Turpentine Tree meels
There is a tree growing close to where I live. A few months ago, a big branch broke and crashed through the tree. At the time, I didn't know what it was. Here is a picture of the tree, and the leaf and seeds.
Update 27 May 2014: I have just discovered that this tree is Syncarpia Glomulifera, also known as the Turpentine tree. It is a member of the Myrtaceae family (Eucalypts are also members), and is indigenous to Australia.
I cut off a piece of the broken branch and hope to make a pair of meels from it. The piece weighed 26 kg.
I cut off a piece of the broken branch and hope to make a pair of meels from it. The piece weighed 26 kg.
The smaller piece on the left weighed 6.9 kg. The one on the right weighed 13.1 kg. The target weight for each meel is 4 - 5 kg. So I still need to convert a lot of wood into shavings and sawdust! The wood is hard, and has a high silica content. Now I understand why I need to sharpen my chisel and my plane so often!
The first club, shaping completed. It weighs 5.3 kg, a bit more than I expected. I may have to trim it further. The club is slightly asymmetric, because of the shape of the branch. But it swings fine.
The second club being shaped. It weighs 9 kg at this stage.
The turpentine tree wood of the first club was very bland. It had a pink grey colour with no real grain. So I decided to include knots in the second club, to give it a bit more life. Big mistake! The knots are hard, and difficult to work with either plane or chisel. The best way to tackle the knots is to make small incisions with a hack saw, and then chisel out the wood.
The second club will be symmetric, but I may have to reduce the diameter to make it weigh the same as the first club. The second club has a lot more high density knots and more heartwood than the first club, which will affect the weight.
The turpentine tree wood of the first club was very bland. It had a pink grey colour with no real grain. So I decided to include knots in the second club, to give it a bit more life. Big mistake! The knots are hard, and difficult to work with either plane or chisel. The best way to tackle the knots is to make small incisions with a hack saw, and then chisel out the wood.
The second club will be symmetric, but I may have to reduce the diameter to make it weigh the same as the first club. The second club has a lot more high density knots and more heartwood than the first club, which will affect the weight.
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The two clubs, after final shaping, sanding, and a coat of varnish. They both weigh 5.3 kg. The club on the right is very symmetrical, because I had a lot of wood to work with. The one on the left is a little bow-legged, because of a slight curvature in the wood. But they both swing the same, because the length, overall weight and weight distribution is the same.
After a second coat of varnish. The grain patterns look like Travertine marble! The colour balance is different to the other photos, because these pictures were taken with my wife's camera. (The other photos were all done with an iPad.)