even the mighty bk-2 gets nervous with this wood.

JV3

JV3

Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
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it's freaking cold outside so i'm staying home tonight and play in my garage. anyway, this is a piece of ironwood that i took home awhile back. it's been sitting in my basement so it's not frozen at all but look how freaking hard this thing is.

bk-2_wood_split_01.jpg



i've been wailing at this splitter with a 4 lb sledgehammer with a 2 ft long handle for about 10 min now and i've only gone about 75% through it.

bk-2_wood_split_02.jpg



...and the freaking thing still won't split :eek: i still can't pry it apart with my hands. i have to drive the splitter about 90% through it before i can pull it apart.

bk-2_wood_split_03.jpg



this kind of tree grows all over where i usually hike. here's another pic from almost a year ago with my bk-2 splitting a 2" diameter branch. it took me 20 minutes batoning to get to that point. i'd hate to get stuck out there and have to start a fire in order to survive.

005_006.jpg


and yeah, no chips or rolls on the bk-2's edge even though as you can see the wood is insanely hard :thumbup:
 
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Awesome post, love the manual labor, it makes us appreciate hydraulics all that much more.

Moose
 
"yer doing it wrong" :)

i had me a large piece of blue stone once. 5 and 10 lb sledges. chisels. broke a chisel on that. my dad laughed. said "yer doing it wrong". so i invited his wise-ass to take a shot at it. 10 minutes later, not a single chip, but the hammer head was slightly roughed up. "hey dad, getting old?" says i with smirk. from him? "shuddup".

so, keep at it!

#
 
Hey JV3, which Ironwood is it?

If it's Ostrya virginiana, it makes an awesome white wood bow.

Doc
 
moosez45 said:
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Awesome post, love the manual labor, it makes us appreciate hydraulics all that much more.

Moose
Click to expand...

i still have a 2' x 1' section in my garage i need to split eventually to burn in my fire pit...i drink beer, contemplate the amount of hammering needed to split it, i drink some more beer...then i chicken out. hopefully the next discount coupon we get i can use it to buy a mini chain saw :D


Bladite said:
"yer doing it wrong" :)

i had me a large piece of blue stone once. 5 and 10 lb sledges. chisels. broke a chisel on that. my dad laughed. said "yer doing it wrong". so i invited his wise-ass to take a shot at it. 10 minutes later, not a single chip, but the hammer head was slightly roughed up. "hey dad, getting old?" says i with smirk. from him? "shuddup".

so, keep at it!

#
Click to expand...

i actually used a 10" table saw to shorten it (cut across the grain) to aid in splitting it and the blade almost started smoking :D one of the ends actually has a scorch mark.


Flexxx said:
Thats awesome, its good to know our becker knives are tuff.....
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yeah, i was a newbie with beckers (and here on bladeforums) at the time and i fully intended to see if i can snap the blade in half or at least chip it. i figured let it fail now when it's summer and warm...nothing. it took it like a champ. i knew my bk-2 was a keeper.


DOC-CANADA said:
Hey JV3, which Ironwood is it?

If it's Ostrya virginiana, it makes an awesome white wood bow.

Doc
Click to expand...

i honestly have no idea. rescueriley might know since it's one of his regular spots that i started frequenting as well. the fibers are incredibly tough but flexible. even a sliver the size of a toothpick is hard to pull away from the main chunk.
 
Now I want some ironwood scales for my next Becker.
Somebody whip me up a set. :D
 
Guyon said:
Now I want some ironwood scales for my next Becker.
Somebody whip me up a set. :D
Click to expand...

Better make that 2 sets, with a name like Iron wood, its gots to be good.

Moose
 
moosez45 said:
Better make that 2 sets, with a name like Iron wood, its gots to be good.

Moose
Click to expand...

how about 3 sets...
Here is some desert iron wood I found for Knife making.
some slabs out of this wood would look pretty damn sweet IMO.
ironwood_exhibition_block_1_550.jpg




How does the iron wood burn, does it last long?
 
i don't know about making scales with them. micarta is still more bomb-proof. the thing won't burn from what i read.


imaginefj said:
What are the two poles in the picture?
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home-made hiking sticks. i didn't want to spend $100+ at the time only to find out i don't like using them. plus i was iffy on the whole collapsing thing when you least expect it.


Flexxx said:
How does the iron wood burn, does it last long?
Click to expand...

it burns for quite awhile but i haven't really compared it to the typical fire place wood they sell around here though.
 
Somehow missed this thread. I think a heavier sledgehammer with a longer shaft, giggidy, might be good. The stripped bk2 with micarta looks damn sexy btw.

I'm buying an audubon's book on trees to spare us from saw/hacking through iron wood in the future. Though a log of that would be great for chopping other wood on.
 
i belive your ironwood is the same as what we call ironwood up here, its also refered to as hornbeam, also Ostrya virginiana (American Hophornbeam),
it is a very very hard wood, we usually make axe handles from it
i recently posted about a burl i came across, 2ft across 1 ft deep
ive destroyed many chains cutting this stuff up
 
theevilmike said:
i belive your ironwood is the same as what we call ironwood up here, its also refered to as hornbeam, also Ostrya virginiana (American Hophornbeam),
it is a very very hard wood, we usually make axe handles from it
i recently posted about a burl i came across, 2ft across 1 ft deep
ive destroyed many chains cutting this stuff up
Click to expand...

We also call Blue Beech (Carpinus caroliniana) AKA American hornbeam, Ironwood, up here.

As a matter of interest, according to Trees in Canada, Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) is Canada's most dense (native) wood.

Doc
 
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