Lignum Vitae...

alejandrino

alejandrino

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May 16, 2006
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I was just browsing ebay and saw a sale for lignum vitae and being advertise as the hardest wood in the world. In my country(Philippines) I used to use a black colored wood we call KAMAGONG and I always thought that nothing could be harder than this! They are now hard to find as people just cut them and never replanted. Part of my fathers house used this and termites could not dent it. I could break cement blocks with it and it was heavy! Does anybody know anything about this ??
 
I googled it and found this.

Kamagong or "Mabolo" is a fruit tree found only in the Philippines, the wood of which is extremely dense and hard, and famous for its dark color. It belongs to the ebony family (genus Diospyros), and like many other very hard woods is sometimes called "iron wood". The word Mabolo is Filipino for hairy and describes the fruit's hairy exterior.

The tree is grown for its rich-tasting fruit as well as its beautifully grained black timber, which is used in furniture making.

It is an endangered tree species and protected by Philippine law - it is illegal to export kamagong timber from the country without special permission from the Bureau of Forestry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Finished products from kamagong wood, such as fine furniture and decoratives can be exported provided that they are properly documented and approved by the Customs authorities.

Ickie
 
Lots of woodworking websites list Lignum as 'the hardest wood' or 'one of the hardest woods'. Couldn't find anything resembling a 'Rockwell chart' for wood, though.
-Mark
 
density of wood, usually expressed in pounds or kg per cubic foot or meter is probably your best bet for determining hardness of wood. Lignum vitae is the densest wood, by this measure, that I've ever seen.
 
polish avenger said:
Lots of woodworking websites list Lignum as 'the hardest wood' or 'one of the hardest woods'. Couldn't find anything resembling a 'Rockwell chart' for wood, though.
-Mark
Click to expand...

Mark,

There is actually a hardness scale for wood. It's called the Janka Hardness Rating. In all listings I've seen Lignum Vitae is tops in Janka hardness.

-d
 
I always thought the wood from Guam (I forgot what it was called) was the hardest. It's illegal to cut down this particular tree, but the natives there are allowed to hack up trees already down. They can use it, but it is illegal for anyone else to own it (or so I'm told). A few of my friends were stationed in Guam so they told me about it. They say it has broken many of a chainsaw. Even if you get a section that is only 1/4in thick and take a hammer and chisel to it, it will take a number of whacks to break it. It will also dull the hell out of the chisel in the process. This stuff won't even float in water!

-Mike Sheffield
 
Thanks for cluing us in on the Janka test, Deker! Here's a lengthy one in which Lignum is not only the hardest on the chart, but it is by FAR the hardest.
-Mark
 
Lignum Vitae goes by many names. It is the heaviest densest wood on planet earth. I bought one board foot of this wood at Colco Fine Woods in Memphis Tenn. years ago and was quite surprised at how extremely heavy and desne this small amount of wood was when the guy handed it to me. Everyone I showed it to after that and told to pick that up was simply amazed. You know its dense when it sinks like a rock in water the way this stuff does. Still it machines well and certainly ranks as my favorite wood for knife handles.

Lignum has a long time history for marine uses. It is still used to make bushings that last over 50 years as well as drive shafts for V8 engines on boats that sit submerged in salt water all the time and pully wheels and sheaves in sailing vessels. Judges gavels are still made from it stemming from the 'Admiralty law traditions' and many marine utensil handles are made from it due to its anti fungal and bacteria resistant nature.

For knife handles its feathering depth and beauty is stunning at times and it polishes up like a rock. Like many woods it oxidizes a bit and can get darker over time with heart woods being a deep chocolate with feathers of green and off shades of stripes throughout. You can darken it in a few hours in direct sunlight also. I love it! Here is a fine sampe of some I picked up a while back from Exotic wood group used on a forum members Stretch rebuild in ti liners with lignum overscales.

STR
 

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Ok I was wrong you can buy wood carvings of this stuff in Guam. You just can't cut the tree down. It has to fall down on its own. It's called Ifit. I was told that this stuff gets harder and darker with age. I also heard that beats any other wood out there in terms of hardness, but that information could be wrong. I will ask around to see if anybody has a piece.

-Mike Sheffield
 
Gotcha! Thanks. I'll have to tell everyone at work that the information they have is wrong. Wow only that hard. From what they were saying that stuff is woods equal to steel.

-Mike Sheffield
 
The edge grain on lignum vitae can some times produce a 3 dimensional effect much like tiger's eye gem stone. Its fun to wor with and has a very pleasant smell to it.

ric
 
My $.02 - Lignum Vitae is very waxy, and tends to emit when it gets warm. Woodworkers who build their own tools have used it for generations as the soles of hand planes and spokeshaves, not only because of its density, but also because it tends to lubricate the contact between the tool and the work. Take that into consideration before making handles out of it.

-Allin
 
Not to highjack this thread, but since there already is such a variety of information, does Lignum Vitae need to be stabilized??
 
No need to stabalize lignum. Its already pretty much done by nature as it is. Many knife makers from Scagel on to present have used it for knives though. I've put it on a lot of em.

STR
 
dadsdamascuswithlignum.jpg


If this works correctly, it'll be my first picture posting. If not....well we'll see if I try it again.

This is one my dad made. Lignum handle, brass guard and butt, damascus from Bob Engnath, convex edge (on top as well).

-Mark
 
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