to soak up the oil readily. It is dense, straight grained and the tablesaw cut through it like butter. It is not soft like pine. There are no knots. No special smell when I cut it.
It looks like we got around 2.25 cubicmetres for $180.
Cheers

Well no special smell means it's not cedar but we knew that already.

Looks like those bits are milled on the quarter - plain but nice. The back-sawn pieces may give you more feature but that's fine, you got a heap of wood with most of the ugly work done and dry as well I suppose.
Could be from the scrub [rainforest] - I dont know my FNQ timbers too well from not having lived there long enough.
I'm sure you could cut a deal with oz as there's probably only a few scrubby gumtrees left round Bathurst these days

Enjoy,

regards.

Blackwood for me too... not the tassi stuff that where all use to though.

Wolffie from your measurements it has a density of 0.6 tonnes/m3 or Kg/dm3 or gm/cm3 so it is too light for Blackwood. Looks very different dressed I have no idea but it was good value what ever it is.

Originally Posted by glenn k

Wolffie from your measurements it has a density of 0.6 tonnes/m3 or Kg/dm3 or gm/cm3 so it is too light for Blackwood. Looks very different dressed I have no idea but it was good value what ever it is.

I haven't got my books with me due to being in Hospital, but that density you're quoting Glenn is right in the ballpark for air dried (green is about 8-900kg/m³) Blackwood from memory, especially for QLD B/wood as I sure from memory it is lighter than Tassy/Vic B/wood.

Thanks DJ this is for Tassi Blackwood and it makes sence for it to be less dense if grown faster.
Density: Approx 640kg/M3 at 12% moisture content.
Unseasoned density approx 870 kg/m3.
Strength groups: Seasoned SD4, unseasoned S4

Geez, good luck in there DJ, all the best.

And spot-on, Lumber.

Yes it grows up here in the hedgerows and more ornery land that gets ignored a lot.[northern rivers area, nsw] We dont bother with the local stuff too much as it's often small, splitty [grown too fast??] and not as nice as the sothern relative. I haven't been asked to mill one in 5 years.
A plywood mob in Bris-vegas I was dealing with gets some of theirs from Qld - they like a medium grade wood, nothing too fancy I was told, 'cos if they put fiddleback out there on the ply folks get upset when they cant get more of it.


Fer what it's worth.

Happy New Year all youse folks anyway and thanks for the pleasant company, info and some very pretty works, esp. the pen-makers. [might even give it a try when I'm old and creaky and cant dance or walk alongside the mill anymore.
Give yerselves a pat fellas. i gave an old bloke round here a sliver of hairy oak and he came back with the cutest pen! Nice work Milton.
best to all. richie

Originally Posted by Wolffie

Or rather I bought a stack of slabs that used to be a tree
Each slab is about 3 metres long, between 300 and 500 mm wide and 2" thick. Most of it is fairly straight the only crooked one is the top one.


The guy who sold it had had it sitting in his shed for a couple years and had no idea what it was.
Neither do I but I reckon that for the sum of $180 it was worth it even if only some of it is useful.
We even got a live frog in the deal
Cheers

This stuff is lovely...and looks very familiar ... ...
usually seen in the south, though it is noted in Northern QLD
Might be one of my favorites - Lightwood - acacia implexa
Factsheet - Acacia implexa

Regards,
Peter ( aka - Lightwood)

Thank you Peter.
If it is what you believe it is, what would I use it for?
I am not a wood turner.
In the not too distant future, I want to build an entertainment centre and put a new top on my dining table, would it be suitable for that?
Thanks
Wolffie

Looks like one of the Acaias to me. There is a species up that way called Black ( or Brown ) Salwood. Could be that.c

Well, I saw my local timber guru today. Mystery solvered.
He called it Wattle, aka Salwood, aka Queensland Blackwood.
He reckoned I got myself a bargain there. 2 of the slabs would be worth more than I paid, so the rest was free.
He was kicking himself for not getting there first
Now, what do I use it for?
An entertainment centre would be great.
Cheers
Wolffie