Needs Pictures: 0
Results 1 to 15 of 19
-
28th January 2024, 10:10 PM #1Novice
- Join Date
- Jul 2022
- Location
- Brisbane
- Posts
- 15
Need Help Identifying Wood: Is This Gidgee?
Hi everyone, I recently purchased a batch of timber and among the various logs, I found a few pieces that the seller labeled as 'gidgee.' This is my first encounter with gidgee and I'm not entirely sure about its identification. I'm reaching out to see if anyone here has experience with gidgee and can confirm whether these logs are indeed gidgee or if they might be another species.
I've attached a few photos of one of the logs in question.
Thanks in advance.
Pic189652.jpgPic189651.jpgPic189653.jpg
-
28th January 2024 10:10 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
- Join Date
- Always
- Location
- Advertising world
- Posts
- Many
-
28th January 2024, 11:15 PM #2
I am not very familiar with Gidgee, although I do have a couple of bits in my shed.
But I don’t think anyone will be able to give an ID going off those pictures.
You will need to show a few pics of freshly cut and planed faces, one of the end grain as well.Brad.
-
29th January 2024, 06:27 AM #3GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Location
- Brisbane
- Posts
- 1,150
Gidgee is very heavy, it also has a distinct aroma when cut, to my nose like prunes or fruit just starting to ferment.
-
29th January 2024, 03:42 PM #4
-
29th January 2024, 06:24 PM #5
-
29th January 2024, 06:43 PM #6
-
29th January 2024, 08:04 PM #7Novice
- Join Date
- Jul 2022
- Location
- Brisbane
- Posts
- 15
Thanks everyone for your feedback! double.d I did notice a prune smell when I cleaned up these few offcuts. Here's a photo of the timber sitting on a piece of Camphor Laurel
Pic189654.jpg
-
29th January 2024, 08:15 PM #8
-
29th January 2024, 09:18 PM #9Novice
- Join Date
- Jul 2022
- Location
- Brisbane
- Posts
- 15
-
29th January 2024, 10:01 PM #10
-
30th January 2024, 07:36 PM #11
That looks like Gidgie, I recon it smells like the stuff they put in LPG as a warning.
I am learning, slowley.
-
3rd February 2024, 09:39 AM #12
Agree, it's quite likely gidgee. But odour can be misleading, there are a few dry-country Acacias that have a pleasant smell when freshly cut & my nose can't reliably pick the difference (A. rhodoxylon and A. pendula are two examples, with the latter described as having a faint violet-like smell). The whiff you get as they're sawn is so brief, it's not long enough for my olfactory memory cells to wake up fully, so I just think, "Yep, that smells pleasant enough" as it goes through the saw.
The fresh-cut colur is also helpful, but not definitive. There are also two "gidgees", just to add to confusion, A. georginae, which smells more like cat's urine when cut, and A. cambagei, which is the pleasant-smelling one.
As I always say, id'ing wood from pics is a dicey game - I'd say, just accept the labelling that came with the wood but keep an open mind about about its true id. If it's a hard, dense wood that polishes beautifully (as gidgee should), then p'raps that's all ye need to know for certain....
Cheers,IW
-
3rd February 2024, 12:55 PM #13GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- Aug 2011
- Location
- bilpin
- Posts
- 3,560
As a kid I grew up in the Gidgee-Brigalow belt of Western NSW. When it rained, which wasn't often, you could smell the Gidgee for miles. Not so Brigalow. Same when they flowered. Old, dry dead Gidgee often doesnt have a smell when sawing but once sprayed with water the smell will return. Again, not so brigalow.
I like to make my carvers mallets from either. Visually, it is often impossible to tell the difference.
-
3rd February 2024, 02:57 PM #14
There's also "Acacia pruinocarpa" over here in WA. More common in the north of the state, but we do find it occasionally around this area (Kalgoorlie) as well. I still have a bit of it left in the shed from a tree I cut down in my son's front yard a while back (it was dropping branches on pedestrians / cars in the street).
IMG_2707.jpg
-
3rd February 2024, 07:33 PM #15
OK, so three gidgees, just to correct the record. Wasn't aware of "black gidgee" before, it's well out of my range, but at least I know it exists, now - thanks!
As Rusty says, it can be very hard to tell some of the acacias apart from the wood alone - if you know a particular species well you can make a decent educated guess, but I've got a few bits in my stash that I can't name. I knew what they were supposed to be when I acquired them years ago, but was foolish enough not to label them, thinking I'd remember.
Hah!
CheersIW
Similar Threads
-
Need Help to Identify - Purple wood / logs Gidgee ?
By missmb in forum TIMBERReplies: 14Last Post: 26th August 2015, 10:19 AM -
Help identifying wood
By Charl in forum WOODTURNING - GENERALReplies: 8Last Post: 18th August 2013, 10:04 PM -
help identifying wood
By PATCH3198 in forum WOODTURNING - PEN TURNINGReplies: 5Last Post: 16th May 2011, 10:25 PM -
identifying wood
By underfoot in forum WOODIES JOKESReplies: 2Last Post: 4th November 2008, 11:17 PM -
Help identifying wood
By thefixer in forum WOODTURNING - GENERALReplies: 6Last Post: 5th May 2008, 07:51 AM