Today a friend of mine through our used tool store and a fellow craftsman dropped off an incredible gift for me today while I was working.
His name is Fred, and he is an amazing artist. He mostly builds large scale sculptures (20 ft tall) out of metal. He uses a lot of interesting and unusual materials for his works. He also runs a mill with another one of our customers and often stops by the shop to show us their latest “find” in the back of his modest pickup truck. Usually an incredible slab of black walnut burl, five feet across, or something of the like.
Well last week he told me that they had arranged to mill a Black Acacia tree for someone in the area. He asked me if I had ever used Black Acacia. I told him that I hadn’t even seen any before, so he told me he would bring me a small piece.
Well, this is what he brought me about an hour ago:
The main slab is about 2’ by 1’ across and 10” thick, plus a few smaller chunks with wonderful contrast between the sapwood and heart. There is an amazing amount of different colors throughout the wood.
I suppose I’ll have to let it dry for a couple of years before I can use it? It’s very wet. Does anyone know anything about Black Acacia wood?
These are the other slabs that he had in the back of his truck:
Just another perk of working at a local used tool store, I’m guess!
-- Dust collectors suck.
13 comments so far
CedarFreakCarl
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319 posts in 496 days
posted 207 days ago
I don’t know squat about black acacia Blake, but great score!
-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC
GaryK
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8404 posts in 431 days
posted 207 days ago
Very nice. Drying it depends on what you want to do with it. You could cut it in half and turn a bowl.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 542 days
posted 207 days ago
Lucky Dawg!
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Scott Bryan
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8494 posts in 265 days
posted 207 days ago
Very nice wood. I really like the grain pattern and color.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Karson
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12617 posts in 843 days
posted 207 days ago
Great gift Blake. A nice chunk of wood.
Look here
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Tony
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548 posts in 473 days
posted 206 days ago
Luck man – Now you definitely have got to get your lumber storage sorted out. Think about resawing it into thinner pieces – its is going to take a long time to dry (about 8 years) and there is a very good chance it will split over time.
This would be a nice lump to turn on a lathe, if you had one! I gotta find me another nice tree somewhere.
-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)
MsDebbieP
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11555 posts in 603 days
posted 206 days ago
oh wow.. Nice.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
rikkor
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7112 posts in 317 days
posted 206 days ago
Holy cow! What ever you do with it, I can’t wait to see it.
-- Maplewood, MN
Thos. Angle
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3243 posts in 405 days
posted 206 days ago
Well, Blake, I don’t know any thing about Acacia, black, white or purple but I know about lucky!! YOU is!!!
-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon
Dorje
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1736 posts in 439 days
posted 206 days ago
Doesn’t look like he gave you much in the way of long grain…true?
-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA
Blake
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1874 posts in 317 days
posted 205 days ago
True, Dorje. But I can be creative. (I make boxes… I don’t need much.)
-- Dust collectors suck.
Dorje
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1736 posts in 439 days
posted 205 days ago
I trust your creativity!
-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA
WDY
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3 posts in 104 days
posted 104 days ago
I’ve worked with acacia quite a bit and it’s usually really wonderful open grained hardwood. It’s a LOT softer green (like most hardwoods) so you could saw it up a little into billets which will dry more quickly. Wax the heck out of the end grain-maybe even twice. I’m a truner and have made some big green bowls of the stuff, and I always use the “alcohol cure”, submerging the semi-finished work in alc. for 24 hours. This helps a lot with cracking. I use Mike Mahoney’s walnut oil to finish with and it really pops the grain with those natural reds and golds. Watch the dust which is pretty toxic. Acacia is Koa’s first cousin.
-- WDY, alderwood.com