Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah

[BobL]

Todays menu, Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah. Jarrah is a large premium South Western Australian Eucalypt used for flooring and furniture making. The Blue tipped leaf is a hybrid of regular jarrah, found on the the coastal plain and further north than regular jarrah. Usually the Blue tipped leaf is stunted with twisted trunks and branches and millable logs are not all that common so you won't find it in stores. I have 3 logs, the biggest one (not shown here) is about 3ft in diameter at the base, the one I'm milling first is ~33 " at it's widest. Note the colour of the sawdust on the ground from last weeks cedar.

First Cut.

Some people think Jarrah is hard. It mills as easily as it is worked - ie quite easy compared to other Aussie hardwoods so it was a pleasure to mill. Also note spectacular change in sawdust colour

First cut: shows a lot of promise;

Second cut: starting to look real nice

A grain shot

 

[BobL]

Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah part II

Another grain shot. I don't think these photo's do justice to the colour, scarlet, claret, burgundyish.

Then it started raining and so I parked the BIL mill under the rear door of the van and waited. Here's a shot of BIL I don't think I have posted before.

I was mesmerized by the colour of the sawdust.

One more grain shot;

At this point it was still raining so I gave up and went and drank beer with the lads in the shed, more next week.

 

[dancan]

Great pictures of awesome wood , wish we had colors like that around here (we need a green with envy smiley).
What are you going to make out of the lumber ?

 

[BobL]

Great pictures of awesome wood , wish we had colors like that around here (we need a green with envy smiley).
What are you going to make out of the lumber ?

Thanks Dancan.
RE: What are you going to make out of the lumber ?
I rarely mill with a plan in mind of what it will be made into. It sounds corny I know but sometime in the next few years it will tell me what it wants to be and I usually oblige it's wishes. I also have to share this and all the logs I cut with the young fella and his father that rescue these logs from suburban gardens and parks. Nevertheless there we have heaps of timber and we are collecting it way faster than we use it.

 

[dustytools]

Beautiful wood Bob!!! Will it stay this color after it has dried?

 

[Zodiac45]

Wow that's gorgeous! Great stuff Bob!

 

[BobL]

Beautiful wood Bob!!! Will it stay this color after it has dried?

Like most timber it will fade significantly in sunlight or if left unfinish. If it is kept out of the sun and finished with a neutral oil or wax it will get very close to this colour maybe a touch browner. Really old jarrah trees can have wood that is a deep chocolate brown and after milling darkens even more like the slabs this desk is made out of.

Or the wooden pieces on the cricket bat display case I turned last week. The top part turns on a lazy susan bearing.

 

[dustytools]

Very nice!!! I starting to think like Woodshop now, I wanna make a trip over that way and load up my F-150 with some of that awesome looking wood that you all have. Beautiful work on the turnings!

 

[oldsaw]

Thanks Dancan.
RE: What are you going to make out of the lumber ?
I rarely mill with a plan in mind of what it will be made into. It sounds corny I know but sometime in the next few years it will tell me what it wants to be and I usually oblige it's wishes. I also have to share this and all the logs I cut with the young fella and his father that rescue these logs from suburban gardens and parks. Nevertheless there we have heaps of timber and we are collecting it way faster than we use it.

My wife doesn't understand that either.

Mark

 

[slabmaster]

Very Nice Bob.Puts our cherry to shame. I like the figure on the crotch board.Is that wood bad on cracking when drying? Our cherry is. Mark

 

[woodshop]

Very nice!!! I starting to think like Woodshop now, I wanna make a trip over that way and load up my F-150 with some of that awesome looking wood that you all have. Beautiful work on the turnings!

so... what's the price of gas up to these days? Trying to figure how many tankfuls it would take to get down there and back...

Absolutely gorgeous wood... as usual Bob, you wet my apatite.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Bob,
Man! thats some Beautiful Wood
Thanks for the pic


Gary

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

I have specified Jarrah for benches many times.

.

 

[MJR]

I want a small log. How much to ship a small log to central NY? Ha, can you please tell me (local friends) what tree this log came from - priceless... I am ready for a traveling milling vacation. Wonderful...

 

[BobL]

Is that wood bad on cracking when drying? Our cherry is. Mark

In terms of cracking when drying, Jarrah is generally better than most other Aussie hardwoods. I'm looking forward to some nice crotch pieces out of this log.

I want a small log. How much to ship a small log to central NY? Ha, can you please tell me (local friends) what tree this log came from - priceless... I am ready for a traveling milling vacation. Wonderful...

This log came from the south west of Western Australia near a place called Pinjarra. This area was heavily milled last century based on sawmills located in the jarrah forrests of the area at a place called Dwellingup (most of the commericially millable timber is now gone) where there are many tourist attractions associated with forestry including a school for fine woodworking using local timber.

Regular Jarrah is reasonably easy to source even in in the US (as per Larry the Cable Guy) at about the same price per cube we pay for it here (only until someone starts factoring in the real price of transport)! Finding a decent sized millable log of the blue tip hybrid with the bright red interior is another story. What is a shame is that small (<12 inch) logs of this tree are probably chipped every day by local tree loppers.

 

[deeker]

That is some VERY nice looking, well grained wood. Need my address?

I see your saw is pulling double duty!! I cut multiple logs on my bandsaw mill but have never done it with my alaskan mill.

Is it a soft or hard wood to cut when green? I wish I had a log of it to play with.

Keep up with the great pictures and info.

Kevin

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

That's beautiful wood! We have a few different kinds of eculyptus here that are used mostly for floors. I'm working on getting some to try out on some tables. That's a nice mill set-up you have there.

 

[BobL]

That is some VERY nice looking, well grained wood. Need my address?

I'll add it to the list!

I see your saw is pulling double duty!! I cut multiple logs on my bandsaw mill but have never done it with my alaskan mill.

Nah - it's just a branch union with the two branch ends showing.

Is it a soft or hard wood to cut when green? I wish I had a log of it to play with.

It's moderately soft when green (Janka hardness of 5.7 kN) but by the time it dries its on the hard end of the scale (8.5 kN compared to Hickory/pecan of 8.1 kN) for north american timber, but on the softer end of the hardwood scale for Aussie timber. Its glorious stuff to cut with the bright pink/red sawdust that squirts out of the CS - like a rose' wine from a barrel, not as bright as some red gums which have a similar colour but are much harder so the volume of sawdust is not a great.

Keep up with the great pictures and info.

OK !

 

[820wards]

Todays menu, Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah.


Bob,

That is some very beautiful wood you have there. Thanks for the information about the wood.

jerry-

 

[BobL]

More Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah

Cut some more Blue Tipped Leaf Jarrah today.

Couple of grain shots.

Cheers