I am currently soliciting bids from three suppliers for a chunk of Lignum-Vitae that will yield two stocks. One stock will be target style like that of a Remy 40X, the other to be determined.

Anybody else done this?

Andy

Real Lignum Vitae is extinct for all practical purposes (illegal to import into the US). What they're probably gonna sell you is a related species. The chances of getting a slab big enough to make an all heartwood stock is nearly nil. The stuff does not glue, tends to get radial checks at random and is a mo-fo to work with. The upside is it smells really funky-good IMO. The other reall beauty is that the stock will weigh more than the metalwork. YES! I have quite a bit of experience with the real deal back 20 years ago. Suggest you try something local to you such as Hickory, Pecan, Mesquite, Osage ... have fun!

Forgot to mention that a slab of the stuff would likely cost more than a decent used car.

I found a place on the east coast that has literally hundreds of tons of the stuff in their warehouse!

A few slabs I found at other sites were not long enough--4.25x8.25x27 inches at around $660.00. I want a piece 3x9x37 and I think I have found it.

A friend has told me he will help me make a stock if I buy a few router bits.....I have worked as a machinist and tool maker for 16 years and have some experience with this wood but not much. I know I am going to have to buy carbide cutters and lots of them. Wonder if they make ceramic router bits?

Andy

quote:

ceramic router bits

The carbide is fine if it's decent quality. You're gonna do all the contouring by hand anyway. You could chuck up a ceramic cutter etc from a CNC mill. The Lignum Vitae to get is Guiacum Officianale - the rest is faux. It's alligator green with rose and beige streaks in the heartwood. VERY waxy and fragrant.

Andy, Is this place in New Jersey?

how about IPE' / brazilian walnut?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

Model it in Solidworks and 5 axis in T7075 ... then hand paint it like wood. Hey Jeffe! What is the art form where the old guys painted wood to look like marble ...??

quote:

Originally posted by Macifej:
Model it in Solidworks and 5 axis in T7075 ... then hand paint it like wood. Hey Jeffe! What is the art form where the old guys painted wood to look like marble ...??

Actually I was contemplating using 6AL-4V Titanium alloy as I have a few chunks of that lying around......don't ask!

J_Zola,

New Jersey......no. Last I checked the place I am hoping to get a quote from is in West Virginia. They have stated they can fill any order. They claim to have both virgin and used wood. I don't remember the website offhand, but they have pictures of incredibly large blanks on their homepage.

Andy

It's gonna crack. Not a question of if, but when. And it won't take glue. You really should re think this one--

I have hammers made from this wood that were made in the 1930s and have withstood thousands if not millions of blows. I once took a couple of the older hammers to an NDT lab to find the cracks that were inevitably there and were going to cause my tools to fall apart one day....according to a "friend" that knows everything. Nothing doing--no cracks of any kind found!

Please explain "its gonna crack"

With crossbolts and a wrist pin what makes this material more crack prone than any other dense wood?

Don't know if you are set on the "real stuff"or not, but if you are, the real deal, Guaiacum Officinale or Guaiacum Santum is a CITES listed and controlled plant. If it's the real stuff, the seller is going to have a CITES certificate for the wood.

Lots of Argentine Lingum being sold as actual lingum vitae. It is not.

I have a few old mallets and some newer ones made from old bowling balls, and they are damn near indesructable. Since the wood is so dense and hard (Janka 4500 versus red oak at around 1400), the stuff weighs a ton.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
Don't know if you are set on the "real stuff"or not, but if you are, the real deal, Guaiacum Officinale or Guaiacum Santum is a CITES listed and controlled plant. If it's the real stuff, the seller is going to have a CITES certificate for the wood.

Lots of Argentine Lingum being sold as actual lingum vitae. It is not.

I have a few old mallets and some newer ones made from old bowling balls, and they are damn near indesructable. Since the wood is so dense and hard (Janka 4500 versus red oak at around 1400), the stuff weighs a ton.

Didn't know about the bowling balls - interesting.

80lbs per CF ...

I am aware of the CITES junk. The company with the warehouse has contacted me and we are working on a deal. He says that currently they have small thin slabs and big logs. Perhaps I can get them to cut me a rectangle 9x3x37 quartersawn that won't cost me an arm and a leg. I have been known to spend $1K and over on good turkish so I am not afraid of shelling out for indestructable.

Andy

quote:

The Lignum Vitae to get is Guiacum Officianale - the rest is faux. It's alligator green with rose and beige streaks in the heartwood. VERY waxy and fragrant.

I bought some of this a guy has locally, it smells delicious, an oddly vanilla scent. I bought it for razor scales, ended up not gettin around to it, but the block I bought, when cut down to 1/8" thick it all warped.

What I'm hoping you know is, the green color (which I understand is from oxidation) is lost when the wood is cut. How long does it take to come back and is there any way to accelerate it.

for those that don't know this wood, I was told that it was what originally billy clubs were made from in britain for the cops there. it's about as hard as wood gets. I'd like to get a nice club turned out of it for me. I have a shaving brush that supposedly is made from lignum, but it isn't turning green so I'm thinking it isn't. I'm about ready to just wax it and leave. cause without that green color it's rather ugly wood.

Red

It's always green whether you plane it or not. The sap wood is vanilla white. Mostly used for planer blocks and submarine propeller bearings until recently. Clubs? A waste of materal as just about any hardwood makes a good club eh?

he's looking for HEAVY .. and as I suggested, IPE' might be a substitute .. though i've never seen an ipe tree that big, there's boards of it for sale on evilbay right size, wrogn thickness ..

Andy - QUARTERSAWN!