Acacia lumber??

[Fred Voorhees]

I have a gentleman that is requesting me to build him a small box and he wants it build from acacia wood. Took a quick look on the internet, but am having a slight problem locating any. Would anyone know of a source for acacia lumber?

[Gary Lange]

It appears that some of it comes from Vietnam. Here is a site that may help you find some. I just entered acacia lumber supplier in google.

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/acacia-lumber.html

[Jamie Buxton]

Acacia grows in the US. Here in California, I sometimes see black acacia lumber for sale. It tends to be urban lumber, so finding big boards is unusual.

[Paul Wilson]

He may be talking about Koa, which is also known as Acacia Koa.

[Sean Troy]

Two places I've seen it before, Timber Woodworking in Mesa, Az. and Woodworkers Source in Phoenix. http://www.timberww.com/default.aspx & http://www.woodworkerssource.com/

[Clisby Clark]

just kidding. Acacia is what God instructed Moses to use in building the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.

All kidding aside, I don't know where you would buy any today.

[Jamie Buxton]

Acacia is a big family, with something like a thousand different vareties of tree. Acacias grow worldwide. They're in the pea family, and bear seeds in pods, like peas. In woodworking, some well-known acacias are koa (Hawaii), mesquite (US and Mexico), and blackwood (Australia).

[Andrew Nichols]

I've been looking around online for some "Ethiopian" acacia, I have seen it called "Grar". My wife and I are in the process of adopting from ET, and I would LOVE to make some small project with some. Anyone have any ideas?
AN

[Jamie Schmitz]

I have a bunch of trees at my house that are acacia's and they grow like weeds. I actually have one that is going to fall soon that is prob. 3 ft. in diam. Central CA.

http://www.globalwoodsource.com/lumber I am surprised that this place does not carry it because it is local but like the previous poster said maybe it is another variety that you are talking about.

[Dave MacArthur]

Try the Phoenix sources listed above, we have tons of willow acacia and black acacia all over the city. I just passed up a fallen acacia last month from a friend, as was too busy to learn milling at the time.

Also try Arizona Hardwoods, here is a link to their craigslist ad:
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/bfs/2068877669.html
they don't list acacia as a wood they carry, but he has like 60,000 feet under roof and a ton of stuff, and he does a lot of wheeling and dealing, may have some.

[Ryan Hellmer]

genuine acacia will likely be tough to find. As another poster mentioned it's a big family with lots of "trees" in it. I put trees in quotes becuase many true acacia's are more shrub-like. As for acacia in the US, there may be some, but the most popular is probably rubina psuedoacacia which is not a true acacia (hence the psuedo) and more commonly referred to as black locust. Boy those trees make a MESS. but their lumber is interesting and extremely rot resistant. I was on a quest for acacia a while back to make some church furniture (as yet another poster pointed out the biblical significance) but gave up after learning too many details.

Good luck.

Ryan

[Keith Stephens]

Just to get the terminology right, Acacia is a genus, not a family in botanical classification terms. The Acacia genus includes about 1300 different species, most of them from Australia.

Identification is a common issue with biblical woods. The name is just not specific enough to know which tree is being referenced.

Woodworkers Source has Acacia melanoxylon, Australian Blackwood (http://www.woodworkerssource.com/blackwood_australian.html), in stock.

[Andrew Joiner]

If it's a small box Walmart has it for about $11 a bd. ft. :

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11015409

Of course you tell your customer " Acacia is so exotic I had to search all the finest rare wood dealers to get it"

[Bob Elliott]

Acacia grows in the US. Here in California, I sometimes see black acacia lumber for sale. It tends to be urban lumber, so finding big boards is unusual.

Jamie, They grow like weeds here in Santa Cruz. I have cleared lots with these trees and used them for firewood. It isn't the best for firewood but I was doing a friend a favor...

[Bill Orbine]

You might want to try the Willard Brothers Lumber located in Trenton, NJ, down the road from you. They may have something you're looking for even if what you're looking for is not listed on the website. They might be pricey, but the job is a comission anyway.

[Michael Costa]

I know this thread is ancient. Any plant that grows seeds (pods) like peas, peanuts, etc., are in the family called legumes. Anyway, I have enough Acacia (not sure of the species) to make a small box. Also, my avatar/photo is a mortar and pestle made from spalted Acacia saligna.It was once a tree in my backyard that died when 4 consecutive nights of below freezing temps hit where I am in Arizona. I cut the tree down leaving 4 feet of the trunk in the ground. I figured this would give me good leverage to pull the whole thing out once it rotted. It worked. I pulled it up 2-4 years later and chopped it into lathe sized blanks. That mortar and pestle this the result. I still have 2 decent sized logs in my garage.

This past summer (monsoon season) the wind took down a full grown acacia tree in my neighborhood. When they were cutting it up for disposal I stopped and took about 20 logs. Some I could barely lift. I sealed the end grain, set them on pallets, and covered them with a tarp. I think I have enough Acacia to last a lifetime now. If anyone is interested in pictures and/or willing to pay for shipping, I'll gladly send a log your way.

[Bill Dufour]

The Acacia from the neighbors tree that was cut down is so dense it does not float in water, wet or dried for several years.
And a chance to repost this link about the best known Acacia in the world. Interesting to see it was in Nigeria home of the princesses lost fortunes on the internet. Must have had a princess of the tree every years for over 300 years?
Bill D.

https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/earths-most-isolated-tree-only-one-around-250-miles-was-struck-and-killed-drunk-driver.html

[Keith Westfall]

Had a customer come with a piece, turned out it was a stair tread from RONA (BB store) in Alberta

[Bill Dufour]

Whats a bb store?

[Ben Bunting]

Big Box store as in Home Depot or Lowes.

[Stan Calow]

Ask the customer to clarify. I have heard a lot of people refer to acacia trees around here, but they were really something else.

[Jerome Stanek]

Around here Keim Lumber would be the place.