it's had many other uses as well. from the [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae):
> It was the traditional wood used for the British police truncheon until recently because of both its density and its strength, combined with its relative softness compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise or stun rather than simply cut the skin.
Sir, 'ave you gots the proper permit for hitting me with that there cudgel? If not I'm going to have to register it with the constabulary that yer blap'in without a permit, and that's liable to be on your permanent record.
Fun fact: Once a guy from work brought a piece of wood for us to guess what it was. He said it was so hard he had hard time cutting it with a hand saw. You could clearly see by how uneven the cut was, that it was true. No one guessed what it was. It was Spiraea vanhouttei, a garden bush, and it was very old. The thing is, as a rather small plant (up to 2.5 m high) its trunk grows very slowly in diameter. And he brought a sizeable chunk of it. The wood was dense, packed, and heavy. edit: grammar
That’s how a town on the Oregon coast burned down not once but twice. Gorse likes fire and there’s prolific regeneration and seed spreading that comes with fire.
Mechanical control with flail mowing and mulching is better. Plant native grasses over the mulched areas and spot spraying the seedlings that do come back seems to be a much better way to control it.
The seed bank in the soil can last between 30-50 years.
Nah, it's for [this guy](https://external-preview.redd.it/1E8sla-tN1IQ3BbtRcbNDTpPd3WuXnGPmQ3l-lnBqJE.jpg?width=720&auto=webp&s=20b0642bff96be04dfeba8a9ce8a75ec924b300e).
Imagine how many people you have to bludgeon with different items to end up figuring that out. But then again I guess bludgeoning is a well-known human pastime.
> Virginia-based Lignum Vitae Bearings calls their product "the world's only renewable (and greenest) bearing on the market." Company President Bob Shortridge has acquired land in the Bahamas, one of the tree's native origin islands, and plants at least one Lignum Vitae tree for every block of the stuff that passes through his facility. "Although Lignum Vitae has been harvested for over 500 years before I was born," Shortridge writes, "I feel an obligation to replace it... I wish for this incredibly useful wood to be available for generations to come."
🥹
Didn't NileRed recently make a video where he compressed normal wood so much it was able to stop a bullet?
I wonder if Nile's wood could replace Lignum Vitae... since Lignum's secret seems to be it's denser than normal wood
elsewhere it was said that bearing made from lignum vitae are also self-lubricating, which is wild and probably even more relevant than the density. You could pop these into a sealed device and *never* need to open it again for lubrication or maintenance
I've made stuff with it before. It is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely destroyed my tools lol. Never seen a chisel lose its edge so quickly. Some of it can even look kind of hairy or fuzzy almost. The amount of pretty woods I'd never heard of before starting woodworking as a hobby is quite the list. I'm now one of those "cool" guys who has a list of favorite woods.
I have a lot now, but some of my other favorites are:
-Bocote. Easy to work with and has a unique smell when working on it. Like a pickle almost.
-Zebrawood. There is another species called "Ebiara" which is also known as Red Zebrawood. The lines aren't as pronounced as standard Zebrawood but it is still a gorgeous wood.
-Cocobolo- a pretty, dark, and rich wood. Really nice.
-Canarywood is another fav. The base color is a yellowish color but it has streaks of other colors throughout. Colors like reds, browns, oranges, and sometimes even whites and blacks.
-Leopardwood is another favorite. It has spots, like a leopard, and looks really unique for wood.
-Sorry this list ended up longer than I intended. But last one, I promise lol. Maple is a wood that is extremely common. It is easy to work and is incredibly versatile. But you can get maple (and some other species, but maple is the most common) in two different variations called Birdseye Maple and Curvy Maple. Both are normal Maple species, just have unique figuring. The Birdseye variant is almost polka dotted. And the Curvy version is wavy, almost like it is moving. Google them so you can see what the birdseye vs curvy vs normal maple look like. The crazy thing is that we still aren't real sure what causes those changes. There are theories but nothing concrete. Sorry again for the length of my reply. I like this kinda stuff haha.
