Report on California Wild Acasia

This an image of an acacia back I'm working on. I pulled the log out of a roadside ditch. It didn't look like much when I cut it up green. But now upon sanding I'm stoked about the look for a light colored instrument. I cut the sets green, they didn't check or warp at all. The wood bends nicely. It seems a little less prone to splitting and a little stronger but lighter than koa. It is hard to see in the photo this piece is very nicely figured which I think will come out well when lacquered. I got so excited I went back with my chainsaw and got the rest of the log which was about 14 inches across. This has got me thinking about sustainability. It is my understanding that we have some koa growing in the SF Bay Area. I plan on odering some seeds and give a shot at seeing if they will grow well here in Sonoma County California.

Nice wood. I made a mandolin with acacia back and sides.The piece I used as the back was from a tree that blew down in a storm, in the hills above Adelaide where I live. It was then harvested and put into the wood pile by a guy who builds all sorts of instruments - hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, dulcimer - and ultimately 25 years later sold to me as a mandolin back. It was nice to work with as far as carving and all that. It also has some figure in the wood.

There are several acacias growing in California including Acacia melanoxylon...also known as Tasmanian Blackwood. That is what yours looks like, and it's terrific instrument building wood...it's a bit harder than Acacia koa, and sometimes has intense fiddle back figure. But...the Aussies have found the dust to be a carcinogen, so wear a mask, and clean up.

Google "Acacia Melanoxylon" for more info.

Don't go telling them about our best kept secret Rick. We're trying to keep all the Tassy Blackwood for ourselves.

I've got tons of the stuff but the way it looks, sounds and works, I'm always happy for more to come my way.

looks terrible too

That is beautiful liam_fng, the acacia I've been sawing on is not Acacia melanoxylon, I think it's Acacia dealbata otherwise known as silver wattle. It is much lighter in color than the blackwood and the leaves are quite a bit different.

Don't know about the wood but I've seen that shape before!

What is that shape? It's awesome... kinda looks like an Ibanez Iceman.

liam_fnq said:

looks terrible too

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Beautimous stuff.

Vic D said:

What is that shape? It's awesome... kinda looks like an Ibanez Iceman.

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This is the only place I've seen it.

Awe inspiring stuff Chuck. My birds theme on this soprano I'm working on is very similar to yours.. probably because that's one of my favorites that you've done and it's stuck in my head.

well acacia is on the list of psychedelic plants.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychedelic_plants

No wonder I have been so high on working with it and acting like a fool. This from wikipedia...... In a recent study, researchers identified thirty-one alkaloids in samples of plant foliage, including trace amounts of five amphetamines previously believed to be human inventions:[5] amphetamine, methamphetamine, N,N-dimethylamphetamine, p-hydroxyamphetamine and p-methoxyamphetamine. Other trace alkaloids include DMT (found in many related species), nicotine, and mescaline (found in many cacti but infrequently in other plants).

Yeah that is some nice looking wood. Amazing the amount of beautiful wood that gets cut down and no one ever uses. I scored a big log of lychee from the greenwaste few years back. Curl going throughout the whole piece. Strong curl that looked like ropes. Thick fiddleback. Awsome stuff.Wish I could have gotten more of it. The person cutting down that tree had no clue.Okay, I admit.I am a wood junkie.

Huna said:

well acacia is on the list of psychedelic plants.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychedelic_plants

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I'll probably struggle to get the entire uke side under my tongue though.......................

I can't help myself....so you want California Search tools down to geo coord (pictures, who identified, etc) for Acacias by species, and all those others trees that exist elsewhere but are growing here or Australian based search, id , alternate name and research,, native habitats and how they grow differently over the vast range where they might grow in Australia or elsewhere. How about webbased wattle/eucalyptus search for crossreferencing what's really in your back yard? When I first became a member I started a thread about What's in your back yard.....didn't go very far. But I've kept at it myself, the local goal being getting neighbors within ten square blocks knowing that I was interested. It's been amazing for many reasons.

Ok here goes these are some of the tools I've discovered that have helped--both Calif and Australian (listed in order that I've recently used them--you do the sorting if you wish and don't be fooled by the name many will default to Black Acacia with large resources buried at the home or root of the search tool some of this is simple some won't be for the faint of research heart. Just the California stuff is mind boggling): 1) http://selectree.calpoly.edu/photos.lasso?rid=28&-session=selectree:4785D2921d5f62AB53nJI3940A75 2) http://www.worldwidewattle.com/infogallery/publications/wattle.php 3) http://www.worldwidewattle.com/speciesgallery/home.php 4) http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/ 5) http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/euclid3/euclidsample/html/learn.htm#identification 6) http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/c...search=yes&namesearch=acacia&showsyn=OK&dist= (wattle web) 7) http://www.calflora.org/ If you even read more than the first two sentences of this you might have some bizarre interest in more....let me know.