Acacia melanoxylon of the family Fabaceae. Also commonly called Australian blackwood, this evergreen tree grows up to 100+ feet high but is usually quite a bit smaller. The species is native to a swath of coastline around the Eastern and Southeastern part of Australia and on the island of Tasmania which is off the Southeast coast of Australia but has been introduced to several other areas, primarily as an ornamental tree. It now is present in Africa, Asia, Europe, Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, South America and the United States. Because of its tendancy of replace native growth, it is a declared an invasive species in South Africa, California, and other places.
The heartwood is golden to dark brown, sometimes with reddish tints and with darker growth rings. The sapwood will range in colour from straw to grey-white and shows a clear demarcation from the heartwood. It is usually straight grained but may be wavy or interlocked and quartersawn surfaces sometimes produce a nice fiddleback figure. The wood is lustrous, has a fine to medium texture, is fairly easy to work, and can be brought to a very high quality finish even though at about 45 pounds per cubic foot, it is only a moderately dense wood. It has a low to moderate movement in service and has a janka hardness of 1720, which is about the same as American black locust and just slightly below pecan/hickory.
I note that the range of colors for the woods shown on this page is rather extrement, so I'm dubious that they are all really from the same species ... BUT, I can't say with any authority that they are or are not.
my samples:
NOT raw wood colors log ends and two closeups of same --- moistened with water for the pics
NOT raw wood colors some slabs and two closeups of same --- moistened with water for the pics
All of the above pics are "my" samples only in that Rick Savary sent them to me. Rick obtained these from firewood dealers in Southern California. The logs were about 18"-22" in diameter. He also turned the bowl shown at the bottom of the page.
flat cut (appears to be pure sapwood), quartersawn, end grain
Tasmanian blackwood(Acacia melanoxylong, listed as just "blackwood") from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
web pics
plank with both wet and dry sections
planks
planks showing sticker stain
plank listed as koala with the statement that that name is a substitue common name for Tasmanian blackwood, BUT ... I have not found the name "koala" used by any other vendor in the world, so I'm dubious.
not sure what this is but it was listed as a Tasmanian blackwood plank
both sides of a plank and a closeup
both sides of a plank and a closeup
turning stock
figured planks
plank and closeup
plank and closeup
turning squares
bowl blanks that have been coated with wax
curly bookmatched pairs
figured scales
turning sticks
fiddleback pen blanks
veneer
veneer moistened for the pics
figured veneer
fiddleback veneer
listed as quilted veneer and moistened for the pic; if this is a quilted figure at all, it is an extremely weak one compared to the normal meaning of the term.
glulam
guitar kit and several guitar backs
three views of a bowl
bowls
bowl with an unlikely color --- I think this has got to be mis-identifed wood or an amazingly bad pic (hm ... maybe it could be all sapwood; doesn't seem likely). Now that I've gotten a similar-colored pic of a vase from Rick Savary (see below), I'm thinking maybe this IS a more or less correct color.
two views of a vase turned by Rick Savary --- enlargements are present
NOT raw wood colors
NOT raw wood colors
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