I picked up a Blackwood/Lightwood (almost impossible to tell the difference and they form hybrids to make it even more difficult) the other day.
I got three logs about 6' long from 12" to 10" in diameter.
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-05-16161722.jpgI split each log in half and took a 3" inch slab off each half of the 12" log while they were in place. They were still far too heavy to get out by myself. After moving them across a creek I gave up my solo effort after falling backwards into a patch of stinging nettles. The next day I got a friend to help me get them up the bank of the creek and onto the ute to get them home.
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-05-16161722.jpgThe dunnage that they are resting on was from another smaller tree (about 7") that fell over at the same time. Blackwood is a beautiful wood with some incredible colour and figure. Blackwood can come with a lot of fiddle back but fortunately this tree had pretty straight grain.
After reading about hickory handles being made from the sap wood rather than the heart I think some of these logs will get cut and split into handle blanks. The rest will be a shaving horse and chairs.
