Thread: Amazing Buloke

Here are some pen blanks I cut from the Highly Figured Buloke.

Originally Posted by brendan stemp

Here are some pen blanks I cut from the Highly Figured Buloke.

Brendan, I hope you have these under lock and key. When some of those penturners see them you may have to sleep with side-arms to protect them.

Very nice Brendan I've got some River Oak burl that has the same figure except the dark bits are darker and the swirls are lighter - very special stuff - and one day I'm going to make something out of it

Originally Posted by brendan stemp

I know it grows in my area; ie western Victoria and think I would be right in saying it grows west of the Great Dividing Range up to central NSW. It is a Casurina, like She Oak and looks quite similar to She Oak. One easy way to tell the difference is the needles(leaves) on the BUloke point upwards while those on the SO point downwards.

It actually grows up through parts of QLD too but unlike your states, it's not on the endangered list here yet - and there just happens to be a patch just out the road
Careful using the needle direction as a guide - boring old Belah points upwards too and even grows amongst Buloke in places - only sure ID is the pumpkin shaped cones

...

Happy New Year Turners!

I have a friend from overseas who, having discovered the existence of Buloke, and the fact that, apparently it's the hardest wood in the world, is very interested in obtaining a large enough piece to make a tool handle - say 30mm x 50mm x 400mm. In the interests of furthering the international standing of Aussies everywhere, can anyone give me some leads towards obtaining some?

Appreciate your help and regards

Derek

nice pieces . you could try used coffee grounds and super glue comes up nice and stays in place

Ian

Originally Posted by Yxoc

I have a friend from overseas who, having discovered the existence of Buloke, and the fact that, apparently it's the hardest wood in the world...

Tell him he's dreamin It may be hard, but certainly not the hardest in the world

I can help out with that order. Send me an email.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Tell him he's dreamin It may be hard, but certainly not the hardest in the world

Neither the densest (heaviest), nor the harshest on turning tools, but, according to a number of sources, the hardest wood as measured on the Janka scale:

Ref 1

Ref 2

Ref 3 see the heading "The World's Top 125 Known Hardest Woods" about one third the way down page or search for the following phrase within that page The Hardest Wood In The World, Known To Man Or On Earth Is

Neil,

the third link was interesting, I only cast my over it quickly but noticed many woods I hear you guy's talking about. Seems a lot of your timbers are among the hardest.

Brendan,
Thank you for the offer to help - e-mail sent.

Neil - Thanks for those references, amazing how many acacias appear at the top of that list, and to a lesser extent, casuarinas and eucalypts.

Regards to all

Derek

Originally Posted by NeilS

Neither the densest (heaviest), nor the harshest on turning tools, but, according to a number of sources, the hardest wood as measured on the Janka scale:

Ref 1

Ref 2

Ref 3 see the heading "The World's Top 125 Known Hardest Woods" about one third the way down page or search for the following phrase within that page The Hardest Wood In The World, Known To Man Or On Earth Is

I stand corrected .

I would have put the stuff I have here softer than Hairy Oak, I can dint it easily

Originally Posted by dai sensei

I stand corrected .

I would have put the stuff I have here softer than Hairy Oak, I can dint it easily

Something to keep in mind - it is simply the hardest wood THAT HAS BEEN JANKA TESTED - not necessarily the hardest wood in existence! Since that bloke published those results last year I have had more requests for Buloke through my website than you can poke a stick at, possibly one from Dereks mate included - has certainly made it flavour of the month in the US

And perhaps my Bull Oak is not the same as yours . From Australian National Herbarium:

Cardwellia sublimis	Bull Oak (13)
Cardwellia sublimis	Bull Oak (10)
Cardwellia sublimis	Northern Bull Oak (10)
Casuarina obesa	Grey Bull Oak (10)
Casuarina suberosa	Bull Oak (10)
Hakea chordophylla	Bull Oak (10)
Oreocallis wickhamii	Lowland Bull Oak (10)
Allocasuarina fraseriana	Bull Oak (14)
Allocasuarina littoralis	Bull Oak (14)
Allocasuarina luehmannii	Bull Oak (14)

The stuff I was given was from the back of Toowoomba, common names .

Cheers