Thread: Help to identify this wood

Originally Posted by cor55

Hi chaps, I was wondering if anyone could ID this wood for me.

I think it's blackwood, but not sure as Im a newbie. I'ts lightweight, fairly soft, not like pine, but I can dent the corner with a fingernail easily.

It's a beautiful dark and light brown contrasty grain - see pic.

I came across a ton of the stuff and would like to know what it is.

Thanks

Cprey

I'm not an expert, but I have a fair bit of Blackwood and your board looks very similar.

Tend to agree with what he said, heck even the tear out looks the same as blackwood

If it's soft to the finger nail i'd be more inclined to say either Black Wattyl or Sally Wattyl.

A quick test you could try, to see if it's blackwood, rip some on the saw if it smokes and nearly chokes you with the fumes it's blackwood if not then my first guess I think would be closer to the mark.


Cheers


Steve

Looks like Blackwood, but I don't understand anyone describing an acacia as soft Unless it is green.

thanks for the quick response everyone.

Dai Sensei - its only soft on the corner or edge, where i can make a dent. Other that that it is fairly hard, but also very light. I cant to the burning saw thing Steve, only a hand saw and my arm might fall off.

I think I'll go with blackwood. Thanks again

Corey

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Looks like Blackwood, but I don't understand anyone describing an acacia as soft Unless it is green.

Neil, Blackwood can be quite soft, alright. Many moons ago, the woodies from the club I belonged to in country Vic. mounted an expedition to the Ottways to pick up scraps left by the loggers (they had permits!). The stuff they brought home was very variable in hardness & colour. Nearly all of it was from the upper, younger parts of the trees, as you can imagine. Anyways, I'm as close to 100% certain as you could be that it was all A. melanoxylon, but some was as soft as Hoop pine, and very pale. Most looked a lot like Cor55's sample....

The A. melanoxylon that grows along the ranges here in Qld seems to be much harder, in my limited experience with it.

Cheers,

I'm a little with Dai Sensei, soft blackwood? Unlesss it's green, yes but? Any chance you could get a picture of the end grain?

Hi sjt

Here are some more pics.

Also, there is another type of wood I have a lot of that may also be blackwood but it is different to the first sample - can you see if you can ID it for me? - pic 1151


Thanks,

Corey

Hi Corey,

It all looks like Blackwood to me. In my experience, Blackwood does vary quite a bit from light brown to a reddish colour, and all of your boards fit in with bits of wood that have been sold to me as Blackwood by various timber suppliers.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
John

Thanks John, it helps a lot. I'm looking forward to using this timber.

Yep, Blackwood. It's a lovely timber when finished properly.

Hi
i spent a few years in a timber mill in Stanley Tas one of the jobs there was grading rough sawn kiln dried blackwood & their is a very large variation in blackwood all your photos wood be blackwood
Cheers Rod

It is a very beautiful timber when finished. A couple of things I've learned about it - it burns easily on the table saw, and some glues tend to make it turn a little green. Both can be cleaned up easily enough.

Enjoy!

Cheers,
John

thanks sjt, rod, and john.

Im going to build a dining table with it - my first major project. Any suggestions on how to finish it properly? I've been thinking of making the grain a bit more contrasty, like this:

A Little About Accentuating the Grain

then doing a pseudo french polish to get a glossy finish.