curlyoak Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 Not a lot. A result of wind damage. Very heavy. Mostly sap wood. Very green. My guess is that the sap wood is good to use. Hardly any heart. I've read that it will dull all edges. Saw blades and jointer blades. Anyone have any experience with this wood. I think my next step is to mill it. Any experienced thoughts? Thanks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 The only thing I know is that lignum vitae was and I believe still is used in U.S. Navel ships as a bearing where the propeller shaft goes through the hull. I vaguely remember a member here was making a hand plane out of the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 I have bits that are halfway to an infill plane. It’s workable. Just needs sharp, and requires a little more time keeping sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted February 3 Author Report Share Posted February 3 Can I run it over my jointer with carbide knives? Take a small bite. It appears the sap wood is also dense and usable. Would the sap wood be less dense than heart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 My first thought is that you got the raw end of the deal but I took a similar looking limb from a Mayhaw tree and turned it into a neat looking decorative box. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Those are about the size sticks of wood my supply of Boxwood came out of. It's been great for shop tooling. I forget where Lignum Vitae and English Boxwood are on the Janka scale, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. Boxwood is about three times as hard as Hard Maple, and if I'm remembering correctly Lignum Vitae is harder than that. Boxwood is not too hard to mill with regular woodworking tools. I use a strip of it for setting jointer knives since it's hard enough to push the knives down, but doesn't dull a spot on the edge. My only experience with Lignum Vitae is soles that were on a couple of wooden Primus planes I had. Sorry, no help with the question about sap wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William R Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae wikipedia has a lot of interesting things to say about this. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted February 9 Author Report Share Posted February 9 Squared them up on the jointer. Then band sawed. I have it stickered on a high shelf in my shop. I was thinking of putting in mt attic. It gets up to 125 degrees in the summer. Do you think it would be too hot? This wood takes a very long time to dry. So maybe in 2 or 3 years It will be ready to work. I have a lot of time to think how to use this material... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Good looking wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 If a wood takes a long time to dry it would seem to me that you need to give it that time (go slow) rather than "baking". But I have zero experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 I seem to remember that old clocks had key parts made from lignin vitae, because it is long wearing and self lubricating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted February 9 Author Report Share Posted February 9 They even made carved propellers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 On 2/9/2024 at 12:10 PM, Mark J said: I seem to remember that old clocks had key parts made from lignin vitae, because it is long wearing and self lubricating. It's also used for bandsaw bearing blocks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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