I had an acacia tree come down last night in a monsoon storm. Snapped it off about 1' below grade! The biggest part is about 12" in diameter. Anyone worked with this stuff to know if it is worth saving for lumber or turning?
-Doug
acacia is a large family with wood with very different properties. a lot of them have very pretty wood, a lot of them are also unstable. cit it to length and slab it as soon as possible and seal the ends thoroughly.
I got a boomerang made of acacia when I was in Australia last year (at least that's what the guy said). Relatively useless knowledge to you, but I think it's interesting ...
ws
Koa is an acacia, so at least one species is suitable. Also, I've seen "black acacia" sold on online lumber sites as well.
-jbb
Well, God told Moses to use it for the Ark of the Covenant--I don't think you'll find a higher recommendation than that :)
Of course there's about a zillion species of acacia--don't know if yours is the same variety that Moses used.
I turned some (green) this past summer to see what it was like. Seeing as how you and I live pretty close to each other, I'll guess that we're talking about similar species.
On my sample, the heartwood (very dark and pretty, BTW) was significantly harder than the white sapwood. However, the pith was very soft and spongy. My turning was from a whole branch, and I got into the pith in a couple places where the turning was narrow. That pretty much ruined the turning.
Looking at the woodpile where the rest of the larger pieces went, I see some moderate checking on the ends, but no bad splits. This has been drying since May. All of it is under four inches in diameter, and none was waxed, as it is intended for firewood.
That bodes pretty well as far a movement goes. I suspect lumber taken carefully from larger stock would turn very nicely, green or dry. And that sealed and dried properly, the lumber would make a pretty box or other small project.
Jim
Thanks Jim. I'll get it whacked up and ready. Now, all I hafta figure out is where to store it.
-Doug
For a while during that storm, I thought an ark (Noah's type) might be a good idea! Never before in AZ have I seen hailstones 1.5" in diameter. It was raining/hailing so hard (horizontally) that the visibility was down to less than 100 yards, and went on for over an hour.
-Doug
Doug Winterburn wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com:
My woodturning friends are nuts about black acacia. They love to turn it when it's green. Makes really nice pieces.
Patriarch
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