Wood ID help please
- Thread starter Tetsuaiga
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C'mon.......give us a clue...
adidat
I will not buy anymore tools...
NazNomad":1lcvkyax said:
yep!
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
It looks like iroko to me also
Thanks for the suggestions,was of course hoping it was vitae or verawood.
It seems very heavy for something wood database says is as hard/heavy or less so than hard maple.
The weight if anyone can imagine it properly is 3kg for a piece that is 72cm x 9cm x 4.2cm
If my calculation is right thats roughly 1102kg m3. I don't know much about its origin so don't know how dry it is, would imagine fairly old though.
I have done a bit more accurate measuring. id put it at 1021 now
It seems very heavy for something wood database says is as hard/heavy or less so than hard maple.
The weight if anyone can imagine it properly is 3kg for a piece that is 72cm x 9cm x 4.2cm
If my calculation is right thats roughly 1102kg m3. I don't know much about its origin so don't know how dry it is, would imagine fairly old though.
I have done a bit more accurate measuring. id put it at 1021 now
I think you maybe spot on with Lignum Vitae but it does look dark. Not familiar with Verawood myself but off to look it up. If it's lignum it's hard going to cut with a chisel but cuts with a fine toothed saws like a dream but slow. The only piece I have ever had had a slightly green hue to it but hard to make out if your piece does. The dust is very smooth feeling to the touch. This a lignum insert on my planes sole
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Ttrees
Iroko loco!
What does the quartered side look like?
I was trying to find some piccys with samples quite like it.
There is something that looks a bit different to me also, but I can't put my finger on it.
Also the end grain looks to have very prominent growth rings...
I'm not used to seeing that, even though most of my stock is iroko...
All my stuff is salvaged and there is mortises on most lengths along with crud, but I would still
imagine it would be more prominent, but not so on my examples.
Maybe take a shaving off it too
Tom
I was trying to find some piccys with samples quite like it.
There is something that looks a bit different to me also, but I can't put my finger on it.
Also the end grain looks to have very prominent growth rings...
I'm not used to seeing that, even though most of my stock is iroko...
All my stuff is salvaged and there is mortises on most lengths along with crud, but I would still
imagine it would be more prominent, but not so on my examples.
Maybe take a shaving off it too
Tom
custard
Established Member
The original, authentic Lignum Vitae is now on the CITES list so is no longer imported. Here are some pieces I've had kicking around the workshop for donkey's years,
Even though the colour varies dramatically from board to board it's still fairly easy to identify, when freshly cut there's usually a greenish band somewhere, fresh cut it smells extremely sweet, and it has a waxy or oily feel to the surface. Add in the extreme weight and hardness and I've never seen anything else quite like it. Give it enough time and it generally blackens.
It's probably the most difficult timber species to work that I've ever encountered. You can't easily glue it or screw it, it knackers tool edges after just a few passes, the grain is interlocked and prone to tear out, I use an M42 bandsaw blade to cut it and even then you have to proceed at a snail's pace because it clogs up the gullets with waxy sawdust that sticks to the tool. I've never turned Lignum but I suspect turning is really the only practical way of dealing with it.
From a furniture maker's perspective it's pretty much useless, for all the applications that you'd think Lignum is ideal for (drawer runners, tool fences, etc) I find some other timbers like Rosewood or Ziricote give almost the same benefits but are just far easier to work. Interestingly it does crop up fairly often in antiques from the 1500's and 1600's, especially in kitchen ware. I don't know for a fact but I suspect it's because Lignum's medicinal properties gave it a certain cachet. Up until the 1700's Lignum Vitae was listed in the excise and customs registers not as a timber but as a medicine, I believe it was used as a treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Maybe that's why you see elaborate communal drinking cups from the Tudor era made from Lignum?
Anyhow, to the OP's question, I don't know what your board is. It's not original Lignum and I'm pretty sure it's not Iroko. Where did you get it from? Sometimes the source is a more reliable clue than the photo.
Even though the colour varies dramatically from board to board it's still fairly easy to identify, when freshly cut there's usually a greenish band somewhere, fresh cut it smells extremely sweet, and it has a waxy or oily feel to the surface. Add in the extreme weight and hardness and I've never seen anything else quite like it. Give it enough time and it generally blackens.
