Thread: Which wood type for South west NSW hand tools

For 'prototype' tools, lots of woods will do the job, Callitris (Cypress) might be ok if you choose the right bit, but it can split very easily, so maybe not a good choice for an open-sided rebate plane, for example. Harder woods are usually more durable, but also more difficult to work, particularly if your tool kit is limited. Of the woods you mention, I think the Red Gum would be my choice, it's usually pretty good to work (choose straight-grained bits for your first attempt, it won't be as spectacular as a heavily-figured piece, but it will be much more cooperative!) You'll find bits of wood that can be used for tool-making in all sorts of places if you keep a sharp eye out for it. Firewood piles have supplied me with quite a few nice bits, windfalls of just about any of the inland Acacias, but if you are anywhere near a place that gets machinery shipped in from Asian countries, some of the packing can yield very nice small bits in between the knots & defects

Be prepared for your first try or two not working brilliantly (we've all been there!), but with care, they should work well enough to do the job, and the lessons you learn making your own tools are the best reward of all.

Cheers,

Go to the hardware stores and look at the end grain in the wooden tool handles.
They will give you a strong idea for the orientation of the growth rings for strength in tool handles.

Second, I really doubt that any of us can swing hard enough in a genuine strike, to bugger up a hammer or axe handle.
I hammer away with all my strength, swinging a 30 oz lead core carving mallet. As hard s I can swing.
Nothing happens to the mallet. I get tired. It is beer o'clock.

Thanks IW this is what I was looking for

Really good advice from Ian.

Businesses that have stuff shipped in from virtually anywhere, not just SE Asia, have an issue with old pallets and dunnage (the stuff that holds stuff in place inside shipping containers). Usually an unidentified soft white pine.

This pine is fine for practice, to make prototypes - I usually plug small holes (knots, nail/screw holes) with plugs cut from the same timber - but probably too soft for a keeper. Once you have worked out the design and how to make it, then do the real one in red gum, as Ian suggests. If you are really pleased with the result, then maybe go to the grey box.

Renowned plane maker Terry Gordon uses gidgee (Janka = 19 Kn) but that stuff is seriously hard.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

This pine is fine for practice, to make prototypes - I usually plug small holes (knots, nail/screw holes) with plugs cut from the same timber - but probably too soft for a keeper. Once you have worked out the design and how to make it, then do the real one in red gum, as Ian suggests. If you are really pleased with the result, then maybe go to the grey box.

Renowned plane maker Terry Gordon uses gidgee (Janka = 19 Kn) but that stuff is seriously hard.

Grey Box is an interesting timber. Very similar to some Ironbarks, but not as brittle as Ironbark can be, which is a little ironic for something that is so strong and hard. Greybox is a tough timber.

Regards
Paul

Edit:

Graeme.

Please note I thought I had cancelled this post, but unfortunately it appears it went through after all. My comments were actually about Grey Gum, which does resemble the Ironbarks quite closely, but I mis-read the post. Grey Box, which is virtually indistinguishable from White Box, even in the paddock, (a further complication in determining which is which is that they also hybridise) is again an extremely hard, dense timber, but quite pale. My experience with it is that it may not be stable enough for making tools, but that again may depend on what the tools is. I would be a little wary of making a hand plane with it for example. However my experience is a bit limited so I may have used a poor specimen.

I remember visiting an agricultural show where there was a wood turner. My son (very young then) mentioned to the turner that we had Grey Box. The man looked sternly at him and said "You're not burning it are you?" He prized it highly.

Regards and apologies for the mis-leading original comment.
Paul

SJ

I had to correct my previous post as I had confused Grey Box for Grey Gum. The confusion was mine. Your post was quite clear.

Regards
Paul

Actually, Paul, the name "Grey Box" is applied to many different Eucalypts throughout the land, so it's a rather non-specific name. The tree I know locally as Grey Box is almost certainly not the one in Stuart's area, and though they may have similar wood characteristics, they are just as likely to be very different. The tree known as grey box or grey gum (both names are used interchangeably) that grows round my neck of the woods (E. propinqua) would be most unsuitable for making planes, it's hard, twisty and inclined to split where you don't want it to, but hold on for dear life where you do want it to split (i.e., terrible fire-wood!). However, these are trees growing in 'unfavourable' conditions, it makes a far better specimen in other areas & the wood from those trees may well be quite different, too.

One of the pleasures of woodworking (for me, at any rate), is exploring different woods and what they are good for. Individual trees can vary widely from the 'average' for the species, so you can sometimes get wonderful bits from a species that you would normally avoid like the plague. For tool-making (planes, marking gauges, handles, bench screws, etc.), I look for fine-grained, stable woods with some interesting colour or grain patterns (not too wild if it will need a fair bit of shaping, or need to be very stable as for a plane body or a screw). When I come across anything that looks promising, I label it (usually) & put it away to 'season'. That means I usually forget about it until I'm scratching through the pile looking for something to do a specific job.

A couple of days ago, in fact, I was looking for some wood to make a batch of hand-screws, and came across a chunk of Leucaena that I'd put away about 10 years ago (or maybe more). This is a local weed that we are supposed to keep out of our property, and there was one about 15M high & 250mm diameter growing in our yard, so I put the chainsaw through it. I noticed the heartwood was dark & relatively fine so I split a short billet and kept it. It turned & threaded very nicely, as it turned out - wish I'd kept it all!

On the other hand, some pieces I've purloined from wood-piles etc turned out to be better left where they were.

Live & Learn....
Cheers,

Yep Ill be going through local wood piles for nice straight grained wood. The Grey Box in our area is Euc microcarpa. Ive split and burnt literally tons of this stuff and have experienced some if it to have a tight wavy grain which you cant split with a block splitter for fire wood, but then other pieces that area just bang bang bang split easy. Ive experienced the same with River red Gum as well as Yellow Box Euc melliodora.
So, after this discussion I will find some different blocks cut them into billets and do some testing. By testing I mean cut the sizes Im planning on working on, as well as a piece for a wooden jointer plane, make some practice cuts and auger holes and belt on the jointer plane block with with a wooden mallet to see how the different pieces hold up.
Wish me Luck )