kamagong wood

M

manassas dragon

Joined
Dec 3, 2009
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during the viet nam war,i used to fly to viet nam from guam regularly with stopovers in the P.I.
they had some really pretty decorative stuff made out of kamagong wood. it would make really great pistol and knife handles-if you could find some. anybody seen any of this stuff for sale anywhere?
 
Manassas
to my understanding "Komagong" simply means hardwood. some of the popular are
Striped ebony,Mahogany,teak ,jubelina. check out specialty wood suppliers you might get lucky
 
I recall kamagong as an ebony species of the Philipines. It is also called "Ironwood", or "Asian Ironwood".
 
From Wikipedia:
"Mabolo, Velvet Apple or (locally) Kamagong (Diospyros blancoi) is a plant of the genus of ebony trees and persimmons, Diospyros. Its edible fruit has a skin covered in a fine, velvety fur which is usually reddish-brown, and soft, creamy, pink flesh, with a taste and aroma comparable to fruit cream cheese (the aroma of the fruit itself, however, is unpleasant, comparable to rotten cheese or cat feces; inspiring names like the french "Caca de Chat" in Reunion). It is native to the Philippines, where kamagong usually refers to the entire tree, and mabolo is applied to the fruit...
...It is a dioecious tropical tree that grows well in in a diversity of soil, from the sea level to the 2,400 feet above sea level....
...Kamagong timber is extremely dense and hard and is famous for its dark color. Like many other very hard woods, it is sometimes called "iron wood" so called because its wood is iron-like and nearly unbreakable....
...It is an endangered tree species and protected by Philippine law - it is illegal to export kamagong timber from the country without special permission from the Bureau of Forestry,..."

- Paul Meske
 
It looks nice but it does warp very bad. I thought of picking up some for my handles (I'm living in the Philippines) but after seeing local crafts made from it warp and crack like crazy it lost its appeal.

If you're still interested check out online classified ads for the Philippines. I occasionally see it for sale on them. I haven't come across any lumber in person yet...just stuff like mugs, plates, bokken, nunchucks, and phallic ashtrays.
 
It's a type of ebony from the Phillipines. It looks very much like macasser ebony. So close that it's kind of hard to tell them apart. I've made a few knives in the past with kamagong. I found it quite stable and very good for knife handles. It's either very difficult or impossible to get as raw lumber, you have to buy something already made out of it. Here are a few knives I made (many years ago) with kamagong handles.

k3-1.jpg


k1-1.jpg


k2-1.jpg
 
raylaconico said:
It's a type of ebony from the Phillipines. It looks very much like macasser ebony. So close that it's kind of hard to tell them apart. I've made a few knives in the past with kamagong. I found it quite stable and very good for knife handles. It's either very difficult or impossible to get as raw lumber, you have to buy something already made out of it. Here are a few knives I made (many years ago) with kamagong handles.

k3-1.jpg


k1-1.jpg


k2-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice looking knives there.

One thing I thought of after my last post....there is a distinct possibility that the products I've seen made from kamagong that warped/cracked were worked while they wood was still green, which would lead to more movement as the wood dries. I know a lot of the local lumber like coco wood (palm tree) is sold fully green. When you go to buy 2x4's they actually pull out a tree and run it through a bandsaw with the wood fully green. It might be the same way with kamagong.

If the export restrictions call for worked products and not raw lumber you could just have someone carve the surface. Having carving done is pretty cheap here.

I just checked some of the classified ads and they do list kamagong lumber for sale. I'm not sure if its against forum rules to post links to items for sale on other threads (and I have to walk out the door in a min so no time to review the rules right now) Just Google "sulit kamagong" and you should find it.
 
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