Thread: Free pen blanks were not Rose Sheoak

Well I at least am enlightened, I didn't know what RSO stood for in the first place , If its not written on the wood I never know what it is, get's a bit embarrassing at the markets hehe. Thanks for that info

Thanks for that Brian. I have marked my blanks accordingly. Great blanks, thanks again mate.

Not sure about the RSO label, but Rose Sheoak has the lace grain and a red brown, black sheoak doesn't have lace grain and is more a creamy brown.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

black sheoak doesn't have lace grain and is more a creamy brown.

I'd like to argue that. If you look at the Black Sheoak in Chris Vespers tools you can see that there's very clear flecking. Same with Wizened's sheoak. I'm fairly sure the "Black Sheoak" you gave me isn't sheoak

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Not sure about the RSO label, but Rose Sheoak has the lace grain and a red brown, black sheoak doesn't have lace grain and is more a creamy brown.

Okay Neil. I'll give you some pics but you'll have to wait till the weekend.
The only sheoak I know of (as yet) that does not have prominent medullary rays is Belah, Casuarina cristata, and it is generally light brown.

Now I'm confused

Originally Posted by munruben

Now I'm confused

So am I, but I will try and clarify from the little I know

Originally Posted by funkychicken

I'd like to argue that. If you look at the Black Sheoak in Chris Vespers tools you can see that there's very clear flecking. Same with Wizened's sheoak. I'm fairly sure the "Black Sheoak" you gave me isn't sheoak

I looked at Chris's site, but I could only find his reference to Lace Sheoak and Black red Gum, not Black Sheoak.

Originally Posted by Wizened of Oz

Okay Neil. I'll give you some pics but you'll have to wait till the weekend.
The only sheoak I know of (as yet) that does not have prominent medullary rays is Belah, Casuarina cristata, and it is generally light brown.

When I refer to the Sheoaks with lace grain I am referring to the two-tone lace grains that are very prominent such as the reds in Rose Sheoak or River Oak (Allocasuarina torulosa – photo1) or the dark browns in Hairy Oak (Allocasuarina inophloia – photo2) or Bull Oak (Allocasuarina luehmannii).

Now the timber I gave FC was what I know as Black Sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis) from my last construction site. I still have one log, so I took some more photos - Photo3 is a dry slice, photo4 a wet slice (with water) and photo5 the bark.

Perhaps one of the experts can confirm it as Black Sheoak, or shed some more light if it is another species.

Cheers

Hello Neil
You've stumped me with that one. I can only say with confidence what it is not.
It is not Allocasuarina littoralis. A. littoralis has a dense bark, dark grey to black in colour. Casuarina equisetifolia (Beach Sheoak) has a fibrous bark. Never seen it's timber myself but a few sources say it has deep red heartwood and creamy brown sapwood.
Knowing where your tree came from I'd first think Casuarina glauca (Swamp Sheoak) could be likely, but the bark doesn't look right either. And it's timber usually has distinct mottling.
Do you have anything else to go on? Any foliage or cones?
The bark and timber of the tree I got those pen blanks from closely match the photos in Ashley Sewell's "Australian Timbers".

Before dai sensei threw his grenade, I set out to confirm that I have two species of Sheoak on my place and to correctly name some pen blanks I took to his GTG on Australia day.
Little wonder I got it wrong. The tree the pen blanks came from is a male Black Sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis) and all the sheoaks nearby are Rose Sheoak (Allocasuarina torulosa). A group a few hundred metres away is a mix of the two species.
The photos should fill in the details. (Black Sheoak bark photo is in my previous post).

Hmm, now you've got me thinking.

You are right that it is not Swamp Sheoak, I have some of that too, but this log comes from a different area not containing Swamp Sheoaks. The logs were in a big pile of bulldozed trees, but the branches cut off and placed in another pile - branches for one mulcher, the logs for another. There were certainly Sheoak branches in the smaller pile and I had assumed the log was from that, but there were many other tree branches in that pile belonging to other trees, likewise in the log pile.

I will go back to the EIS to identify what other trees would have been in the pile to help us.

The area is known as having “Black Sheoak Heathland” and “Swamp Mahogany Forest”.

Amongst other species is the Common Tea-tree (Leptospermum polygalifolium).

What do you reckon?

Originally Posted by dai sensei

The area is known as having “Black Sheoak Heathland” and “Swamp Mahogany Forest”.

Amongst other species is the Common Tea-tree (Leptospermum polygalifolium).

What do you reckon?

Hi Guys
The Grain doesn't look dark enough for Swamp Mahogany { at least the stuff I've seen and used } The grain does look like Swamp she-oak though could be river she-oak {Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq}, the shape is right and the bark looks to be sort of right , unsure of the grain as I have never seen it

-Glenn-

They're definately not Ebony!!!!!