Lignum Vitae Question

La_Maleta_Azul

La_Maleta_Azul

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Jul 14, 2012
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I just bought a lignum mnandi on the exchange, and it is really brown in color. I have heard lignum can change in color to the trademark green when exposed to sunlight. How long does it usually take for the change to occur? Is there any way for me to accelerate this change?
 
Will change to green in a few days but if left too long it will go brown again. Just a darker color than the freshly finished material.
 
Everything sold as Lignum Vitae is not the same. Much of the green stuff ( often sold by wood turners) is usually called Argentinian Lignum Vitae ..... which isn't really Lignum Vitae at all. It is much greener in color. All the Lignum Vitae I have used has been brown to grayish in color.
 
Stacy, I would be surprised if pretty much ANY of the stuff we can get commercially is real lignum vitae. It is rather scarce and a protected species in the US.
bladsmth said:
Everything sold as Lignum Vitae is not the same. Much of the green stuff ( often sold by wood turners) is usually called Argentinian Lignum Vitae ..... which isn't really Lignum Vitae at all. It is much greener in color. All the Lignum Vitae I have used has been brown to grayish in color.
Click to expand...
 
I would hope a maker of CRK's caliber would be using the real deal (or at least specify so if they weren't)... but judging by how brown it looks in the picture, I'm guessing that my mnandi doesn't have Argentinian lignum. Just my guess though.
 
The LV that I've used was stabilized, and took several months to develop a distinct green tint- indoors the whole time. I thought it was quite pretty in appearance.
 
This thread sparked an hour reading about that plant and I have now ordered the seeds for my green thumb wife lol. Interesting stuff. Super dense, self lubricating, used for bearings etc... even in to the not so distant past. When I am old and grey perhaps I will have a plant producing a usable amount lol.
 
NOTE: NO Lignum is "stabilized". That would be the same as saying my stainless steel boat prop has been stabilized. It's possible to "seal" it, but not stabilize it.
 
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Ahh, too bad... I was hoping it would get to the hue like you see in the "Mnandi Obsession" superthread. Those are pretty f#%king sweet if you ask me. Whatever... if anything, its a much rarer wood than most of CRK's offerings, so I'm still glad I scored it.
P.S. Thanks for the insight Big_E. You seem very knowledgeable on the subject.
 
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