Looking for Acacia

[Larry Richardson]

I am looking for some Acacia wood to turn some pen blanks. Does anyone have a source for this?
Larry

[David Walser]

Acacia grows in Arizona and many of the local turning club members have it in their yards. They might have suitable wood in their firewood pile. (Yes, some of us have fireplaces. I haven't had a fire in 3 years, but I've got one.) If you wanted to work out a swap (or whatever), you might email the club and have your request sent out to the membership. You might want to say how many blanks you're looking for. Whether you are willing to or able to cut your own blanks from acacia blocks or logs. Etc.

Here's a link to one of the many turning clubs in Arizona:

http://azwoodturners.org/

Click on the "contact us" link at the top of the page. To save time, send your request to Jason (our webmaster). You can send it to me, if you like, but I'll just pass it on to him.

Good luck!

[Mike Vickery]

Is their a specific type of Acacia you are looking for? Their are about 1300 species of Acacia.

I have some Acacia pen blanks (not sure what type but hte arborist said it was Acacia)but they are still wet. PM me if you want to work somethign out.

If you are looking for a commercial source try finding Australian Blackwood that is an Acacia or look for one of the Wattles. Acacia is usually called Wattle in Australia and they are very abundent their.

P.S. - If you want Acacia because of the Biblical references, as far as I know no one knows for sure what kind of Acacia they are referenceing.

--- edited in ---
Black Acacia pen blanks
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Pen_Blanks___Stabilized_Pen_Blank___s tab_blank?Args=

[Jason Clark2]

I have a bunch of Acacia around here somewhere. I have a hard time telling Mesquite from Acacia by sight as the two are from the same family, Fabaceae. I have no problem telling once I start turning though. I react badly to Acacia and hardly at all to Mesquite.

An alternative you may not have thought of and may want to consider is Koa. Yes it's Acacia (Acacia Koa is actually the species) and is widely available in pen blank form, particularly figured or curly Koa.

Jason

[Allen Neighbors]

I have some Shittim (pronounced She-teem') Wood. That's the type of Acacia of the Bible. I was given a 30"L x 12"dia piece a couple of years ago. I still have a few small pieces left. They are large enough to get some pen blanks from. In fact, I sent a friend in NC some once, in trade for some Silicone Carbide.
Email me if you're interested. I'll try to post a close-up pic of a couple of eggs that I turned from a piece of it, to show you what the grain looks like. There was some spalting on some of it, also visible in the pics. I don't think that there is any spalting in the few pieces I have left.
There is a slight bluish cast to the quick pic... sorry... the wood is actually very blond.

[Mike Vickery]

I have some Shittim (pronounced She-teem') Wood. That's the type of Acacia of the Bible.

I don't meen any offence, but I researched this a while ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shittim