For your information, the American Radio Relay League has a class starting
the middle of February on SSB propagation. Course covers material that
would take several years to learn in normal operations. It is $100 for non
members.

If you wanted a class in SSB operations theory this might be a good choice.
It is an online class which you can participate by the web.

https://www.arrl.org/forms/cce/reg.html

Mike

Capt. Mike Maurice
Tualatin(Portland), Oregon

I had the pleasure of playing around in my shop with some ironbark wood
today and it was a nice change from teak.  I acquired a few pieces in a
trade and I do not know its origin.  I learned about it a few years ago
when I visited a friend who worked at Pacific Fisherman's in Ballard.
He was putting ironbark on a wooden fishing boat as a rub rail.  It is
desirable for this purpose because of how hard it is.  I remember he
handed me a piece and I was shocked at how heavy it was.  He said that
it would not float but I was skeptical.

Today I confirmed that ironbark does not float in salt water.  There is
now a scrap under my boat.

I have not seen it used decoratively but I can tell you that it is a
beautiful wood.  Darker than most walnut.  It routers extremely well (no
blow-outs) and with a little sanding it feels like polished marble.
Teak oil just sits on top of it.  I decided to leave it unfinished.

A quick Google indicates that it comes from Australia.  Maybe one of our
friends from "Down Under" could tell us more about it.  Is it common in
boat building there?

Eric Thoman
Abyssinia
www.kayaktransport.com

Eric Thoman asked

A quick Google indicates that it comes from Australia.  Maybe one of our
friends from "Down Under" could tell us more about it.  Is it common in
boat building there?

REPLY
I was introduced to something called Ironwood which sounds like the same
thing from your description.

I was told that this wood is often used for small parts subjected to
high wear. Dead eyes on standing rigging, pulley blocks, and even
bearing blocks for slow revolving shafts. It was also used for belaying
lines and marline spikes used to splicing  the three stranded rope for
rigging and lines.

Seems to me that  Joshua Slocum made a repair to his rudder at one point
using iron wood.

But Andina is right the grain is curly and difficult to work with.
Once the wood has dried you end up working it like it was a bar of
metal.
You mil it machine it hack saw it  but  don't expect to rip saw plane or
otherwise apply wooed working techniques.  Apparently the wood cells
retain some silica sand which makes it extremely rough on ordinary wood
tools.

Arild

Hi Eric.

Ironbark is a species of eucalyptus tree and as you have observed, is
particularly dense and hard. Boat builders down here use it for rub-rails
and sometimes keels, occasionally for stems. There are a number of
Australian hardwoods, all of which are prone to checking unless carefully
seasoned. Ironbark shares this deficiency, however because it is so very
hard it is ideal for the purposes above.

Cheers
Glenn Williams
Port Phillip
Australia.