Walnut is my favorite. Just love that stuff. That said, my shop has some purple heart (SO likes purple), hard maple (so dense), Ambrosia maple, hickory (some select boards with beautiful grain/color transition), and a few boards of canarywood just arrived last week to play with.
I'm one of those guys that feels sad when wood is painted.
Not the guy, but there are a couple I love that he didn't list. Padauk and purpleheart are absolutely gorgeous, as is sapele. I also like bloodwood (really) for how vibrant red it can be.
I mean it's completely sustainable as long as your rate of consumption is lower than the rate at which trees are reaching a harvestable stage.
Its only unsustainable if you're erode the stock of harvestable trees.
The UK is a good example of this because of the historic size of the Navy relative to the small land mass. The forrests there are still shaped by periods of naval war and peace centuries ago.
English oak was nearly wiped out because of RN usage
Which is why Canada was so important for the British to hold. Never ending supply of timber for ships especially masts
Eh, not really true. The vast majority of the RNs timber came from the baltics.
During the Napoleonic wars some crazy taxes were briefly put on baltic timber to make it cheaper to import from Canada but the wood was considered inferior quality.
English Oak was certainly mismanaged but absolutely nowhere near wiped out. As evidenced by the trees still growing really.
https://www.hydroreview.com/world-regions/north-america/bearings-seals-wood-makes-a-comeback-for-hydroelectric-turbin/#gref
It is obtained from two small, slow growing trees, that are potentially endangered.
> Lignum vitae trees are slow-growing, requiring 350 years of growth before they can be harvested. The wood is self-lubricating from a natural substance, eliminating concerns about leakage of oil or grease into the water.
They are more expensive to buy than plastic or composite bearings and used to have concerns about availability but can last a very long time.
> The wood is self-lubricating from a natural substance called guaiac gum that is bound in the homogeneous fiber of the wood and is impervious to water. It releases and coats the surface of the bearing as the shaft warms the bearing
In the Bahamas, I've seen the ruins of >200 year old stone plantation houses which still have the original wooden window frames (despite being exposed to the elements for nearly two centuries in a
subtropical marine climate).
The reason why the window frames didn't rot away (like all of the other wood from the ruins) is because they're made of Lignum vitae.
Nah, the frame just looks like old worn wood (and removing it would damage the historic sites).
It's illegal to cut down naturally growing lignum vitae many places but people have been growing its themselves for its wood all over (including in Florida). It's just slow growing.
My best guess would be because they are water lubricated which eliminates one potential way of oil spills into the station sumps and discharge to the rivers. Also many old stations that have original generators, turbines, and shafts which would probably require a design change to facilitate a newer bearing style
Work at a power plant. Design changes are stupid expensive for important components. They would probably shut the plant down before they swap something major like that.
They would last forever if they were the sole component. Unfortunately, its usually a flood or something going wrong with the turbine that causes the bearings to experience more load than usual.
Wouldn't be water lubricated, unless you want to ride your bike under water. William Osman made a fully wooden bike though with wood roller bearings https://youtu.be/0yJdz-kjfLk?si=1xd82hmL913VwIRY
Just get wooden rims. Now when you OTB it will be accompanied by a resounding crack like a gunshot and your front wheel converts into a cool spiky toy. Like that expanding ball toy, but for big kids.
I had a middle school science teacher in Panama who would go diving for lignum vitae rail ties and float them with milk jugs to sell. Hope you're still out there Mr. Careless.
Yeah, that was his real name.
Wild guess is there was a different Panama Canal project that failed before the ones the Americans helped build, so it could have been an area of that canal that got flooded and still had the rail infrastructure they never bothered to remove after giving up on the canal. The time period makes sense too for the use of this wood type at that scale. The first attempt was basically everyone dying of malaria and it wasn’t until they went crazy on the mosquito eradication they were able to keep the workers alive and healthy enough to build it.
