Some information about the types of wood that I use:
I am choosing to work with Australian timbers. Some of the Australian native timbers exceed densities of African Blackwood and Boxwood. I am currently making most flutes in Cooktown Ironwood (Erythrophleum Chlorostachys), which is slightly more dense than African Blackwood. It has a range of colouring, but tends to darken to a dark red as the wood oxidizes. I can use other timbers upon special request.
This information is gleaned from Keith Bootles book, Wood in Australia, as well as from the Spirit Drums web site (no longer active):
“The Timber Cooktown Ironwood (Erythrophleum Chlorostachys) Found in Far North Queensland Australia in an area known as Cape York peninsula (over 160,000sq klms). Ironwood is one of the hardest and densest timber’s in the world (1220kg/cubic meter, with a Janka hardness of 17kN). It grows in the “dry country” and even when green has very low moisture content making it extremelly stable. It has a bright red heartwood and a medium even texture with interlocking grain making it extremely stable and durable. Over time the timber darkens to a deep rich red colour with beautiful swirls in the grain on some pieces. On a hardness scale it is twice the hardness of Maple and nearly 50% harder than Jarrah giving it incredible acoustic properties.The timber is so dense it even sinks in water and is even harder than African Ebony (1010kg/m3, and 14kN hardness) . Used as bush medicine by the Aboriginal people, Ironwood bark was used in infusions to treat spear wounds and its leaves boiled to treat headaches.”
My supplier of Cooktown ironwood is an environmentally conscious logger from near Cooktown, Queensland, Australia. Individual trees are selected for harvesting in such a way that the bush is thinned just enough for new growth to take hold. All harvesting is done in a sustainable manner, with great attention given to encouraging new suckers (tree saplings) to flourish. Clear cutting is never practiced in this area, and the sustainable logging practices are encouraging healthy bushlands with the future of Australian forests in mind.
Cooktown ironwood is a large tree (typically 1.5 to 2m diameter at the base) and is wet at only about 18% moisture content. It shrinks so little from wet to dry that some even rough machine it virtually green and let it dry rough turned and bored.