Acacia

[Myrel Willeford]

I have a large acacia tree (acacia dealabata I think) in the back yard of the house I just bought. I am allergic to the pollen when it is in bloom, 🙁 so I am going to cut it down. It is about 16†in diameter. I cut down a smaller tree about 6†and stripped the bark and cut it into 24†logs these logs split all the way down the side to the pith in three spots before I had a chance to turn them. :mad: Has anyone turned acacia how does it turn? It appears to split worse then oak? I will have a lot to play with what is the best way to preserve it for future use?

Thanks
Myrel

 

[S. Clark]

Acacia is very nice to work with! Good grain color contrasts; polishes very well. After taking down the tree, leave it in as large a log as you can. It's going to be full of moisture this time of year so shrinkage will be sever. Coat the log ends and leave them in a cool shaded area. The small diameter stuff will split like you experienced but the larger stuff should hold for a few months. I find it turns better after it has sat for a couple months. Cut and prepare only the blanks that you'll be turning within a couple days or you'll get excessive checking. If you turn it down to about 1/4" or less you shouldn't have any checks. Of course don't leave the pith in you turnings. I haven't roughed any heavy blanks to dry before finish turning, but I suspect that if you use this technique you should seal coat the entire roughout and dry it as slow as possible.

- Scott

 

[underdog]

The procedure I've used is to cut the log into lengths that are easily split in two with a chainsaw. (If you split with an axe, it isn't as flat, and you tend to lose more wood.) Then coat the ends with a sealer of some type. The bark is left on. I just did this with three trees Saturday so we'll see how it works.

This essentially removes the pith from the equation. If you want to take that a step further, then remove about a 1 inch slab right from the center of the log, and take the pith completely out of the picture.

If you want to control the drying even more, then wrap the split, coated pieces in newspaper or a paper sack, and air dry on a rack or something.

Essentially you want the piece to dry, but not uncontrollably and unevenly. Coating the ends prevents the moisture from evaporating so quickly from the ends that the middle doesn't have time to catch up. The resulting pressures (in my understanding) are what create the splitting.

A process that has been discussed and cussed on this forum is the alcohol drying method, which I have yet to try, and is too expensive for my blood. You may want to try it if you're having problems.

According to my sources, the procedure I described should take care of the problem.

 

[Jeff Jilg]

If the wood is destined to become bowls you can reduce some of the drying stress by cutting the logs in half lengthwise. The outer circumference of the log will shrink faster than the inner core (pith). So when a log is drying in its whole form this creates stress on the outer area as shown in the attached picture. For many logs this ends up creating cracks that permeate from the outer circumference right to the pith.

I try to roughout all wood as soon as possible to reduce drying stress. Then I wax it with Anchorseal and let it dry slowly from that point.

 

[Myrel Willeford]

Thanks for all the help!
I will post a picture when I get somthing turned.

Myrel

 

[Hugh]

I believe the Black Acacia tree that we have growing in Northern California is related to the Koa tree that is found in Hawaii. I lucked on to some fairly large pieces about 8 months ago. Beautiful wood. Nice color (reddish). Large amount of sap wood. But the sap wood provides a nice contrast. Cut it up as the others have advised. I stored mine in the shade of the shop with a tarp over it after I had sealed the ends. I only have a couple of pieces left and the sap wood is starting to spalt. It has been a couple of months since I turned a chunk - but if I remember right - it dulls the tool quickly. But that gives me a chance to practice my sharpening techinique. Good luck.
Hugh

 

[Sean Troy]

We use that as much as we can here in Arizona. It takes sanding very well and is very nice looking after turned. Can't wait to see some of the pictures of the finished turning.