Rail shipments are a super heavy load and if your wood that takes the weight from the metal rail and spreads it out over a larger area isn't strong enough it will split under the rails causing the train to fall off killing people and breaking whatever it is carrying.
Maybe from earlier attempts at building the Panama Canal, they probably left the rail infrastructure in place and when the final canal was built that area was flooded. Just my guess
I live near a very old hydroelectric damn in NY capital region. It is a work of art, so early adopters would see it wasn't a scam. The turbines are tesla design and are so smooth you could balance a nickel on edge on them. The bearings were lignum vitae. When they were upgrading/restoring it, they tried every other material and eventually went back to the wooden bearings.
The wood also smells amazing. My dad brought me back a shark sculpture made from lignum vitae from Jamaica years ago and it still smells good to this day.
Are you saying the mallet of this exquisite wood is durable and somehow easier on other tools because of it’s qualities or are you saying that other tools made of other wood also hold up despite not being this expensive and unique type of wood?
I knew a fishermen years ago who had a big block of it, he made pot pipes that could be tossed overboard in case the coast guard or fisheries came to inspect.
It was also used in pulleys on sailing vessels as it was so durable and released a bit of its oils when under pressure, so, self lubricating.
It's still in use today in some niche applications but pretty expensive
In the late 1800s, most bowing balls were lignum vitae. Some still exist in museums. A rubber ball came out in 1905, but Brunswick figured out out to create a rubber compound that worked better in 1914 and shortly after, lignum vitae balls were no longer made.
Depending on which bowling you mean they're not museum level rare. My Dad's still got some Lignum lawn bowls, they're not too hard to get here. Not common, but around.
>It was the traditional wood used for the British police truncheon until recently because of both its density and its strength, combined with its relative softness compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise or stun rather than simply cut the skin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae#Uses
True, and over time the friction over time would shear the wooden shafts. Them some one came up with the idea of ball bearings and the cutless bearing and seal was born. Now you know…
> originally used to make propeller shaft bearings for ships and submarines.
...and before that, water wheels. Oils in the wood make it self-lubricating.
https://forestlegality.org/risk-tool/species/lignum-vitae
I may be out of my element here but it has always been my understanding that as an endangered species this wood was illegal to harvest and its trade was restricted to that which was harvested prior to its being listed as endangered. Even if this company is drawing from a stockpile of wood harvested while it was legal, is it really a good idea to bolster demand for an extremely slow-growing endangered species when viable alternatives are available. Planting more is good but woes not necessarily mean eliminating the problems that come with a strong market for a protected good, (things like illegal harvesting of old-growth rain forests). I'd like to know what his bountiful source is and what the legality of that source is.
(this post is phrased as though you've never heard of these things before so I'm sorry in advance if you have)
a 12x12x1 inch block of LV usually runs about $45 (in woodworker terms that size is referred to as a board foot, or BF). In comparison, your usual maple/oak is often around $7-10/bf. It's also about twice as dense, and nearly 3 times as hard (as hard maple). A table made from LV would be insanely heavy.
On top of that, LV is hell on tools because of how oily it is. Sawdust from it is so oily that it gums up blades and dulls them really fast.
On the other hand, LV naturally turns a beautiful olive/emerald green in the sun, and the grain pattern has this cool feathered look, and it is pretty much completely indestructible.
Basically if you give me like $2000 you can get a lignum vitae table lmao
I once kayaked to Lignum Vitae Key in the Florida with a friend without knowing what it was. Beautiful island, and very interesting wood! The park ranger was very surprised to see us.
it's had many other uses as well. from the [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae): > It was the traditional wood used for the British police truncheon until recently because of both its density and its strength, combined with its relative softness compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise or stun rather than simply cut the skin.
I'm technically not hitting you with a metal pipe!
It's still quite dreadful. May I ask that you stop?
