We had several different types of eucalyptus wood and used the heaviest and hardest. Initially, when I tested the blade, it felt incredibly fast. No matter the playing distance, the ball flew very quickly from any direction, and I walked far from the table and felt like Hugo Calderano
. But the weight was too heavy. We ground down the surface, which reduced the weight, thickness, and speed...., but gave more control.
Yeah that sounds like Grey Ironbark all right... Especially the weight!
Iron bark has an average density of over 1100kg per cubic metre, and a Janka hardness rating of about 17.5 to 18.0kN -- this makes it harder, heavier and faster than Macassar Ebony! You should see people trying to machine the stuff -- when you run it through a circular saw, the wood is so hard in places it literally creates sparks instead of sawdust 🤣🤣🤣
On the plus side, if ever you want to make an Ebenholtz style blade, any of the ironbarks will make an outstanding candidate for an outer layer.
(PSST: Here's a Hot tip from one bladesmith to another... Ironbark also has a deep red variety that is just utterly gorgeous stuff!! It's a tiny bit lighter and less dense than the grey stuff you've used (ie: around about the same hardness / weight scores as ebony) so it will give you a bit of a weight saving, but still have the exact same performance as an outer layer... Plus it looks and finishes SO MUCH BETTER than grey iron bark -- imagine a streaky, highly figured, blood red version of ebony. Just stunning g stuff.
If you can't get any if that, try to get some River Red Gum instead. It looks and performs just like the super hard Rosewood that Stiga also use in their Ebenholtz, but still has the same sort of stability and control you're currently getting out of that that grey ironbark. 😁😁)
Love your work, and good on you for giving Aussie TT timbers a try. Respect! 😎👍🏻
