Ebay Treasures

[jimi43]

We've all had examples of things we've found on FleaBay which turned out to be a major bargain and today I received a very heavy parcel containing such an object...

Yes...the ubiquitous bowling ball on a stick!

BUT...this one turned out to be rather special!

The mallets were described thus...

I am selling these items.......as part of a tool shed clearance on behalf of a friend. They are presented as found and I have simply taken them from a tool cabinet, blown the dust off and wiped them over.

The larger of the two seems to have the makings of a fine tool...looking at it from the side...

So...I really only left it a few minutes before sticking it between the two centres of "Taylor" and attacking it!

Less than one hour later...and smelling beautifully of that wonderful smell that only true lignum vitae has...we had this gem...

The surprise to me was not the beautiful LV...but that handle..which was described as either ash or elm...but to me...that looks like Japanese red oak!

What do you guys think?

I still have the ends to tidy up a bit...

....but overall...I am rather chuffed with this find...and this will be a keeper for sure!

The other one had a few splits in it which are currently undergoing glue and compression so maybe the other one will prove to be nice as well...but I think it's beech.

I need one to thwack my milling machine spindle lock though so this will prove handy too!

Cheers guys

Jimi

 

[Self Taught]

Jimi,

A very nice find indeed, and cleaned up well. I will be looking for it's mate soon, enjoy. Jamey

 

[Kalimna]

Very nice indeed. Before I got to the bit about the handle, I thought what a nice bit of she-oak - is that essentially the same as Jap red oak?

Cheers,
Adam

 

[jimi43]

Very nice indeed. Before I got to the bit about the handle, I thought what a nice bit of she-oak - is that essentially the same as Jap red oak?

Cheers,
Adam

Toby said it was she-oak too!

Never used she-oak and don't know anything about it but it sure as hell looks the same as my Japanese Red Oak chisel handles.

The key feature is that stunning side grain which looks like a tangled forest with the enclosed pattern. I love it!

Anyone know for sure?

EDIT...just Googled it....

DESCRIPTION: Color range is golden orange to red-orange to nearly burgundy. Not as heavy and hard as oak (the Englsh settlers declared it weaker than English oak but similar so "She-oak"). Used in furniture and flooring (and in the past, beer barrels). Sheoak grows primarily in a small area on the south coast of Southwest Western Australia. Trees with a "lace" appearance are very rare- about 1 in 100 trees. Bird's eye lace is extremely rare- less than 25 small pieces came to the US in the last three years.

Looks like you may be right!

Derek may be able to confirm this for sure but even rarer than I thought!

Jimi

 

[Kalimna]

It just looked simillar to both some HNT Gordon planes I've seen, and an acoustic guitar set I have waiting for the skills to match it...
Cheers,
Adam

 

[tobytools]

just beautiful. Tho I now fear Jimi that you will now have raised the price of old mallets on eBay
Excellent job.

TT

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'm glad a couple of others pitched in with "she oak" 'coz that was my thinking. I was going to keep my mouth shut, though.

 

[CONGER]

Hi Jimi,

Lovely malletts! What a cool find, and a great restoration!

I would describe the handle as 'lacewood'.

Now, lacewood is one of those blanket names.

It covers sycamore, london plane, and others.

I have quite a 'stash' of lacewood (dead ringer for your mallett handle) in the form of knightia excelsia also known as 'rewarewa' (http://www.bushmansfriend.co.nz/knightia-excelsa-rewa-rewa-xidc19880.html) that was given to me in New Zealand (strange things people carry in their luggage when they return from holidays... back to Petone again at the end of 2014 Vann!).

-g-

 

[JohnPW]

I don't think anyone's ask the all-important question yet :mrgreen: , but how much (in total)?

 

[jimi43]

I don't think anyone's ask the all-important question yet :mrgreen: , but how much (in total)?

Thanks for the various suggestions on the handle wood...it is certainly one of the lacewood family...which one remains to be seen but she-oak would still be my guess now....given the evidence.

Still got the ends to do on both but the smaller of the two turned out quite respectable too and for £21 the pair including delivery...

...a bit of a bargain methinks! 8)

Jimi

 

[Vann]

... back to Petone again at the end of 2014 Vann!).

I'll look forward to catching up :ho2 :deer

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Benchwayze]

Looks like your mallet started life as a crown-green wood Jimi?
It has the right 'shape'... And for the handle, I thought of Lacewood too, as it looks like the specimen I have in my copy of 'What Wood is That'.. I am no expert mind....

 

[JimB]

There are problems with the common names of many Australian woods. What is known as she-oak in Victoria (north-west Vic) is a casuarina and is extremely heavy. A piece I used recently sank like a stone when dropped in water.

 

[jimi43]

We used to have casuarina trees in the Caribbean....wish I'd known then...I'd have brought some home!!!

Jim

 

[JimB]

Story of my life Jim, full of what if I'd known then ...

 

[SpinDoctor]

First thing I though of when I saw the handle was silky oak or she oak. I think they're the same thing... Very common wood in australia. Seen lots of furniture and joinery made from it when I lived there, didn't play much with it though. Come to think of it I have a she oak in the yard in Queensland.

 

[JimB]

This may be a problem in nomenclature. In Victoria at least, Silky Oak is a grevillea, a species that varies from ground cover to trees. A beautiful wood but not really heavy. She-oak also known as sheoke is a casuarina and can be very heavy and durable as well as beautiful.
I think timber sellers hazard guesses at time adding to the confusion.