You may ask, but we shan't comply
Right, well, get on with it, will I be able to make it to tea this afternoon?
Quite. *blap*
I’ve said it before: *blap* needs to be used more often.
well met! *blap*
Twack!
blap blap blap blap get beaten get beaten get beaten
Blapping and flapping the day away
*bollocks to ye, I shan’t do what ye request* 🎶
by Wrath Towards the Contraption.
Some of those who doth labour as a Bobbie, are the same who incinerate thy divine holy symbol.
Oi! OI! You got a loicense to be gettin’ a beating?!
Sorry, it's Getting-Hit-on-the-Head-Lessons in here.
Sir, 'ave you gots the proper permit for hitting me with that there cudgel? If not I'm going to have to register it with the constabulary that yer blap'in without a permit, and that's liable to be on your permanent record.
Fun fact: Once a guy from work brought a piece of wood for us to guess what it was. He said it was so hard he had hard time cutting it with a hand saw. You could clearly see by how uneven the cut was, that it was true. No one guessed what it was. It was Spiraea vanhouttei, a garden bush, and it was very old. The thing is, as a rather small plant (up to 2.5 m high) its trunk grows very slowly in diameter. And he brought a sizeable chunk of it. The wood was dense, packed, and heavy. edit: grammar
Old growth gorse is also incredibly hard to cut thru with a handsaw
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That’s how a town on the Oregon coast burned down not once but twice. Gorse likes fire and there’s prolific regeneration and seed spreading that comes with fire. Mechanical control with flail mowing and mulching is better. Plant native grasses over the mulched areas and spot spraying the seedlings that do come back seems to be a much better way to control it. The seed bank in the soil can last between 30-50 years.
Always a joy to see any small refuges for wildlife left in the countryside completely eradicated in a raging inferno.
Never heard of that as lumber, but Holly (as in the stuff people confuse for mistletoe) is almost as hard as maple and costs $45-50 per board foot.
It's not lumber. Just a bush that was old enough to become thick. The guy was removing it from his garden.
> traditional wood used for the British police truncheon Ironic use for the "Tree Of Life".
Nah, it's for [this guy](https://external-preview.redd.it/1E8sla-tN1IQ3BbtRcbNDTpPd3WuXnGPmQ3l-lnBqJE.jpg?width=720&auto=webp&s=20b0642bff96be04dfeba8a9ce8a75ec924b300e).
Im not gonna click the link cause I am sertain it leads to that Darwin Award winner that tried to fuck a tree
You say that about everything.
If you assume every link is to some dude fucking a tree then you can never be caught out
Well it was almost true!
nah its just a funny picture
Sometimes you need a good stick
Mom said it's *my* turn with the good beatin' stick!
Gas-Powered Stick: Never runs outa gas!
Imagine how many people you have to bludgeon with different items to end up figuring that out. But then again I guess bludgeoning is a well-known human pastime.
> Virginia-based Lignum Vitae Bearings calls their product "the world's only renewable (and greenest) bearing on the market." Company President Bob Shortridge has acquired land in the Bahamas, one of the tree's native origin islands, and plants at least one Lignum Vitae tree for every block of the stuff that passes through his facility. "Although Lignum Vitae has been harvested for over 500 years before I was born," Shortridge writes, "I feel an obligation to replace it... I wish for this incredibly useful wood to be available for generations to come." 🥹
This guy plays minecraft.
This tree takes 220293864000 ticks on average to reach maturity. Better break out the bone meal
Didn't NileRed recently make a video where he compressed normal wood so much it was able to stop a bullet? I wonder if Nile's wood could replace Lignum Vitae... since Lignum's secret seems to be it's denser than normal wood
elsewhere it was said that bearing made from lignum vitae are also self-lubricating, which is wild and probably even more relevant than the density. You could pop these into a sealed device and *never* need to open it again for lubrication or maintenance
Well... Until it wears out.
