Blackwood Timber Opinion's

[auscab]

Any one have any thoughts about this Blackwood ?
I can have it free if I cut it and take it, But my question is ,is it worth the effort if I just get 1/4 sawn straight grain timber ?

If it had any figure ,like fiddle-back or quilting ,like other timbers that would be visible in the bark as well wouldn't it ?
Most of this seem straight ,that's the bottom two pictures I'm talking about,the tree is on its side is still alive and at its base its about 800 diameter further up below the fork at the red line it's about 4 to 500 mm
There are a few others the same size that are standing but dead , covered in moss.

And the one with the big S bend, that could be a bit wild on the inside, possibly nice backs ?

[woodrat]

Hi Rob, I got a big old blackwood nearly 3 years ago and it had a limb out of it. Where the limb had broken off I could see the fiddleback in the sapwood....you cant necessarily see it through the bark although if there is serious compression figuring you will usually see it through the bark.

If it is 800 at the base it is definitely worth a crack. I would be looking to get all my back billets from the 800 section and my sides from the narrower straighter bits further up.

John

[Stephen Kinnaird]

You did say "free". Man, oh man, the price is right.
Don't forget neck stock, solid body blanks, binding strips, etc.
If you've got the time, I'd say go for it.

Steve

[auscab]

Where the limb had broken off I could see the fiddleback in the sapwood....you cant necessarily see it through the bark
John

Thats interesting thanks John, I just spoke to a pofesional logger who said the same thing , his exact words were
" I cant pick it , it's not like looking at Red Gum,where you can spot it a mile off " he also said " people who mill it all the time can spot it ,but say it's hard to see "

Yeah Steve,
it's a good price all right, I have the car and trailer that will climb the hill to get to it, and I have the time, Sundays.
I just have to buy the saw,this could be the excuse to buy the saw is what I'm thinking .

A year back I was given an Oak log , it was fifteen feet to the first branch x three feet six at the base, and the guys who dropped it cut it in to five three foot lengths, I went out with the intention of splitting each section into quarters with wedges then bringing it back and converting it on the machines at work into table base material, we got it done, but never again.

[DarwinStrings]

The thought I have about this blackwood you have been offered sounds a lot like a chainsaw.

Jim

[auscab]

Yes Jim ,
I have been talking about one for a while. Do you use a chain saw for the logs you have cut up ?
And what sort , if you do ?

[DarwinStrings]

I have two but the small one gets the most use Rob, I wrote a bit about the small one here. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3350&p=40591&hilit=baumr#p40591 Cheap as chips but gets it done.

Jim

[auscab]

You did well with that small saw Jim, maybe I could get away with my Husqvarna { will have a look at the model no when I get home } it's a medium size saw with about a 20 " bar.

That was more of the Mahogany you were cutting wasn't it ?
And did you fit a rip chain or re grind for the rip cutting ?

[stopper]

Very difficult to tell if it has fiddle back without cutting into it. Sometimes a bit of dimpling under the bark is an indication. As fiddle back is easiest to see on the quarter you could do a shallow intersecting bore cut with your chainsaw to extract a small sample. If there is no figure it is still valuable timber but a lot of work and storage for a luthier whose time might be better spent on timber that is a little more rewarding. Also look for dead limbs that may indicate flaws in the centre of the trunk. Also grub holes - grubs love blackwood. White ants can also stain a lot of sets so check for any sign of their activity. Blackwood can have a wide sap band and knotty heart so the yield is often low but a tree with an 800mm butt is worth a crack.

regards
Steve

[MBP]

Get an axe and chip a bit of the bark away and then timber down low around the trunk. You can tell if you know what to look for.

If you dont know how to mill its probably not worth it.

You will need a bandsaw as well to cut the billets into sets.
Its best to quarter the log in as long a lengths as possible and take it home that way.

Cutting it into blocks and then quartering can leave you with no timber if there is a defect in the middle - this in quite common in blackwood. As stopper said there can be heaps of borers in blackwood.

[auscab]

Thanks for the tips there Steve and Ro,

After seeing Jims thread I bought in my Husqvarna 359 this morning ,
sharpened up the blade and left it as a normal cross cut blade is, it's a 59cc
with an 18" bar and got stuck into the two leftover Elm halves and the
two Oak quarters that I did not finish from a year back,it worked well.

Maybe that is the way to take on the Blackwood, chop to one meter lengths and
free hand mill it in to quarters,then back to the workshop and on to the band saw.

probably cut them to a rough sawn 12mm thick on the band saw ,or 15 mm to be safe ?