It's probably the most difficult timber species to work that I've ever encountered. You can't easily glue it or screw it, it knackers tool edges after just a few passes, the grain is interlocked and prone to tear out, I use an M42 bandsaw blade to cut it and even then you have to proceed at a snail's pace because it clogs up the gullets with waxy sawdust that sticks to the tool. I've never turned Lignum but I suspect turning is really the only practical way of dealing with it.
From a furniture maker's perspective it's pretty much useless, for all the applications that you'd think Lignum is ideal for (drawer runners, tool fences, etc) I find some other timbers like Rosewood or Ziricote give almost the same benefits but are just far easier to work. Interestingly it does crop up fairly often in antiques from the 1500's and 1600's, especially in kitchen ware. I don't know for a fact but I suspect it's because Lignum's medicinal properties gave it a certain cachet. Up until the 1700's Lignum Vitae was listed in the excise and customs registers not as a timber but as a medicine, I believe it was used as a treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. Maybe that's why you see elaborate communal drinking cups from the Tudor era made from Lignum?
Anyhow, to the OP's question, I don't know what your board is. It's not original Lignum and I'm pretty sure it's not Iroko. Where did you get it from? Sometimes the source is a more reliable clue than the photo.
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You are correct on the supposed medicinal value - hence the binomial - lignum vitae, wood of life. It was supposed to cure syphilis. It was used for bearings in places that would be unreachable after manufacture like ships prop shafts because of its oiliness An easy starting point for ID is does it float?
Yeah................ assuming its been weighed and measured accurately. 
This chap could probably give you a positive ID. http://steveswoodenskittles.co.uk/
Steve was involved in compiling the wood database and as a skittle maker will be very familiar with lignum vitae and it's cousins. Steve is a real enthusiast for timber ID and I am sure would help. If he is narked to be contacted just blame me
Steve was involved in compiling the wood database and as a skittle maker will be very familiar with lignum vitae and it's cousins. Steve is a real enthusiast for timber ID and I am sure would help. If he is narked to be contacted just blame me
Thanks for the further replies. Might contact the skittles guy if i'm really desperate
Here's a couple of other pictures, the side/quarter grain doesn't really look that much different, it does seem quite redy/brown for lignum vitae which is partly why im thinking it might be the verawood/argentine lignum vitae type
The end grain rings on the other end seems to be a bit tighter, wetted a bit in picture
Here's a couple of other pictures, the side/quarter grain doesn't really look that much different, it does seem quite redy/brown for lignum vitae which is partly why im thinking it might be the verawood/argentine lignum vitae type
The end grain rings on the other end seems to be a bit tighter, wetted a bit in picture
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Interesting it does look similar to whats in that photo. I would imagine its some kind of mineral deposit yes.
Am i right thinking Iroko is similar in density/hardness to Hard Maple? I have some hard maple and the mystery piece I have is definitely denser.
I just bought it at a scrap/recycling type place. They don't tend to know much about anything there wood related.
Am i right thinking Iroko is similar in density/hardness to Hard Maple? I have some hard maple and the mystery piece I have is definitely denser.
I just bought it at a scrap/recycling type place. They don't tend to know much about anything there wood related.
I'm sticking with my original post, Iroko. I have a load of it from old laboratory benches and it all looks like that.
Also, it's famous for being a really bad irritant, so if you start looking and feeling like you have the plague, it's almost certainly Iroko (or worse, man-flu).
Luckily, it doesn't affect me, but some people just can't work with it.
Also, it's famous for being a really bad irritant, so if you start looking and feeling like you have the plague, it's almost certainly Iroko (or worse, man-flu).
Luckily, it doesn't affect me, but some people just can't work with it.
custard
Established Member
The OP calculated the weight as heavier than water and said one of its unique characteristics is its weight. That's why I ruled out Iroko.
The OP should fill up a bath and chuck this board in, if it sinks he can eliminate 99% of the planet's tree species, if it floats then he needs new batteries for his calculator.
The OP should fill up a bath and chuck this board in, if it sinks he can eliminate 99% of the planet's tree species, if it floats then he needs new batteries for his calculator.