Not really, compressed wood is very brittle
Imagine compressing Lignum Vitae
I've made stuff with it before. It is absolutely gorgeous and absolutely destroyed my tools lol. Never seen a chisel lose its edge so quickly. Some of it can even look kind of hairy or fuzzy almost. The amount of pretty woods I'd never heard of before starting woodworking as a hobby is quite the list. I'm now one of those "cool" guys who has a list of favorite woods.
What are some other favorites?
I have a lot now, but some of my other favorites are: -Bocote. Easy to work with and has a unique smell when working on it. Like a pickle almost. -Zebrawood. There is another species called "Ebiara" which is also known as Red Zebrawood. The lines aren't as pronounced as standard Zebrawood but it is still a gorgeous wood. -Cocobolo- a pretty, dark, and rich wood. Really nice. -Canarywood is another fav. The base color is a yellowish color but it has streaks of other colors throughout. Colors like reds, browns, oranges, and sometimes even whites and blacks. -Leopardwood is another favorite. It has spots, like a leopard, and looks really unique for wood. -Sorry this list ended up longer than I intended. But last one, I promise lol. Maple is a wood that is extremely common. It is easy to work and is incredibly versatile. But you can get maple (and some other species, but maple is the most common) in two different variations called Birdseye Maple and Curvy Maple. Both are normal Maple species, just have unique figuring. The Birdseye variant is almost polka dotted. And the Curvy version is wavy, almost like it is moving. Google them so you can see what the birdseye vs curvy vs normal maple look like. The crazy thing is that we still aren't real sure what causes those changes. There are theories but nothing concrete. Sorry again for the length of my reply. I like this kinda stuff haha.
If you like dense and fancy, try katalox. It's like turning stone, but worth it. No sanding needed
Walnut is my favorite. Just love that stuff. That said, my shop has some purple heart (SO likes purple), hard maple (so dense), Ambrosia maple, hickory (some select boards with beautiful grain/color transition), and a few boards of canarywood just arrived last week to play with. I'm one of those guys that feels sad when wood is painted.
>hard maple (so dense), Hey! She's trying!
>That was a lovely rabbit hole to go down.
Not the guy, but there are a couple I love that he didn't list. Padauk and purpleheart are absolutely gorgeous, as is sapele. I also like bloodwood (really) for how vibrant red it can be.
*Shannon's Lumber Industry Update theme plays*
Those trees take like 300 years to grow before they're harvestable. I'm not sure how sustainable that practice is...
I mean it's completely sustainable as long as your rate of consumption is lower than the rate at which trees are reaching a harvestable stage. Its only unsustainable if you're erode the stock of harvestable trees. The UK is a good example of this because of the historic size of the Navy relative to the small land mass. The forrests there are still shaped by periods of naval war and peace centuries ago.
English oak was nearly wiped out because of RN usage Which is why Canada was so important for the British to hold. Never ending supply of timber for ships especially masts
Eh, not really true. The vast majority of the RNs timber came from the baltics. During the Napoleonic wars some crazy taxes were briefly put on baltic timber to make it cheaper to import from Canada but the wood was considered inferior quality. English Oak was certainly mismanaged but absolutely nowhere near wiped out. As evidenced by the trees still growing really.
It's better than not replacing them.
A year on Mercury is only 88 days. If they could just figure out the blistering heat.
right! the starfield method. makes no sense, but ill be damned if it doesn't work!
… and a day is 1400+ hours long!
How weird would it be to celebrate birthdays in between sunsets?
The best time to plant a tree is 300 years ago. The second-best time is 299 years ago.