[woodrat]

Hi Rob, my version of quartersawing does not involve quarters like you have in the pictures. I take a chunk either side of the heart straight through at least 4 inches thick if I can get it. On your 800 wide piece you should be able to get this easily and then have two 1/2 round sections that you can saw another chunk at 90 degrees top the growth rings to give you a side billet that is quarter sawn. Ironically what you are left with is four small quarters that are pretty much useless but you should have large fat quartersawn billets to be able to resaw later.

John

[DarwinStrings]

I just used a standard cross cut chain too Rob.

Jiim

[matthew]

What you are left with is four small quarters that are pretty much useless

Except of course for carving roundback instruments, where truly quartered billets are preferable, and particularly if they are split.

[auscab]

Termites !!

Got in to this Blackwood tree yesterday, The chainsaw only just survived it ,it was taken from my hands and pinned between two logs at one stage ,I had to disassemble it to make it right , it went ok for the rest of the day ,although I stopped in the end because I could not start it, But ended up with one trailer load 5 X 1/2 logs.

Lucky for me the friend who gave me the wood had a tractor to lift the pieces on .talk about heavy work !

I pretty much worked out that it was going to be plane Blackwood after a few cuts ,but I'm having a good time and saving it from the fire place.

I did try splitting ,funny you mentioned that Matthew, only once though.

More pictures coming of this afternoons Band sawing.

[auscab]

Re sawing started with the best bit first ,this is from the bottom of the tree ,one half,approx 650 long.

I trimmed it up first , then split in in half ,and got six bits out of that 1/4 about 30mm thick.
If it dries well I may get four backs out of each or two if it moves around much .
what does not make backs can be uke bits maybe , how long are tenor sides ?

I dropped them in a water tank over night, and will paint the ends tomorrow

[auscab]

Oh Bugger ,

I meant Plain Blackwood!!

I was Russian.

[stopper]

Some nice colour there. The wide sap band and heart impact on what is left for tonewood but looks like some reasonable pieces there. I find splitting is best done when you have cut the rounds to the right length eg. 600mm for back and sides. Longer lengths are harder to split. I cut my tenor sides 480mm long. Looks like a good day out and better than leaving it to rot.
cheers
Steve

[woodrat]

Nice one Rob, Its a great feeling to go through the process of sourcing your own tonewood from the tree to the instrument. Well Done!

John

[Rod True]

Awesome post! Nice looking wood there. Might not have big fiddleback rays but the coloring is really nice.

[pavliku]

Hi Rob,
This is the first time I've seen wood soaked after cutting - can you explain this a little to me? Is this best practise for all types of wood?
Thanks, Paul.

[charangohabsburg]

Termites !!

They came for the beer in the first photo of this thread!

Beautiful wood, very nice colouring.
Congrats!

[auscab]

Thanks for the comments gents,
Termites on Coopers

Paul , I have seen logs under a sprinkler before keeping them wet to stop splitting, and I've read where whole Oak logs were left in a river for years before milling, I think this can be done with timbers that sometimes the structure of the wood collapses under normal air drying , the long soak helps it some how .

I just thought I would play it safe, the timber is losing moisture from the end , but it was only one day from when I cut it down, so it probably would have been ok . I painted the ends this morning.

I went to clean the band saw blade this morning and noticed a strange wobble , I then did a slow inspection and found this crack, a wobble or a clicking sound shows up before the thing breaks while it's being used.
It's always very nice to find them before they go .

The top picture is the chainsaw jammed and hooked between two logs, it was taken from my hands and ended up that way, thought it was the end of the day and it had only just started.the whole spring suspension anti vibe thing was left misaligned .to my surprise the bar and blade stayed straight.
It will be good to see the timber inside that big S bend log, hope to do it Sunday.

[charangohabsburg]

I went to clean the band saw blade this morning and noticed a strange wobble , I then did a slow inspection and found this crack, a wobble or a clicking sound shows up before the thing breaks while it's being used.
It's always very nice to find them before they go .

I solder my bandsaw blades until they get too short. I made a jig to align the blade. Good alignment is essential. Soldered blades will break next time at a different spot.

The top picture is the chainsaw jammed and hooked between two logs, it was taken from my hands and ended up that way,

Be careful, chainsaws are no pets.

Good luck!

[auscab]

I solder my bandsaw blades until they get too short. I made a jig to align the blade. Good alignment is essential. Soldered blades will break next time at a different spot.

Markus,
I should look in to doing repairs to my blades. I can weld and braze , I have never done much soldering though.
Do you scarf join them?
And do you know if silver or bronze brazing would be better, or not necessary ?