Thread: Carneii Australian Purpleheart

Peter , you are getting good at this!!!, great pen and blank, Amos

Great looking Pen Peter well done.
You are a master of turning cross cut blanks pens.

Peter you have been a busy boy Nice pen well done
How is the weather down there I thought it would be geting a bit to cold to play in the shed?

very nice peter

didnt know we had our own purpleheart !! what part of oz does it grow ????

troy

Now that's nice.

Originally Posted by mkypenturner

very nice peter

didnt know we had our own purpleheart !! what part of oz does it grow ????

troy

i may be wrong () but i think it is Acacia Carneii, which grows in NSW and is endangered.

Peter should be able to correct me or agree with me on this one.

Yes it is called highly endangered grows in an isolated area only in NSW it is also a mongrel cross cut requires a lot of soul searching in the process of turning. Quite character building really. Hi to you both and everyone who has an interest or passion in pens.
Regards Peter.

That is quite special Peter!!

Peter
another very special pen
welldone

that's a nicely prepared blank - love the way you've got the sapwood at each end.

Cheers,
Dave

Originally Posted by mkypenturner

very nice peter
didnt know we had our own purpleheart !! what part of oz does it grow ????
troy

As Peter (Penpal) says, Acacia carnei is an endangered species, and grows only in limited areas of arid country in western NSW. It is more commonly known as "Dead Finish", being so tough that when it is dead, everything's finished (although I should note that there are at least four different trees that are known by this name, depending on where they come from: A. carnei & A. tetragonophylla; Archidendropsis basaltica; and Albizia basaltica).

I beg to differ with Peter - I have had DF change colour from heat when turning/sanding, but it regains its beautiful purple colour fairly quickly when it settles down. Below is a snap of a set of items I turned using this wood; unfortunately the colour balance of my phone camera does not do justice to its subtle purple hues.

A related (and vary rare) species that also has a striking purple colour is Pink or Purple Gidgee (Acacia crombiei) from Queensland. I was lucky enough to obtain one of Terry Gordon's beautiful miniature smoothing planes in this wood.

Acacia Carneii spell it how you will is unique and different to all timbers known as Dead Finish all of the collected so called Dead Finish timbers I have had or seen fade over time. All timbers change colour during excessive sanding somewhat.
The name change adopted by some limited groups of people is their privilige so many locally used names exist for a huge list and this can extend to spelling changes.
I have first hand knowledge via this pen from Acacia Carneii spell it how you will came from the restricted area where it was grown where it is known to grow only as Carneii by the protectors of the trees. My desire was never to pinpoint the growing location for the same reason a Palm Tree found in the last whiles location although known is not promulgated to respect the species. I have never seen Dead Finish the same as Carneii and indeed they those others have all faded with time.
Having said that I have overseas Purple Heart that maintains its beaut colour in my Pen Collection that is not subject to change.
The end result of all Pen Blanks for me is in the finished product when for example I buy Tasmanian Eucalypt Burl dealers never will define that large number of tree names that exist under that name another is Goldfields Burl.
As I regard Tornatus as a friend I wish to comment the articles he included on my post are impressive the pictures I like, but I am not persuaded to change my classification to a loose banding of Dead Finishes.

Regards Peter.