Hardest wood ?

[Daniel Koster]

Mayo's got it.

In my experience, blackwood is not as hard as lignum vitae, nor desert ironwood. Takes sharp belts/tools and patience just to rough this stuff out.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

So I found out a bit about Kamagong. It is a member of the Diospyros genus, which includes ebony.

 

[tonyccw]

Here is a page from Righteous Hardwoods that gives specs on African Blackwood.
http://www.righteouswoods.net/african_blackwood_rosewood.html

This one is for Lignum Vitae.
http://www.righteouswoods.net/lignum_vitae.html

The density numbers for Lignum Vitae is lower than the African Blackwood in your link. Not sure if I would agree with that. The number posted has it barely breaking the float test, which I know is not the case. There are two species of Lignum Vitae, and one of them is softer. Maybe that's it?

So I found out a bit about Kamagong. It is a member of the Diospyros genus, which includes ebony.

It's actually more a Rosewood.

Not sure. What's traditionally used? I thought it was probably a Japanese Oak.

It is. Bokken are traditionally made from the Japanese White Oak. It's on par with Western oak. It's hard, but still floats.

 

[the possum]

[Osage Orange] is a medium density hardwood, around .8. Which means it still floats. The others listed will all sink.

Tony-
We use the stuff (called hedgewood locally) for fence posts in the pasture, (some of which were set by my Great-Great Grandfather over 100 years ago) and I can vouch that the stuff does indeed sink in water. Maybe some pieces from trees that grew fast, and still have the bark & sapwood on will float, but once dry the stuff is mighty dense and hard. I always used it to make toothpicks for a friend because ya can't hardly even dent it by chewing around on it! 'Bout like bone or ivory in that regard.

 

[Daniel Koster]

herein lies the problem. hardness is different than density.

Hickory is quite hard, but not very dense.

Blackwood is quite dense but not as hard as Bois d'Arc.


Traditionally...snakewood, lignum vitae, desert ironwood...are considered the hardest because not only are they hard (think fingernail test), they are also quite dense.

 

[Doug C]

herein lies the problem. hardness is different than density.

:thumbup:

Whichever wood you use,I think I'd get it stabilized,although I've heard Lig Vit doesn't take the stabilization well or deeply.
Anybody know if that is so?
Edited to add:The Filicietti with Coolibah wood has been stabilized so the twisting problem with Coolibah,which is probably a real issue has been resolved on my knife as the wood IS sound.

Doug

 

[tonyccw]

Tony-
We use the stuff (called hedgewood locally) for fence posts in the pasture, (some of which were set by my Great-Great Grandfather over 100 years ago) and I can vouch that the stuff does indeed sink in water.

The only ones I've used are from the lumber yard for pen blanks. These have been thorughly dried. They did not appear to be that hard, at least when it comes to dulling edge tools. Wouldn't mind trying some of that stuff out. Sounds like it would make a great pen blank.

Whichever wood you use,I think I'd get it stabilized,although I've heard Lig Vit doesn't take the stabilization well or deeply. Anybody know if that is so?

You can only stablize wood when it's fully dried, or if you can force the stabilzation chemicals to replace the natural fluids of the wood. Lignum Vitae has a natural lubricant that takes years and years to dry, and is known to be very resistant to any displacement by stablizing fluids.

 

[tonyccw]

herein lies the problem. hardness is different than density.

Correct. Density is weight in propotion to mass. Hardness is resistance to cell breakage. They tend to go hand in hand, as the denser the mass, the greater the cell strength. There are other conditions affects both density and strength, such as sapwood vs heartwood and the level of dryness. My info comes from this location: http://woodworkerssource.net/onlinewoods/

 

[Dawkind]

I would think it'd be a 100 year old Osage Orange corner post.....they'll draw sparks from a chainsaw.

Other than that I would think it'd be Morning Wood, otherwise known as Pink Steel.....around my place anyway.

 

[the possum]

The only ones I've used are from the lumber yard for pen blanks. These have been thorughly dried. They did not appear to be that hard, at least when it comes to dulling edge tools. Wouldn't mind trying some of that stuff out. Sounds like it would make a great pen blank.

Tell ya what, man. We have several big piles of old fence posts, but I don't use 'em myself 'cause they're usually too split to get a big enough piece for a knife or hatchet handle. But there may indeed be pieces big enough to use for pens. Don't hold your breath, but maybe one of these days if I take a while to cut some, you'll recieve a small care package.

 

[Daniel Koster]

I agree with you 100%, Tony. There are really too many factors at play to say which is the hardest of them all. I've had pieces of lignum that were quite different in hardness.