Unusual Blackwood

[Bob Connor]

A friend of mine in Tasmania sent me this pic of a Blackwood tree growing on his property.

There would be some fairly crazy grain the bend (break) one would imagine.

Whether it would be stable enough to use once dried would be another matter.

[Mat]

I'd say most of that lower section would have nice figure throughout it. When I mill twisty 'ugly' sections I always end up with the best looking timber.

[routout]

One piece neck and heal.

[demonx]

Reminds me of this tree I saw on my block the other day:

[blackalex1952]

River oak roots form "knees" which used to be used, before the trees were protected,for boatbuilding. In fact, for hundreds of years the English kings and queens owned the oak forests for their navies.The guys culturing the trees used to split saplings, prune, bend and brace them etc in order to grow the oak trees into shapes that became on maturity, the stems, sterns, knees of the great warships. The techniques handed from father to son meant that the son was harvesting ships components that were planted pruned and shaped by their fathers and grandfathers, and the trees they planted were to be harvested when these men were either very old or long gone. It would make sense, if only for cosmetic reasons, to make a guitar neck from one piece that included the heel and an integral part of the tree. The blackwood in the photo has been a shoot that has re grown from a cut branch. So it would not be as strong as a bend that was made in a sapling and kept in that position to mature, with continuous grain running through it. But the decorative aspect of the tree in the photo would be interesting, lots of curly grain. The Australian Aborigines used to bend and plat saplings which became trees, to mark sacred areas and as a warning to the un initiated to stay away. Three crossed plats, I was told, signifies a Secret Women's site, two signifies a Secret Male site. So, if cutting bush timbers, it would be a mark of respect to our first people not to cut any sacred markers.
Ross