Acacia melanoxylon or Blackwood

[magnus]

i am new to all this milling and looking for basic info for a newbie.

is it better to mill wet or dry?

what size planks are good to cut? limitations of warping etc?

any other usefull info regarding this species would be appreciated, i litterally have tons of it lying around my house.

thanks.

 

[excess650]

Green wood is easier to cut, but dry wood can still be milled.

 

[Gumnuts]

G'day Magnus.Welcome to the site

Suggest milling this one wet.........hard on the saw and chain .Cut it thick ,55mm minimum.Very prone to end splits.
What size logs have you got ? What saw are you planning to run.?...I am presuming it's a chainsaw mill your using.
Rip the bark off first.....as its like charcoal to cut .. Strongly suggest semi-chisel.....!!!
Naturally the nicest figured wood will be the knarly trees and crotch sections.Striaghter sections can be average but give a great finish.
Any hope of a pic or 2.
i have some in the racks i can pull out and show you tomorrow......but there can be a lot variation in colours with this variety
...the more tropical you are ....the more color.I mention that because yr location states the Azores.Sounds like you might have
some nice stuff with reds oranges and blacks ,predominating.
- Graeme

 

[Matildasmate]

Blackwood is best cut green , it is a pain in the ass to cut when it is dry , you will need to wear a mask with this stuff .

 

[magnus]

What size logs have you got ? What saw are you planning to run.?...:

will get some pics up ASAP.
i noticed there are both white and red trees, are these different species or normal color variation?

logs are average 60cm diameter, some 1 metre, some 30cm.

i will use a Stihl 660 and Logosol.

what is `semi-chisel`?

is the mask for dust or some odd toxin?

thanks for the great input.

 

[Matildasmate]

will get some pics up ASAP.
i noticed there are both white and red trees, are these different species or normal color variation?

logs are average 60cm diameter, some 1 metre, some 30cm.

i will use a Stihl 660 and Logosol.

what is `semi-chisel`?

is the mask for dust or some odd toxin?

thanks for the great input.

Blackwood has a rough dark grey almost black bark , your trees dont sound much like blackwood . Your 660 will piss it in mate . The toxin if I remember rightly is arsnic . cheers MM

 

[BlueRider]

I milled some on a woodmizer a few years ago. the tell tale for ID is the cambium is a bright red when the wood is green. Off the mill the wood will look almost like macassar ebony. it will lighten as it dries and the color variation within one board can make it dificult to use in fine furniture. don't get me wrong it is spectacular wood but you will need a lot of it for a project just to be able to match the color consistantly. it also has a lot of chatoyance which can also complicaste the color matching but can make the finished piece even more spectacular. the wood has a lot of chainging direction of the grain which makes it a very poor choice for carving and it can be harsh on plane irons and other cutting tools and with all the resins it burns easily with dull saw blades. that all said I would jump at the chance to mill a 60 cm acacia log.

In California we have a lot of acacia melonoxin as well as a fair bit of acacia baileyana(Cootamundra Wattle)I have not milled any bailey's acacia but I have seen the wood and it is lighter in color and very nice. I don't know anything about the tocic part of the tree and defer the the Aussie's around here as this was originaly one of their trees.

 

[Matildasmate]

Does it look anything like this http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=57551

 

[magnus]

i tried to check out the photos, but i am not a member of that board and cannot access photos. any chance to post them here?

i will get photos online soon.

i am fairly certain that is the correct species name. here is a post from the azores site about flora. the last paragraph has the acacia info.

The vegetation of the Azores is composed of 56 indigenous species and is considered one of the most interesting in Europe. A short list of the dominant species is as follows: Cedar (Juniperus brevifolia), English Holly (Ilex perado ssp.azorica), Sheepberry (Viburnum tinus, ssp.subcordatum), Scotch Heather (Daboecia azorica), Heath (Erica scoparia, ssp.azorica), Wildberry (Vaccinium cylindraceum), Spurge-flax Daphne (Euphorbia stygiana), “Pau Branco” (Picconia azorica), Morello Wild Cherry (Prunus lusitanica ssp.azorica).




Co-inhabiting with these various species, in the most barren areas are flora of the “Macaronesia” species which enrich the region not only botanically and scientifically but also by enhancing the visual beauty of the landscape. Among these, the most distinguished are the Brazilian Mahogany (Persia indica), the “Tamujo” (Myrsine africana), the Dogwood (Frangula azorica), and the Laurel tree (Laurus azorica), to name just aa few.



