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  1. #1
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    Default Please tell me this is Jarrah!!!

    Hi, I found a very homemade table on the hard rubbish & milled this lot from it. The top was from 290x45mm
    Any ideas what species it is? Peter
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  3. #2
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    Default

    Hi
    Photos can be very deceiving but from what I can see, I would say it is Jarrah. It could be Karri but that is normally a little lighter from experience.
    Thirty years ago I bought a stack of 'Jarrah' from a wool shed in the Fremantle docks when they were refurbishing for the Americas Cup. When we machined it (about 10cubic Metres) I/we noticed the difference in colour. As I was making dinning tables and chairs we sorted the timber so the colour was some what similar. I had a friend who worked for the TMA (Timber Merchant Association)here in Victoria who I mentioned this to and suggest he have it checked out in a Lab. Consequently I found out I had both Jarrah and Karri.
    To cut a long story short, I ended up selling all the furniture as Jarrah because when I labelled it West Australian Karri nobody wanted it, I changed it to Jarrah and it ran out the workshop!
    Anyway, I still think its Jarrah.
    Hope that helps
    Kevin
    Last edited by kph; 13th February 2021 at 01:23 PM. Reason: spelling

  4. #3
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    Default

    Hmmm... not sure. To me it's lacking the interlocking wavy grain of Jarrah and Karri and doesn't appear red or pink enough despite being freshly milled. And that's a fairly expensive wood outside of WA to have been used for knocking up a DIY-level table.

    My initial thoughts are that it's Merbau/Kwila.
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  5. #4
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    Jan 2014
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    Default

    These are some pics from my Merbau plank.

    DF247EF8-093E-4A4C-94FE-722769FE607F.jpegE9D1FA4D-CAEE-4D75-ADAC-DEF20E5DDF00.jpeg

    These are are from a Jarrah floorboard

    5DB0C42A-A733-4502-94F1-B7477B52CBD1.jpg3729F88D-1586-4B21-A453-998AEEC78081.jpg

    Yours looks more like Merbau to me,
    .

  6. #5
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    Apr 2015
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    Default The Burning Splinter Test

    Quote Originally Posted by kph View Post
    Hi
    Photos can be very deceiving but from what I can see, I would say it is Jarrah. It could be Karri but that is normally a little lighter from experience....
    Anyway, I still think its Jarrah.
    Hope that helps
    Kevin
    I would say it looks like Jarrah too.

    Here is an interesting test.. using a the ash left after combustion of a splinter of jarrah ..

    "Karri closely resembles jarrah in structure and appearance, the heartwood being reddish-brown darkening to a rather more uniform brown than jarrah. The burning splinter test is generally useful in separating the two timbers. When a small splinter of dry heartwood is burned the embers continue to glow after the flame is extinguished. With karri, a thick white ash is formed, while jarrah burns to a black, ashless charcoal. Karri is slightly heavier than jarrah, and weighs about 900 kg/m³ when dried." (ref: https://www.trada.co.uk/wood-species/karri/)

    Euge

    (edit: to remove question on source)

  7. #6
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    Default

    If its Merbau the yellow stuff in its pores dissolves in alcohol or metho. (this yellow substance also stains concrete/ cement)
    The yellow solution of a Merbau extract in alcohol fluoresces / glows in sunlight or UV (black) light.

  8. #7
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    Default Yes, it's Merbau....

    Bugger! I have also come to the conclusion that it is Merbau, not that there is anything wrong with that (to quote Seinfeld).
    So, no good for chopping boards, but maybe these?? Whadja think? Peter
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  9. #8
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    Default

    Merbau

  10. #9
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Repete View Post
    So, no good for chopping boards, but maybe these?? Whadja think? Peter
    Why can’t you use it for chopping boards?

    if it is just because of the silica content, just resharpen the knives more often. Alternately, a Charcuterie Board springs to mind.

  11. #10
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    Default

    Yeah...yellow stuff in the grain = Merbau

  12. #11
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    Default

    Sounds the consensus is Merbau. I’ve made a couple of chopping boards with it. No issue. It comes up a golden brown with an oiled finish. Really nice.

    I am not sure if your intended use is to make chopping boards, or that was just mentioned. A chest I am building (for the workshop) has the carcase in Merbau (cheap hardwood from Bunnings) ...





    And now it is Jarrah

    The drawers abd dividers are Jarrah. The man on the galloping horse will not tell the difference when it is finished ...



    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  13. #12
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    Default

    I aligned the grain in Repete and Lappa's photos of "Merbau". Apart from colour variance, there is remarkable similarity.

    Kwila 3.jpg

    Repete's unidentified timber is the paler left one; Lappa's merbau is the browner right hand one.

    Old growth merbau aka kwila can also be coloured dark red. But that complex grain is a giveaway.

  14. #13
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    Default Chopping boards

    I was thinking that the tannins will leech out & stain everything, but sealing them might be a plan!

  15. #14
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Repete View Post
    I was thinking that the tannins will leech out & stain everything, but sealing them might be a plan!

    I used to have an office suite completely made from dark red merbau - very large desk, coffee table, side table, swivel chairs, coat rack, etc. There was never, ever any leaching or staining from tannins.

    Perhaps the merbau has to be out in the weather for this to be an issue? [eg deck or outdoor furniture.]

  16. #15
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    Default Merbau

    Thanks Graeme! Reassuring.

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