Thread: Pacific Blackwood

I've seen a timber that was called as Pacific Blackwood. The bloke who sold the stuff had no idea what it really was.
Just remember Pacific Maple is just another name for Meranti so I'll let you draw your own conclusions

Originally Posted by MajorPanic

I've seen a timber that was called as Pacific Blackwood. The bloke who sold the stuff had no idea what it really was.
Just remember Pacific Maple is just another name for Meranti so I'll let you draw your own conclusions

as far as I am aware, I am the only person that is selling pacific Blackwood, also known as Queen Ebony or Solomon Blackwood. The Scientific name is "Xanthostemon Melanoxylon" I have more info if anyone is interested and can make comparison to similar timbers in density, stability and hardness

Cheers
Brian Christie

Originally Posted by alexg

Has anyone heard of Pacific Blackwood, have been offered some at a price and was wondering what its like to work. Took a sample home and it seemed a little prone to tear-out. I haven't worked Australian Blackwood before, is it similar in this respect?

Cheers,
Alex.

We prefer to call it "Pacific Blackwood" but it is more commonly known as "Queen Ebony" (mother of all ebonies) and sometimes "Solomon Blackwood".

This timber only grows in the Solomon Islands and no it is a ompletely different species to the Tassie Blackwood although both are melanoxylons, but the Tassie blackwood is an "Acacia Melanoxylon"
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"Pacific Blackwood's" scientific name is known as "Xanthostemon melanoxylon"- it is a member of the family Myrtacea.<o></o>
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<o>Did you got your sample of me (SitCo Australia) at the Wood show either in Melbourne or Brisbane ? if not then I'm not so sure what you have.</o>
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<o>Cheers </o>
<o>Brian </o>

I had a look at the sitco stand at the Bris show very heavy dense very dark timber, no idea what it would be like to work but tas blackwood I reckon would be very different 1/2 as heavy and lighter colour tones.
Peter.

Originally Posted by pjt

I had a look at the sitco stand at the Bris show very heavy dense very dark timber, no idea what it would be like to work but tas blackwood I reckon would be very different 1/2 as heavy and lighter colour tones.
Peter.

Not wrong Peter. Tassie blackwood when dried density is around 670kg/m3 but the Queen Ebony or Pacific Blackwood is around 1230kg/m3. Turners have been pleasantly surprised at how well it turns considering it's density and hardness. Acoustic guitar builders, have found it easy to bend or shape thickness at 2.5mm (Maton Guitars).
Did you get any pieces to play with?

Brian

Brian, do you have a website with photos of your timber and prices etc, and do you sell it other than at wood shows?

i bought some of it at the show. Can't wait to turn something out of it. I'm hoping it'll turn a bit like african blackwood. I'm gonna pay the sitco guys a visit at their warehouse to get more if it comes up well.

Did you get any pieces to play with?
Brian.
No, I didn't buy any of it, I bought some other gear so watching pennies atm, I have some other timbers at home here which compares with it that I havent used yet. maybe next year!
Peter.

I bought a small lump at the show out of curiosity. Went & asked the turners down the hall if any had tried turning it, but none that I asked had. I will probably have a go at it this weekend, just to see what it's like - if it's as good as its brother, Red Penda (Xanthostemon whitei) it will be ok - have made excellent wood screws from that, which is similarly hard & dense. But don't expect it to work anything like "real" ebony - it gave my my HSS plane blades a real workout when I cleaned up the sides. This stuff is slightly harder than Red Penda, which is saying something!

And Brian (Sitco) - why do you wood people dip the entire piece of wood in wax??? Sealing the ends to prevent rapid drying & splitting is a good thing, but sealing the whole thing inside a wax coat means no 'drying' will occur at all. I guess it preserves the piece intact, but it's hard for us punters to see if there are any defects or small pre-existing cracks .......

Cheers,

Your right about the wax Ian.

I purchased a couple of pieces in Brisbane.

