Wood Identification - What is this?

crosscreekcraig · Post by **crosscreekcraig** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:05 am

If I calculated it correctly, the specific gravity of this wood is 1.156 rounded up. I don't know the moisture content of the wood - been wanting to get a moisture content meter.

Here's a link to an auction for Argentine Lignum Vitae that looks very much like what I have. I've seen mostly brown and yellow pieces, so far. These are as close to what I have as I've seen.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lignum-Vitae-exotic-Guayacan-wood-bottle-stopper-blanks-1pc-/200791662445?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec01d9f6d

Be sure to scroll all the way down - they listed properties.

Also I forgot to mention that when I was cutting it there was a subtle and pleasant spicy aroma that reminded me of some cigars I have.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:49 pm

crosscreekcraig wrote: Also I forgot to mention that when I was cutting it there was a subtle and pleasant spicy aroma that reminded me of some cigars I have.

Oh yeah.... that would be it. For the picture of a lignum-vitae plane-sole I posted above, I had done a flattening of the sole with the SS disk-sander. The odor was just as you described.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:14 pm

nuhobby wrote:Oh yeah.... that would be it. For the picture of a lignum-vitae plane-sole I posted above, I had done a flattening of the sole with the SS disk-sander. The odor was just as you described.

Did the internal oil interfere with sanding?

crosscreekcraig · Post by **crosscreekcraig** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:15 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Did the internal oil interfere with sanding?

I tried a piece on my disc sander and it loaded the paper up pretty quickly.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:22 pm

crosscreekcraig wrote:I tried a piece on my disc sander and it loaded the paper up pretty quickly.

Thanks.

I just bought a couple of those bottle stoppers on e-bay. I intend to make band saw guides from them. I bought some LV guides a while back on e-bay a couple of years ago and am still using 3 of the 4 pieces. I dropped one of them into the dark abyss that is my shop floor and it has never been seen again. Obviously I like them!

So I do not think I will be sanding them!;) Gotta get the dimensions right when cutting them.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:37 pm

Just some interesting info- I made a pen out of lignum vitae once, and used Hut's Crystal Coat friction polish on it. On the advice of the local Woodcraft pen guru, I buffed the Crystal Coat hard/fast enough so that it was smoking a bit. Imagine my surprise when the pen turned bright yellow! Google info said it would turn back to green upon exposure to light, so I put it in the sun for a couple of hours, and sure enough, it's now sort of a medium green.

Gary

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:59 pm

crosscreekcraig wrote:If I calculated it correctly, the specific gravity of this wood is 1.156 rounded up. I don't know the moisture content of the wood - been wanting to get a moisture content meter....

Also I forgot to mention that when I was cutting it there was a subtle and pleasant spicy aroma that reminded me of some cigars I have.

Oh Yeah! It's Lignum !!!:D It's the only wood I can find that has a SG of greater than 1.00. The listed SG in the wood identification book is 1.14.

That means it will sink in a tub of water.

It's good that you tested for (noticed) the smell.

(things are easier to find when we know what to look for)

I didn't work out the ratios of the differences in your reported weight of Lignum and pine pieces. Need to calculate the volumes of wood then the weight differences. Too much math for me right away! If you want to mess around with the math, - the Specific Gravity of pine range from 0.35 for white pine to 0.45 or so for southern pine.

crosscreekcraig · Post by **crosscreekcraig** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:07 pm

Thanks to everyone for the help solving this mystery. I learned a lot and had fun doing it.

Semper Fi,
Craig

skou · Post by **skou** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:47 pm

Lignum Vitae is a REAL interesting wood.

On the earlier Nautilus class nuclear subs, the packing for the shaft was made out of Lignum Vitae. I think they still use it for newer subs, too.

There are 100+ year old hydroelectric turbine shaft bearings, that still work, made from LV.

It is dense and strong enough, to withstand the depths those subs dive to, and it is also self-lubricating, as well.

(Hey, I read Wikipedia for fun. Cal me a Geek, see what I care!):D

steve

reible · Post by **reible** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:20 pm

charlese wrote:Oh Yeah! It's Lignum !!!:D It's the only wood I can find that has a SG of greater than 1.00. The listed SG in the wood identification book is 1.14. That means it will sink in a tub of water.

It's good that you tested for (noticed) the smell. (things are easier to find when we know what to look for)

I didn't work out the ratios of the differences in your reported weight of Lignum and pine pieces. Need to calculate the volumes of wood then the weight differences. Too much math for me right away! If you want to mess around with the math, - the Specific Gravity of pine range from 0.35 for white pine to 0.45 or so for southern pine.

Hey Charlese I've got a question for you, or the part of you that is the wood expert. Off subject but still....

Back in the days when life was full of wonder and experimentation and growing up where there were plenty of natural "wonderments" we had a tree that the locals called "ironwood". My uncle owned some land that had a track of these trees, they were in an area that had been logged off and replanted around the 1900. The reforestation was pretty much a hit and miss and miss situation.

By the time I came along those trees were 8" or less in diameter but quite tall due to close planting. New growth was happening and we did harvest some trees but they were not axe friendly. And very heavy!

We also had a like called Rice Lake and well it was well named. The native americans had first rights to harvest the rice and what they had left was fare game to who ever wanted it. One year three of us kids got together and decided we would give it a go. We had seen how it was done so while not experts we knew some of the locals who would always be up for telling us of their glory days when it was wild country... And we knew they knew everything.

With out this getting too long they told us we need to find a hunk of ironwood where the top split into three branches and was about 2" in diameter to make a 10' pole. Well that and more but the wood was the what I was wondering about. We did as we were told and waited a couple of weeks for the main harvest to start and finish.

It was a crew of 3, one (not me) was designated as the pole person. I and another maned the other stations. I think I was the one that threw a paddle in just in case.... Most of the remaining rice was towards the open water in the middle of the lake so that was our destination. The pole was working fine until we reached the more open water where the pole guy was getting tired and let go of the pole. Down it went, never to be seen again, sank like a rock.

Those old guys about split a gut when they found out what happened. Our second and further efforts worked much better and with a large canvas piled with rice came with a second surprise, it had to be husked. With that over we took it to a place to sell it, no rice doesn't weigh much and splitting it three ways... well I don't recall the profit I got, maybe $3.

Anyway I always wonder what that wood really was. I suspect it was not native to northern WI but who knows.

I wish I had access to that area again to see how the trees are doing if I could find them again but short of crossing a river and going on posted property on what would more then likely be wild goose chase might be a step to far now.

Ed