Hornbeam

[redsquid2]

What the heck is hornbeam? That is what I would have said before I did some research.

A couple of years ago, a long time friend told me she had some “ironwood” that was cleared off of a farm west of town. She knows I make knives and said it might be good for handles. When she gave me a couple of logs, i thought “Uhh... that doesn’t look like any ironwood I have ever seen.”

Fast forward 2 or three years. I decide to put these logs through the table saw. I give them the “thumbnail test” and they feel a tad harder than straight-grain walnut or cherry.

I did some googling, and found out that it is probably hornbeam, a large shrub plant.

Nice if you are looking for a light color of wood, but it also seems to take stain well. I was lucky to get logs big enough for knife handles, because it is more like a shrub than a tree.

This is my first build with hornbeam.

 

[redsquid2]

Please comment if you have seen or worked with this wood.

Thanks.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

I think I had one I cut down in my yard. It was very yellow.

 

[Justin Schmidt]

They make good staves for bows

 

[gudspelr]

^^^What he said. I’ve got a couple staves, one rough shaped. It’s pretty cool wood.

Jeremy

 

[MBB]

European hornbeam is a classic chisel and carving tool handle wood. This appears pretty similar. Janka hardness for American Hornbeam is 1780 which puts it close to the bottom of the exotics for hardness (roughly similar to Black & White Ebony) but a fair bit less than Dogwood at 2150 and Osage at 2600 (although much harder than most oak and maple).

 

[dirc]

It's most likely one of these 2 varieties - if you're in the eastern USA/Canada

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpinus_caroliniana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrya_virginiana

According to what I've read, both have been used as axe/tool handles in the past, and are strong.
They also don't typically grow straight, the wood tends to be curvy (I have a few of them in my forest )
I have used a long branch to make a bo staff, and it has held up to a lot of abuse.

I like to use pure tung oil to finish mine, it turns out great. Let us know how it goes?