They looked sound in the fairly dark hall at the show.

When I inspected them at home under better lighting I found they had fine cracks, quiet deep, on 2 sides.

The wax had made the cracks nearly invisiable.

O well, Buyer Beware.

Cheers

Tim

Originally Posted by Tim the Timber Turner

Your right about the wax Ian.

I purchased a couple of pieces in Brisbane.

They looked sound in the fairly dark hall at the show.

When I inspected them at home under better lighting I found they had fine cracks, quiet deep, on 2 sides.

The wax had made the cracks nearly invisiable.

O well, Buyer Beware.

Cheers

Tim

Yairs, Tim - I had a similar experience, which is why I was whining a bit. The cracks are pre-existing, & opened a bit more after I planed the wax off. Perhaps it lay in the sun after sawing & surface-dried a bit too quickly, for example. They don't seem to run too deep on my piece, & won't matter too much for what I have planned. Such hard, dense woods are always tricky to dry without splitting, and individual logs can be worse or better than average, so I suppose we shouldn't judge too sternly on such a small sample....
Cheers,

Originally Posted by Ironwood

Brian, do you have a website with photos of your timber and prices etc, and do you sell it other than at wood shows?

I don't have much photo's on my website www.sitcoaustralia.com.au but it has my contact details there which I can forward you some if you are interested.

I have a warehouse in Bulimba along the water near the storybridge. I certainly sell timber there and is open to public mon-fri 9am - 6pm and Sat 10am - 3pm. I would welcome you to see first before purchasing

Cheers
Brian

Originally Posted by eisbaer

i bought some of it at the show. Can't wait to turn something out of it. I'm hoping it'll turn a bit like african blackwood. I'm gonna pay the sitco guys a visit at their warehouse to get more if it comes up well.

For the woodwind boys I advice this to them:
You will find that the colouration of the "Queen Ebony" is much lighter when first turned or sliced up, but when time take its course, it will darken as it dries and will even darken more as it oxidises. The drying process (or stabilising the timber) after it's been rough turned and bored will take12-14wks in a dry cool room, to which you can then proceed finishing off the piece to its proper dimensions. Before putting any finish on the timber and would like to speed up the oxidising, suspend it in a sealed box that has ammonia on the bottom for 3-4 weeks allowing only the fumes of the chemical to react with the timber. This will even darken it more to a dark brown/black but still allowing it to show its true beauty grain structure

Cheers
Brian<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Originally Posted by IanW

I bought a small lump at the show out of curiosity. Went & asked the turners down the hall if any had tried turning it, but none that I asked had. I will probably have a go at it this weekend, just to see what it's like - if it's as good as its brother, Red Penda (Xanthostemon whitei) it will be ok - have made excellent wood screws from that, which is similarly hard & dense. But don't expect it to work anything like "real" ebony - it gave my my HSS plane blades a real workout when I cleaned up the sides. This stuff is slightly harder than Red Penda, which is saying something!

And Brian (Sitco) - why do you wood people dip the entire piece of wood in wax??? Sealing the ends to prevent rapid drying & splitting is a good thing, but sealing the whole thing inside a wax coat means no 'drying' will occur at all. I guess it preserves the piece intact, but it's hard for us punters to see if there are any defects or small pre-existing cracks .......

Cheers,

I had an order from Denmark that requires me to fully dip the timber in wax because it will be travelling by air. and usually it has extremly low humidity in mid flight which can cause checking on the timber. There were leftovers from that order that I brought to the show.
The wax I used on it was an expensive wax that still allows the timber to breath but very slowly. I can only use certain types of wax as I send it to the most critical of all customers (Musical instrument builders) The brisbane show were mostly timber that would not fit their purpose but were still good for other purposes.
if there are any issues give me a call and bring in the piece you have.
Normally I would always ask each person what they intend to use it for & I will advice which pieces would be best suited for it's application

Cheers
Brian