Lignum Vitae

[John Reeves]

This is phonetic spelling of a wood from Dominican Republic. Does anyone recognize it?

John

 

[mshel]

John,

What I know about it you could fit on a pin head. What I do know is it is very hard and is used for mallets, etc. There, a wealth of knowledge in a short sentance. :rolf:

Mike

 

[FredP]

yup. turns good. realy hard and polishes to a good sheen without finish. um did i mention its HARD? what i have used produced some interesting grain too. see asst turnings in my gallery. pickholer:eusa_clap

fred p

 

[DaveO]

It is a very hard wood, with oiley properties that make it self lubricating. It was often used for bearings/bearing blocks before metal was utilized. It has a greenish color to the heartwood, and almost black sapwood. It is often incorrectly named Greenheart.
Here's some info_
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_Vitae
http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_lignum_vitae.htm
http://goldentreewands.com/woodlignum.htm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/G/guaj_san.cfm

HTH,
Dave

 

[Big Mike]

Mike Davis got it exactly right about lignum vitae being used for bearings.

My grandfather when he was alive liked to tell a story about lignum vitae bearings. He was a machinist on a ship in WWI. Somehow they lost a bearing and went dead in the water. Once the problem was diagnosed it was my grandfather's responsibility to make a new bearing. The ship he was on did not have a lathe so he and some of his compatriots spent three days hand carving a round bearing. They were concerned about being sunk by German submarines.

As I recall he explained that lignum vitae, in addition to being extremely hard, is also extremely oily. This combination of hardness and oiliness allows the shaft for the wheel (propellor) to actually turn on a thin film of water and the shaft never touches the bearing.

I can't imagine carving a bearing from lignum vitae. I have turned a few pieces of it and it is extremely hard....

 

[McRabbet]

Probably one of the more frequent uses of Lignum vitae was in key parts of the standing rigging on square rigged ships. The rigging that supported the mighty masts of these 15th-19th century behemoths consisted of tarred rope shrouds that came down to a dead eye made of Lignum vitae. As the photo below shows, the shroud ended in an eye splice that fitted tightly into a groove around the L.v. dead eye and three holes through the dead eye served as a means to tighten or loosen the shroud with a line run through those eyes to a companion dead eye fixed to the ship with a eye-spliced cable that ran down to a chain plate anchored to the hull. These dead eyes were like blocks without sheaves and would not wear out due to the toughness of the Lignum vitae. We've all seen these in Treasure Island and other pirate movies as the buggers raced up the shrouds on ratlines (horizontal ropes connecting several shrouds), waving their cutlasses.

I had the good fortune to retrieve (in the late 1950's) a lower dead eye from a British cargo vessel that went down in the eastern end of Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The iron cable that ran to the chain plate has corroded enough to break it loose, but the Lignum vitae dead eye was still very solid and showed no signs of rotting after nearly 150 years of immersion in water. It was about 8" in diameter and at least 4" thick.

 

[Eric Laudenbacher]

In my experience with lignum vitae, the more sunlight it is in the greener it gets.

 

[jlwest]

John

I have a piece about 4x6x3' that I can't find a use for. It is very dense and hard.

Jeff

 

[DaveO]

John

I have a piece about 4x6x3' that I can't find a use for. It is very dense and hard.

Jeff

I could find a use for that really easily. If you don't want it I would love to turn it.
Dave

 

[Big Mike]

John

I have a piece about 4x6x3' that I can't find a use for. It is very dense and hard.

Jeff

Sounds like there should be several end grain boxes in a piece that long. I could turn quite a few boxes from a stick like that.

 

[jeff...]

I'd like to have some of the shavings to make tea. Never tried it, sounds interesting. :eusa_thin

You gonna drink that tea?

 

[jlwest]

I could find a use for that really easily. If you don't want it I would love to turn it.
Dave

I will gladly work out a trade for some other wood that I can use. I'm in need of some walnut right now.

 

[jlwest]

I'll gladly work out a trade of my lignum vitae for some walnut!

 

[DaveO]

That's what I get for working during the day :BangHead::BangHead:

Dave

 

[DaveO]

I'll be there, I got some wood ordered and I have been eargerly waiting it's arrival :eusa_danc:eusa_danc
Dave