hairy oak: ugly name, beautiful timber.

The heading is a bit misleading. Only two of the items illustrated are hairy oak: the two reddish-brown pens.

The lighter coloured pen is Northern Ti-tree (or weeping ti-tree), and the lidded bowl is Darwin black wattle.

The shirt used for a back-ground displays my personal wood-turning philosophy. Thanks to shopper who found it.

But the hairy oak is a bit special. I hadn't heard of it until a few months ago, when I bought a 2nd hand lathe. The seller threw in various other items including a variety of timbers. One piece was/is an ugly grey lump, split and splintery all along it's length. It looked pretty useless, but I took it anyway - BBQs also provide a valuable service to the family. It had the words 'hairy oak' pencilled on it.

I asked my wood-turning guru if he knew it, and he advised I not throw it away. So I cut it open, and it's beautiful. Dark red/brown, with black streaks, (or, i think, black star spots if cut across the grain). It is highly prized by woodturners, though usually only for small objects (eg pens), beause it has an unfortunate habit of splitting along the grain as it dries. No good for anything but turning. What a shame.

Of course, it's not an oak really: Australia doesn't have any oaks.

It's an Australian native casurina. And if you don't like the name of hairy oak, it's also known as Flame Sheoak. Much more impressive I think, so Flame Sheoak it will be.

I'm turning a few pens at the moment, as I have an export order. Definitely flame sheoak for the international market.

all the best, from vsquared.