Blackwood Furniture

Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) has been a highly prized furniture timber since the earliest days of white settlement. It was also used extensively by indigenous Australians for tools and weapons. At Dunstone Design, we have become blackwood specialists. We use either Tasmanian or Otways backwood, depending on the colour and tone desired. We get our Tasmanian blackwood from Britton Timbers and our Otways blackwood from Corsair Sustainable Timbers. Some of our most renowned pieces, such as the Hardman Desk and the Tonks Sideboard are made from blackwood. Blackwood has been an enduring favourite for our Waterfall stools.

Blackwood has a long fiber and a distinctive grain. The colour of the heartwood ranges from light golden brown through to deep rich brown with purple streaks. The species has a high silica content which contributes to the lustrous sheen of the timber. Older trees can develop fiddle back, which can be accentuated by quarter-sawing. Highly figured blackwood is considered by many to be the most beautiful of all the Australian native timbers and is extremely valuable.

Blackwood is an excellent tone-wood and is used extensively by luthiers. Some of Australia’s best-known guitar makers, such as Greg Smallman, have used blackwood extensively. Blackwood is also especially suited to chair making because it has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and glues exceptionally well. Blackwood can be curved using either the curved lamination technique or by steam bending.

Our oil finish is particularly suited to bringing our the colour and character of blackwood. We have successfully put blackwood furniture into simple cottages as well as the most modern architectural spaces: it‘s at home anywhere.

 

 

Read More About the Working Qualities of blackwood

Blackwood Furniture