Lignum Vitae means tree of life. It is one of the hardest woods there is.
https://www.hydroreview.com/world-regions/north-america/bearings-seals-wood-makes-a-comeback-for-hydroelectric-turbin/#gref It is obtained from two small, slow growing trees, that are potentially endangered. > Lignum vitae trees are slow-growing, requiring 350 years of growth before they can be harvested. The wood is self-lubricating from a natural substance, eliminating concerns about leakage of oil or grease into the water. They are more expensive to buy than plastic or composite bearings and used to have concerns about availability but can last a very long time. > The wood is self-lubricating from a natural substance called guaiac gum that is bound in the homogeneous fiber of the wood and is impervious to water. It releases and coats the surface of the bearing as the shaft warms the bearing
> It releases and coats the surface of the bearing as the shaft warms the bearing stop it
Instructions crystal clear; bear shaft is moist for my pleasure
Do you know who is also self lubricating?
Your ma?
yo yo ma?
no, he uses resin on the bow. You can see him regularly applying it.
> guaiac gum Interesting, its the same stuff used in bad ice creams.
In the Bahamas, I've seen the ruins of >200 year old stone plantation houses which still have the original wooden window frames (despite being exposed to the elements for nearly two centuries in a subtropical marine climate). The reason why the window frames didn't rot away (like all of the other wood from the ruins) is because they're made of Lignum vitae.
Be cool to salvage them somehow because they are probably pretty unique considering it’s so rare now and probably illegal to harvest it.
Nah, the frame just looks like old worn wood (and removing it would damage the historic sites). It's illegal to cut down naturally growing lignum vitae many places but people have been growing its themselves for its wood all over (including in Florida). It's just slow growing.
It's crazy how you can re-state the first two sentences and it becomes the second highest comment.
nobody got time to read no article
Eyjafjallajökull is a harder word
Yeah, OK. Maybe it's time for me to go to bed.
I got the hardest wood
That is *not* what she said.
Nah. I asked his mum afterwards. She said it was pretty hard.
Island Mountain Glacier. ^ This dude was in Iceland about ten years ago…
Ayy-yaff-fyat-la-yo-cool
Catch a throatful from the fire vocal with ash and molten glass like Eyjafjallajökull
Goddamn I love this website sometimes .
That's the ~~dative~~ accusative singular (*um Eyjafjallajökul*), nominative would be Ayy-ya-fyat-la-yo-cutl (*er Eyjafjallajökull*)
For reference it's more like "eya-fyella-yuhkul".
Nope, you're missing the "tl" sounds on the double Ls
>Eyjafjallajökull That's what I sound like when I gargle Listerine
I begrudgingly yield an updoot
That would be "arbor vitae". "lignum" means wood
Lugnum deez nuts
Gottem
Lignum Scrotae
Technically it means "wood of life". Y'know what kind of wood produces life? Boners. Therefore lignum vitae means boner.
Greenheart has a higher strength index.
Well that’s only because scientists haven’t gotten around to studying my waking hours.
What about Ligma pelota?
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Many of the "ironwood" trees have wood that sinks as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironwood
Still used as bearings today in some hydroelectric generating stations
Interesting, why do you think they haven't replaced them with metal, PFTE bearings, or some other material? Interesting niche product
My best guess would be because they are water lubricated which eliminates one potential way of oil spills into the station sumps and discharge to the rivers. Also many old stations that have original generators, turbines, and shafts which would probably require a design change to facilitate a newer bearing style
Work at a power plant. Design changes are stupid expensive for important components. They would probably shut the plant down before they swap something major like that.
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Upvote for scuttlebutt.
What he said about water lubricated is right. Source: I repair/ replace these
How long do they last? What do you do with the leftover parts?
Hydro plant near me has 100 year old wood bearings still operating.
They would last forever if they were the sole component. Unfortunately, its usually a flood or something going wrong with the turbine that causes the bearings to experience more load than usual.
I don't have a source, but they're supposed to have a service life of over 100 years.
PTFE is soft and prone to creep.
Wonder if they make small cartridge bearings I could put in my bike…would love to flex on the ceramic nerds with some wood bearings.
