lignum vitae logs

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

I met a guy that claims to have to 8 foot by 24" lignum vitae logs in his back yard in the Keys.

does Lignum grow that big? I want to buy them from him, but I am wondering If indeed it is lignum vitae. Do you you guys know that much about Lignum Vitae?

[Dave Fleming]

Longest I ever saw was about 6 feet. I was told that the wood is so heavy that the trees are more like bushes in its native habitat. But don't see why 8 footers are not a possibility especially if in some landscaping situation with pruning to keep the small stuff back.
I would be more concerned with the actual condition of the logs ie: shakes, splits that sort of thing.
My chief exposure to LV was in a big shipyard in the Oakland, CA., area. It was used for stern bearings on many a merchant ship at one time. The logs, debarked, were kept in a big tank of water until needed. I may be off but, I am going to say there was approx. 50% waste in each log. knots, branch stubs, shakes, splits were all in abundance. And for those bearings pieces about 3 or so feet long and 6 inches x 6 inches were needed, bandsoar'd into a stave or gentle wedge shape. I do hope I recalled all this correctly as that was a long time ago.

[Jack Heinlen]

I've only seen the trees once, years ago, on Lignum Vitae Key. And my memory, of supposed very old trees, is that they were considerably smaller than 24 inches in diameter.

I did web search, but didn't turn up anything about ultimate size.

Extracts from the tree have long been considered medicinal, hence one possible etymology of the name, "tree of life". They were once thought useful as a treatment for syphilis.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

Jack

[Dave Fleming]

In re-reading your original post, 24 inch diameter LV log does seem a bit much but, I suppose in a landscape environment it is possible. IIRC, the logs at Willamette Shipyard were about 12 inches in diameter.

Holy Hernia Batman but a 24 inch bye 8 foot LV log is gonna be one heavy beast! Another item, that wood EATS bandsaor blades for breakfast! Lots of grit or sand or something was in them. Sparks flying almost from the first bite of the blade into the log. Much worse than I can recall from Teak or some Phillipine hardwoods.

[ 10-22-2002, 01:23 PM: Message edited by: Dave Fleming ]

[mhoffman]

Was there a price tag applied to aforementioned logs?
Matt

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

I am waiting on the price.

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

If I get them, I might consider splitting the costs for the logs, shipping and milling with someone around here.

[Concordia..41]

We used lignum vitae in some of the power plants I worked at for grating at the sea water intake structures and for bearings in the large saltwater cooling pumps. It almost has to be green to work it. As Dave said it will eat up blades like mad. It does machine good. You have to drill a hole to get a nail in it and can forget using bronze screws when it is dry. I used it to make a couple of snatch blocks and used steel screws to cut the thread and then installed the bronze screw. It makes great wood cleats.

Dave

[RGM]

You got my curiosity spun up so I checked out my copy of "Tropical Timbers of the World", U.S Dept. of Agriculture and the U.S Forest Service. On page 85 I found the low-down on Lignumvitae, "small tree usually 20 to 30 ft in height, often 10 to 12 inches in diameter, occasionally 18 to 30 inches". So there you go. have fun packing those things around.

[Donn]

Thad...I'd be interested in participating to a small extent, in return for some small bits for mallets and carving and such.

[gary porter]

RGM, right you are, here is a link to that page.
http://www.righteouswoods.com/lignum_vitae.html
Thats got to be an incredible weight.
Gary :eek:

[mhoffman]

I'd be interested in some, just not at $5/lb- Thad, if you can get a better deal, let me know.
Matt

[Jack Heinlen]

Thaddeus,

You realize you open a small floodgate asking for participation.

My favorite mallet of all time has a LV head, round and round-ed over shaped, about 4 inches in diameter, two thick, with a short oak haft.

I'd go for a baulk or two.

But what about the working character of the wood? I know it's hard as Satan's hooves, but how is it to work after fully dry? Impossible, without lasers?

Jack

[Donn]

Jack...I've carved alot of it, bone dry. I use japanese sandwich steel carving knives, chisels, and (shh.. ;) ) a Dremel with diamond bits.

[imported_Steven Bauer]

Count me in.
Steven

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

Billy bones,

I would love to see a picture of what they look like alive.. would you PLEASE (pretty please with sugar on top) show us some pictures?

By the way, hopefully the guy will get back to me today. I will let you guys know how things turn out. I was hoping to have the local saw mill cut it up. I know that they can saw frozen logs, so I figured that they can saw lignum vitae.

[ishmael]

You should check with the sawyer. It is sometimes hard to find one that will saw wood from near a dwelling. I ran into this when I cut down a walnut. Ended up sawing it with a chain saw mill.

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

Not that I'd want to, but, I have access to a chainsaw mill as well!

[Bayboat]

Some years ago I met a Mexican businessman in Quintana Roo who was manufacturing baulks of local Guayacan (Lignum vitae) and shipping them to Japan for use as stern bearings for ships. He was using metal-cutting bandsaws and machinists' lathes to work the wood. The largest diameters I saw in Quintana Roo were about 14-15 inches, with heartwood about 10 inches. He was worried about continuing supply, and I asked about planting some seedlings. He said, "They would probably grow all right; maybe my great-grandson could harvest them."

[NormMessinger]

God was feeling mercyful today, I see. Great photos, thank you.

[Donn]

Billy...judging from the trees in your neighborhood, my guess is that "St. Somewhere" is not St. Cloud or Sault St. Marie. :D

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

The pictures aren't coming through on my computer, but I gotta say, that must be really neat to have a teak tree!

[mhoffman]

Check out www.agroforester.com- (http://www.agroforester.com-) they sell teak seedlings, as well as other tropical lumber plant stock.

[Cedarhill Boatworks]

Be damn careful trying to cut lv with a chainsaw. It's more than likely gonna just skate around on the log and make a lot of smokey chips. You'll be better off with a sawzall and a good bimetal blade.

[Bayboat]

One reason that lignum vitae preseveres long enough to achieve good growth is that it can't be chopped down by slash-and-burn farmers. There are a few other species that resist chopping as well--in Spanish-speaking parts of Latin America they go under the generic name "quebracho," which means "breaks the axe."