York Gum - Eucalyptus Horistes - Rib Fruited Mallee - Burl from Western Australia

Back in January I had a big batch of burl blocks sent to me from Western Australia.
My supplier told me that the burl had been cut less than a year prior. So I sealed the blocks and told people not to use it before 2015 when I thought it would be dry and ready to use.

Well.......I was wrong. Yesterday I sanded off the sealer and cut a few blocks so I could check the moisture content at the center of the blocks. The moisture content ranged from 8% to 12%. I had not realized that these blocks were already this dry. My suggestion if you get any of these blocks would be to give them a few months to acclimate to where you live before cutting them or using the wood. Maybe I am being overly cautious.

If you have not worked with Australian Eucalyptus burl before, it takes a little extra work if you want to get a perfect looking handle.
These are varieties of Australian Eucalyptus that are very hard and dense. Not far behind desert ironwood. Like ironwood there will be some small voids and some small fissures following the burl grain. If you use some CA glue and fill these you can get a smooth finish that will show off the burl to it's full potential. A little extra work but the dramatic results are more than worth the effort. If you don't fill them you will be able to see the fissures in your finished handle. It is up to you how you want your handles to look.

These are the blocks I posted in the store today.

York Gum Burl - Eucalyptus loxophleba


Eucalyptus Horistes Burl - a mallee type Eucalyptus, also called E. Horistes


Rib Fruited Mallee Burl - Eucalyptus corrugata

I noticed this under the rosewood and wondered when you snuck it in!
Beautiful!

You guys have some great woods down there.
Several types of Acacia and a gazillian different types of Eucalyptus.
I got some Tasmanian Blackwood one time that I would have sworn was Koa.

Mark, is eucalyptus horistes the same as red mallee? Rib fruited mallee same as brown mallee?

Thanks,
Mikey

Red Mallee is the common name for Eucalyptus oleosa and Eucalyptus socialis.
Not sure about the Brown Mallee.
Australia has 100s of different varieties of Eucalyptus.
The people I get the wood from harvest the burls themselves and then label the pieces so they don't get mixed up.
Many are so similar that it would be almost impossible to tell them apart unless labeled.
Sometimes they just get lumped into a category of Gold Field Burls or Eucalyptus burl.