{"id":2699,"date":"2019-11-06T21:20:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T02:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2699"},"modified":"2019-11-06T21:20:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T02:20:24","slug":"red-mallee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/red-mallee\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Mallee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geographic Distribution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The wood commonly known as Red Mallee is known to botanists as Eucalyptus oleosa<\/em> and Eucalyptus socialis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eucalyptus sps. <\/em>are native to Australia.  There are many species of Eucalyptus <\/em>that are harvested and used for various purposes but Eucalyptus <\/em>species are also widely distributed across the globe as decorative trees as well as grown on firewood and pulp plantations.  There are at least 15 Eucalyptus sps. <\/em>that are somewhat commonly found in the wood turning world.<\/p>\n

The term mallee refers to a species’ general growth form (known as a “habit” in biology). Usually smaller and shorter than trees, mallees grow multiple smaller-diameter stems from a common root system. Because of this, most mallee species are ill suited for lumber, though they do have a propensity for burl growths that can be harvested and used for turning and other small specialty projects.<\/p>\n

For the sake of simplicity I will refer to Eucalyptus oleosa<\/em> and Eucalyptus socialis<\/em> from here forward simply as Red Mallee.<\/p>\n

General and Working Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Red Mallee, as explained above, is not a timber wood so it has not been characterized as such.  I can record my experiences below but I cannot provide technical details.<\/p>\n

Pricing and Availability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Red Mallee is almost always sold as a burl cap or as burl pen blanks.<\/p>\n

In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence.  These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods<\/a>, Bell Forest Products<\/a>, NC Wood<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Wood<\/a>, Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U<\/a>.<\/p>\n

West Penn Hardwoods sells Red Mallee burl in spindle forms of 1.5” square in lengths ranging from 3” to 25” with prices varying according to length from $2.63 to $96.14.  This vendor also sells unsawn Red Mallee burl caps for $16 per kilo.<\/p>\n

Bell Forest Products also sells Red Mallee burl in spindle forms including pen blanks of ¾” x 5.5” for $6.50 and in a 1.5” x 18” form for $80.00.<\/p>\n

WoodTurningz, to my surprise, has the best selection of Red Mallee burl among the vendors I do routine business with.  Prices range from $3.00 for a short pen blank to $159.50 for a large 10” x 3” turning blank.<\/p>\n

Exotic Woods USA sells a range of spindle lengths ranging in price from $6.00 for a pen blank to $123.00 for a 17” spindle.<\/p>\n

Prices for Red Mallee burl will tend to be in the upper range for an imported wood and this is not surprising given the costs of transportation and the relative scarcity of burl wood.<\/p>\n

Woodfinder<\/a> is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers.  In your search for Red Mallee, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings.  I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n

A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer.  I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand.  It happens to me all the time!<\/p>\n

Uses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Royal Poinciana is strictly a hobby wood used to make turned objects, knife and gun grips, and small other specialty objects.<\/p>\n

Sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Red Mallee is not listed as being in any way threatened or endangered by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a> nor does it appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To the best of my knowledge, Red Mallee is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.<\/p>\n

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.<\/p>\n

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested.  The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood.  That is inherently an individual decision.<\/p>\n

I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations.  This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store.  Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.<\/p>\n

Health Hazards<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Red Mallee, however other Eucalyptus <\/em>species are known to cause various allergic reactions so caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Red Mallee or its burl wood.<\/p>\n

It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.<\/p>\n

Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.<\/p>\n

Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>.  Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Red Mallee burl.<\/p>\n

My Personal Experiences                        <\/strong><\/h2>\n

I enjoyed working with the Red Mallee burl.  While it was a quite small sample, it cut cleanly with no breakage although, as is common in burl woods, there was some voiding.  It has a lovely degree of figure and shading with gradations of reds to pinks as well as some very light black figure as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Red Mallee Burl Pen<\/p><\/div>\n

I would recommend Red Mallee burl to anyone interested in working with it.<\/p>\n

All work was done on my Robust American Beauty<\/a> lathe, however, that lathe is frankly just too big to easily perform small work, so I have ordered a small pen making size lathe for future use.<\/p>\n

All of the cuts were made using Easy Wood Tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A standard pen mandrel with the “mandrel saver” tail stock device<\/a> was used to hold the blank.<\/p>\n

I used my go-to finish, ShellaWax EEE Ultrashine.<\/a><\/p>\n

The pen kit is a Motorcycle Pen from Penn State Industries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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