Many other species were introduced to enhance the beauty of the countryside and for commercial development. The Japanese Cryptomeria, which was introduced to the region about 100 years ago, is highlighted due to its extreme importance in lumber production for both the regional market and for export. The Acacia (Acacia melanoxylon) is another species strongly implanted in the Region and is second to the Cryptomeria in lumber production.
There remain a large variety of species varying from sub-shrub to large trees which are used as ornaments, as property dividers, or as shelter from the wind for the many fruit farms, vineyards, and cultivated lands. The most common examples of this are the garden walls of the Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), the picturesque groves of Azaleas (Rhododendron indicum), and the elegant hedges of Camellias (Camellia japonica).

 

[BobL]

This is tassie blackwood
(I made this guitar at a guitar making school two summers ago;

More pics here

 

[BIG JAKE]

What a beauty Bob man nice look.

 

[BobL]

What a beauty Bob man nice look.

Cheers Jake, it sounds good too, pity my playing isn't up to the way it sounds. 3 of my 4 brothers are all good players and can make that sucker wail!

 

[Matildasmate]

Blackwood photos

These logs on the back of my ute mite make it a bit easier to identify . Cheers MM

 

[Gumnuts]

.

what is `semi-chisel`?

is the mask for dust or some odd toxin?

thanks for the great input.

Semi-chisel is in reference to the type of cut the chain will give.....eg, simple way to describe it is a fine tooth hand saw as opposed to large tooth.All makes aof chain have differant chain types avail.
full chisel
semi-chise
skip tooth
many others.
Specific applications for: The type of wood ,hard or soft.
The desired cutting application,cross-.cut or
ripping (milling)
The power of the saw you are you using.
Here are a couple of link you can see the differant chain types available
Don't just order one one loop of chain....it;s coming by ship !!!
I suggest semi-chisel because it would be the most appropriate for your
applications.Hard-wood,dropping trees,ripping type of hard-wood,cross-cutting hard too.It will stay sharpest the longest and give you the best wear.
Also order some sharpening files to suit.
The mask is for both dust and toxin.
The pictures you posted in your other thread show distinctive Blackwood
foliage.
You will find much helpfull info if you look in forum searches at the top of
each AS page.
http://www.oregonchain.com/search.htm

 

[Gumnuts]

These logs on the back of my ute mite make it a bit easier to identify . Cheers MM

Nice sticks.....thanks for posting.Have been caught up with animals and vets!

 

[Gumnuts]

BobL
Really nice work there Bob.Looks fiddly

 

[BobL]

BobL
Really nice work there Bob.Looks fiddly

Yeah the Tassie Blackwood and the Queensland Maple both has some fiddle back, and making the thing took a fair bit of fiddling too.

 

[magnus]

i brought a ton of photos today for you guys, but they are all 600x800 and the site will only accept 600x600.

will resize at home and then post.

that guitar is amazing! i read somewhere that the hawaiians use acatia to make their instruments, giving it magical powers.

thanks for all the good info, this should get me started in the right direction. will post more questions once the mill arrives.

 

[BlueRider]

i brought a ton of photos today for you guys, but they are all 600x800 and the site will only accept 600x600.

will resize at home and then post.

that guitar is amazing! i read somewhere that the hawaiians use acatia to make their instruments, giving it magical powers.

thanks for all the good info, this should get me started in the right direction. will post more questions once the mill arrives.

I have a similar problem with having to resize the pics. one way that works for me is to upload them to a free Photobucket.com account and then use the post to forums option on that site and paste that tag into a message here. that will then open in the text of the mesage at the proper size.

I visited your blog the first time I saw you post but missed the Japanese cedar which is not really a cedar but rather a cypress. If you are not familiar with it it is known as hinoki and is one of the most prized woods in japan. It is also nearly identical geneticaly to Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and though natice to a small area near monterey Ca it is grown extensively throughout Ca,New Zealand,and Australia.

The hinoki will be as hard to mill as the acacia. it enapsulates silica and is masivily heavy with water. It will also gum up yur chain and you would really benifit from using an outboard oiler. the wood tends to end check while drying and that is contolled a lot by end sealing. in use the wood cuts, planes, and carves well. It turns well but only when dry as green turnings tend to self destruct when drying. When carving you have to have very sharp tools and touch them up regularly due to the silica but with the hich oil content it self burnishes as you carve. When freshly worked it will be light in color and will quikly age to a wonderfully warm orange tone. I have used oil, lacquer, and waterborne finishes and all work well my current favorite is a coat of tung oil followed by several coats od water based poly. It is a bear to mill and does not dry particularly will but it is one of my favorite woods to work with. once it is dry and cut to shape it is every bit as stable as walnut or mahogany. It is also a tone wood.

Every species has its "king" with acacia it is hawaian koa. with cypress it is arguably japanese cedar(port orford cedar, another miss named cypress would be the other choice for "top" cypress).

 

[magnus]

thanks for the photobucket idea. that worked really well.