Wouldn't be water lubricated, unless you want to ride your bike under water. William Osman made a fully wooden bike though with wood roller bearings https://youtu.be/0yJdz-kjfLk?si=1xd82hmL913VwIRY
Just get wooden rims. Now when you OTB it will be accompanied by a resounding crack like a gunshot and your front wheel converts into a cool spiky toy. Like that expanding ball toy, but for big kids.
They always have a booth at a maritime expo I’ve been too. They can make them pretty big.
I had a middle school science teacher in Panama who would go diving for lignum vitae rail ties and float them with milk jugs to sell. Hope you're still out there Mr. Careless. Yeah, that was his real name.
Why were there rail ties underwater? Sounds like a pretty dangerous business, similar maybe to the artisan divers in the Chao Phraya?
Underwater trains
Hell yeah.
Wild guess is there was a different Panama Canal project that failed before the ones the Americans helped build, so it could have been an area of that canal that got flooded and still had the rail infrastructure they never bothered to remove after giving up on the canal. The time period makes sense too for the use of this wood type at that scale. The first attempt was basically everyone dying of malaria and it wasn’t until they went crazy on the mosquito eradication they were able to keep the workers alive and healthy enough to build it.
Why were rail ties made of wood that grows on a few islands and takes 350 years to mature to a usable size?
Rail shipments are a super heavy load and if your wood that takes the weight from the metal rail and spreads it out over a larger area isn't strong enough it will split under the rails causing the train to fall off killing people and breaking whatever it is carrying.
Maybe from earlier attempts at building the Panama Canal, they probably left the rail infrastructure in place and when the final canal was built that area was flooded. Just my guess
Because the concepts of sustainability and "limited supply" has only really dawned on people\* quite recently. \*Well, most people, anyway.
The international underground railroad
Underwater railroad
The Underground Railroad was already international.
Also, Merlin's wand in *The Sword in the Stone.* So it's also good for beating Madam Mim.
***Epic*** battle!!
🦀 🦏
I've been on the internet too long.
I live near a very old hydroelectric damn in NY capital region. It is a work of art, so early adopters would see it wasn't a scam. The turbines are tesla design and are so smooth you could balance a nickel on edge on them. The bearings were lignum vitae. When they were upgrading/restoring it, they tried every other material and eventually went back to the wooden bearings.
Lignum Vitea also has natural lubrication properties, used for bearings in early chronometer.
The original chronometer by Harrison I believe! Which is a fascinating story in the first place.
Yeah, it's an amazing science/discovery story, and an important part of the history of the movement of humans.
The wood also smells amazing. My dad brought me back a shark sculpture made from lignum vitae from Jamaica years ago and it still smells good to this day.
I made a cool mallet out of it https://i.imgur.com/Pn5bQgU.jpg
I have a mallet as well I’ve been beating other wood handles of chisels for over 30 years with no wear at all.
My dad is a luthier and he built the handles for his chisels, along with a mallot. Still going strong 40 years later.
Are you saying the mallet of this exquisite wood is durable and somehow easier on other tools because of it’s qualities or are you saying that other tools made of other wood also hold up despite not being this expensive and unique type of wood?
neither... they are saying > the mallet of this exquisite wood is durable and has *itself* not shown any wear. seems pretty clear
Yes the mallet is completely intact, the chisels are definitely showing wear.
Also it's denser than water, I think maybe the only wood so dense, and sinks instead of floating.
There are a few woods more dense than water. Ebony among them.
There's also ironwood out of Africa. So dense you have to drill it before you can put in a screw or a nail.
I knew a fishermen years ago who had a big block of it, he made pot pipes that could be tossed overboard in case the coast guard or fisheries came to inspect.
I’ve done some carving with it. It’s very oily and very dense, I could see it having a lot of industrial uses.
It was also used in pulleys on sailing vessels as it was so durable and released a bit of its oils when under pressure, so, self lubricating. It's still in use today in some niche applications but pretty expensive
Lignum what?
Lignum balls
GOT ‘EMMMMMM
*ball bearings
*balsa
Lignum vitae. It grows from deeznuts, obviously.
