Sassafras, our favourite timber, is going, going, UP!

Australian Woodwork features the best of Australia’s designer/makers working in native timbers, all sustainably sourced and harvested - but ever-popular Sassafras is becoming scarce.

(Last Updated: Dec 01, 2023) Blackheart Sassafras, a treasure from Tasmania's cool temperate forests, is renowned for its striking and unpredictable figuring. This unique pattern, a result of a fungus meandering through the tree, leaves an intricate trail of dark chocolate hues amidst the pale golden wood. Its rarity is heightened by the fact that this dramatic effect occurs naturally and cannot be artificially cultivated, making each piece a unique work of art.

Seven years ago Tasmanian forestry locked up large areas that had been a source of good Sassafras - nothing wrong with that, let’s hear it for the environment - but this led to two things,

1. Special Blackheart Sassafras became even harder to get, and
2. Available stocks were bought up in large quantities by speculators who saw, rightly, that these would be a great investment.

Much of this stockpiled Sassafras is exported for high prices that squeeze small-time craftsmen and woodworkers - the woodworkers who make our products, and who use less than 3% of selectively harvested timber like Sassafras and Tiger Myrtle.

For now, our craftsmen have some stocks of Sassafras left but as those remaining stocks run out the price of all our Sassafras items will go up. Our woodworkers predict price rises of around 30% when they are forced to compete with the big guys in the marketplace.

In that time-honoured marketing phrase - Buy now while stocks last! That rare and prized Blackheart Sassafras timber is going, going, UP!