welcome

Blackwood …. and now, rare South African timbers too!

We have been delighted by the reception our blackwood has received in the Australian market. Overwhelmingly, clients have commented on the colour tones of the timber. This is best summed up as ‘this is the way blackwood used to be’ in contrast to some of the blackwood on the market with a uniform chocolaty appearance, understood to be the product of kiln drying alongside eucalyptus which stains the wood.

We now offer packs in standard sizes, as well as random width stock and some natural or ‘waney’ edged boards.

And now for more BIG NEWS.

We hold a small supply of some of South Africa’s rarest indigenous timbers, all harvested from the FSC-certified mixed species forest that provides our blackwood. Hard to get in South Africa, these timbers are highly sought after by cabinet makers in Australia. Please contact us if you want to work with Podocarpus latifolius (the mystical yellow wood); Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus (cherry wood); Olinia ventosa (hard pear); or Ocotea bullata (the prince of South African timbers, the famous ‘stinkwood’ or Cape walnut).

IN THE NEWS – PAST and PRESENT

Historically speaking – did you know?

One of the earliest descriptions of blackwood’s versatility comes from Joseph Henry Maiden (1859 – 1925), botanist, curator, plant and seed collector and public servant, who published a number of botanical texts and illustrations on the plants and flora of Australia.

In the Forest Flora of New South Wales (1904) he writes “[Acacia melanoxylon] is considered by some people to be the most valuable of Australian timbers. Perhaps this is a bold claim to make, bearing in mind the high merits of such timbers as Ironbark and Bed (sic) Cedar; but it is undoubtedly a timber of the highest class, happily combining an ornamental character with great strength. It is hard and close-grained, and is much valued for furniture, billiard tables, cabinet-work, picture-frames, gun-stocks, walking-sticks, crutches, tool handles, railway and other carriages, boat building (stem and stern-posts, rib, rudder), naves of wheels, parts of organs, pianofortes (sound-boards and actions) and many other purposes too numerous to individualise”. More

Upcoming Events

Event

FourSquare Timbers @ Wood Dust

FourSquare Timbers will be exhibiting at Wood Dust on the weekend of 20-21 October.

Held across four venues located in Queanbeyan and Bungendore (NSW) and featuring a host of domestic and international woodworking demonstrators and toolmakers, Wood Dust is Australia’s next generation woodworking event.

Wood Dust will appeal to a broad audience providing people with an authentic “festival” experience featuring: an exhibition of fine woodwork by leading Australian and international craftspeople, captivating talks by woodworking celebrities, woodworking masterclasses for the professional and amateur, a tool marketplace event with old fashioned steak sandwiches, craft beer, music and live woodworking demonstrations.

If we haven’t met you before, come and see us there!