black wattle; hickory wattle (both species); sally wattle (A. mangium)

• Medium-size hardwood with flanged buttresses.
• Grows to 30m high and 1m diameter on favourable sites.
• Bark is thin, brown, hard and fissured.

• Northern New South Wales along the eastern coast of Queensland to Cape York.
• Coastal areas of the Northern Territory.

Colour

• Heartwood varies from light brown to brown, often streaked with darker markings.
• Sapwood creamy white to pale brown.

Grain

• Variable grain, coarse texture but rather even.

Construction

• Limited use, in the past, for general house framing, flooring, linings and mouldings, but rarely used now for these purposes.

Decorative

• Plywood.
• Furniture.
• Shop and office fixtures.
• Joinery.
• Turning.
• Walking sticks.

Others

• Fishing rods.
• Archery bows.
• Tool handles (axes and hammers).
• Boat building (light).

• Density at 12% moisture content; and about 1.3m³ of seasoned sawn timber per tonne:
  • aulacocarpa 800kg/m³
  • mangium 690kg/m³
  • crassicarpa 675kg/m³.
• Strength groups:
  • A. aulacocarpa (S4) unseasoned; (SD4) seasoned
  • A. mangium (S5) unseasoned; (SD5) seasoned
  • A. crassicarpa (S5) unseasoned; (SD5) seasoned.
• Stress grades: visually stress-graded according to AS 2082—2000: Timber—Harwood—Visually stress-graded hardwood for structural purposes
  • aulacocarpa F7, F8, F11, F14 (unseasoned), F11, F14, F17, F22 (seasoned)
  • mangium F5, F7, F8, F11 (unseasoned), F8, F11, F14, F17 (seasoned)
  • crassicarpa F5, F7, F8, F11 (unseasoned), F8, F11, F14, F17 (seasoned).
• Joint groups:
  • A. aulacocarpa JD2 seasoned
  • A. mangium JD3 seasoned
  • A. crassicarpa J2 unseasoned; JD3 seasoned.
• Shrinkage to 12% MC: 4.2% (tangential), 1.4% (radial)—these values apply to A. aulacocarpa.
• Unit shrinkage: 0.36% (tangential), 0.14% (radial)—these figures apply to timber of A. aulacocarpa reconditioned after seasoning.
• Durability above-ground:
  • A. aulacocarpa Class 2 (life expectancy 15–40 years)
  • A. mangium Class 3 (life expectancy 7–15 years)
  • A. crassicarpa Class 3 (life expectancy 7–15 years).
• Durability in-ground:
  • A. aulacocarpa Class 2 (life expectancy 15–25 years)
  • A. mangium Class 3 (life expectancy 5–15 years)
  • A. crassicarpa Class 3 (life expectancy 5–15 years).
• Lyctine susceptibility: untreated sapwood susceptible to lyctine borer attack.
• Termite resistance: not resistant.
• Preservation: sapwood will impregnate with preservative.
• Seasoning: satisfactorily dries using conventional air and kiln seasoning.
• Hardness: moderately hard (rated 3 on a 6-class scale) to indent and working with hand tools.
• Machining: relatively easy to work and machine; turns well to a smooth finish.
• Fixing: no difficulties using standard fittings and fastenings.
• Gluing: satisfactorily bonds using standard procedures.
• Finishing: staining is normally not necessary—it polishes and paints well.

General characteristics

• Sapwood: creamy white, distinct from heartwood.
• Heartwood: light brown to chestnut, occasionally with darker streaks.
• Texture: medium to coarse; straight grain; lustrous.

Wood structure

• Vessels: medium to large, visible without lens, solitary and radial chains of up to 3, uniform distribution; vessel size tends to decrease with the zone of latewood; vessel lines visible.
• Parenchyma (soft tissue): indistinct.
• Rays: very fine, barely visible with lens.

Other features

• Burning splinter test: match-size splinter burns to charcoal.

• Boland, DJ, Brooker, MIH, Chippendale, GM, Hall, N, Hyland, BPM, Johnston, RD, Kleinig, DA and Turner, JD 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th ed., CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
• Bootle, K 2005, Wood in Australia: Types, properties and uses, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
• Ilic, J 1991, CSIRO atlas of hardwoods, Crawford House Press, Bathurst, Australia.
• Queensland Government, DAF 2018, Construction timbers in Queensland: properties and specifications for satisfactory performance of construction timbers in Queensland. Class 1 and Class 10 buildings, Books 1 & 2, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
• Standards Australia, 2000, AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes, Standards Australia International, Strathfield, NSW.