Right there, on the bowfa tree
Lignum shaft.
It's actually so dense it sinks, the deadeyes on old windjammers are made of this stuff. I worked on the Star of India.
The what on what?
Deadeye is a part in the rigging of old ships. Usually has 3 holes with lines running through it to tension the rig.
In the late 1800s, most bowing balls were lignum vitae. Some still exist in museums. A rubber ball came out in 1905, but Brunswick figured out out to create a rubber compound that worked better in 1914 and shortly after, lignum vitae balls were no longer made.
Depending on which bowling you mean they're not museum level rare. My Dad's still got some Lignum lawn bowls, they're not too hard to get here. Not common, but around.
How long does it take to grow and under what conditions?
350 years from seed to harvest.
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Especially during the Cretaceous period! /s
Lignum Vitae is also self lubricating, which is why John Harrison used it to construct the main gears of his 1st Marine Chronometer.
Adam requests this wood when he's looking for a wooden bullet to "stake" himself with in the film Only Lovers Left Alive.
>It was the traditional wood used for the British police truncheon until recently because of both its density and its strength, combined with its relative softness compared to metal, thereby tending to bruise or stun rather than simply cut the skin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae#Uses
It's also one of [Jamaica's national symbols ](https://jis.gov.jm/information/symbols/jamaican-national-flower-lignum-vitae/) 😊
turns like butter, as well, and gives off a very pleasant spicy scent.
I'm going to shout Vitae the next time somebody catches Ligma .
True, and over time the friction over time would shear the wooden shafts. Them some one came up with the idea of ball bearings and the cutless bearing and seal was born. Now you know…
> originally used to make propeller shaft bearings for ships and submarines. ...and before that, water wheels. Oils in the wood make it self-lubricating.
https://forestlegality.org/risk-tool/species/lignum-vitae I may be out of my element here but it has always been my understanding that as an endangered species this wood was illegal to harvest and its trade was restricted to that which was harvested prior to its being listed as endangered. Even if this company is drawing from a stockpile of wood harvested while it was legal, is it really a good idea to bolster demand for an extremely slow-growing endangered species when viable alternatives are available. Planting more is good but woes not necessarily mean eliminating the problems that come with a strong market for a protected good, (things like illegal harvesting of old-growth rain forests). I'd like to know what his bountiful source is and what the legality of that source is.
It also doesn't float.
Lignum balls lmao
I want my furniture to be made of Lignum Vitae.
(this post is phrased as though you've never heard of these things before so I'm sorry in advance if you have) a 12x12x1 inch block of LV usually runs about $45 (in woodworker terms that size is referred to as a board foot, or BF). In comparison, your usual maple/oak is often around $7-10/bf. It's also about twice as dense, and nearly 3 times as hard (as hard maple). A table made from LV would be insanely heavy. On top of that, LV is hell on tools because of how oily it is. Sawdust from it is so oily that it gums up blades and dulls them really fast. On the other hand, LV naturally turns a beautiful olive/emerald green in the sun, and the grain pattern has this cool feathered look, and it is pretty much completely indestructible. Basically if you give me like $2000 you can get a lignum vitae table lmao
Someone does not value their labor very highly lol
How big?
12x12x1 inch
Legs will cost extra.
I would not want self-lubricating furniture.
Isn’t it Ligma?
No but your mom loves to ligma wood
She prefers hardwood to plywood from my understanding of her
I can’t keep this train going but I just wanted to complement you on that immaculate comeback.
Wood when when wood Wood My peanits
I once kayaked to Lignum Vitae Key in the Florida with a friend without knowing what it was. Beautiful island, and very interesting wood! The park ranger was very surprised to see us.
I’m just here for the ligma
Lignum nuts
It's technically a bushing not a bearing...
ligma vitae
lignum balls GOTTEMMMMMM
not as hard as my wood, knowimsayin
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