Thread: Is wattle anyy good for turning?

The universal answer is “It depends”. There are some lovely timber’s in the wattle family and then there is some rubbish. So it depends on the species of wattle and how it has grown. I suspect it is unlikely that you will find any of the really spectacular Acacia species among the windfalls but it would be well worth salvaging some nice sized pieces and give it a go. Nothing to lose!

Post some pics for ID, lots of Blackwood planted in Vic.

This plane setting mallet head is some kind of wattle from a friends garden. Turns okish but a bit bland.
As others have said there are many wattles and its only your time taken to give it a go. Free wood is always good and there may be some hidden gems in some of the other trees also.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by RSD

Two decent sized ones have come down in this evenings storms in Melboure (along with a gazillion other assorted trees).

Blackwood sure is a really nice Timber that comes from Wattle trees . Ive cut up either silver Wattle or Black Wattle ( not sure which ?) and its pretty nice stuff as well . Not as dark as Blackwood , half the strength of colour but a similar type of grain . A bit like a pale Mahogany from what I saw coming off the chainsaw. Id bet as long as its not riddled with worm or bug holes it will be nice . I haven't used mine for anything yet . I cut and painted large pieces big enough for 5 to 600 diameter bowls or platters .

Originally Posted by auscab

. Ive cut up either silver Wattle or Black Wattle ( not sure which ?) and its pretty nice stuff as well . Not as dark as Blackwood , half the strength of colour but a similar type of grain .

More typically silver wattle around here. Apparently some of the more "commercially savvy" millers have been known to alternate rows of blackwood and wattle when racking the timber to dry. After a season in the weather with the rain washing the blackwood stain over the wattle boards it was hard to pick the difference. I've even had a saw miller tell me that he bought a blackwood table and later he and one he of his mates came to the conclusion that it was wattle.

Originally Posted by RSD

Two decent sized ones have come down in this evenings storms in Melboure (along with a gazillion other assorted trees).

As others have suggested, such it and see.

Some of our Wattles (Acacias) are among the most spectacular woods in the world. Among the best are the slow growing ones in the arid areas of Australia, although I turn a lot of our local Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) that grows here in the wetter Adelaide Hills.

Vern (ttit), who is a is a member of this forum, has 75 different Acacias in his sample egg collection that can be viewed online at All the eggs If you do a search on that page with the term 'acacia' and then hover over any of the highlighted results you will get an image of the egg in that wood shown on the right.

You might might find your Acacia there in Vern's collection. A photos of the foliage and bark are also helpful in identifying the tree.

IMO, it's important to try to identify the correct botanical name of the woods we are turning.

Blackwood is Wattle Acacia