Genuine Lignum Vitae Help

[egnald]

Greetings all:

I just received an EDC DuraClick Pen and Pencil kit from PSI and am planning to pair them with two pieces of Genuine Lignum Vitae from my blank stash. The wood was salvaged from the shaft bearings of the MV Doulos Phos, which I've been told was the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship until it was decommissioned in December 2009 with 95 years of active service.

I am not skilled with any of the traditional HSS tools, but I do have a broad assortment of carbide implements. Comments and suggestions from anyone who has had experience turning and finishing Lignum Vitae would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to muck these up.

Regards,
Dave

 

[magpens]

I think you should be OK doing Lignum Vitae.

I did some a few years ago using a carbide tool (all that I ever use) having a round cutter.

L.V. is somewhat oily and I found it "finished" (without any actual "finish") quite nicely using just sandpaper up to 1500 grit which resulted in a slightly polished natural look which I like. . I also buffed at medium speed on lathe with cotton cloth.

L.V. has quite wide color variation ... some is greenish and some is darkish brown. . There can also be orange tones.

 

[Dehn0045]

It looks like the material that was sold as pen blanks (if genuinely from the ship) came from "spare part" material on the ship rather than material that was actually in use. The ship is currently on dry land and was converted to a hotel. It seems likely that the wood that you have will turn/finish just like any other lignum vitae that is available. LV is oily and hard, use caution when drilling - flutes can plug. IMHO it turns a lot like rosewoods (cocobolo, kingwood, blackwood). Reasonably sharp tools should be fine.

 

[egnald]

It looks like the material that was sold as pen blanks (if genuinely from the ship) came from "spare part" material on the ship rather than material that was actually in use. The ship is currently on dry land and was converted to a hotel. It seems likely that the wood that you have will turn/finish just like any other lignum vitae that is available. LV is oily and hard, use caution when drilling - flutes can plug. IMHO it turns a lot like rosewoods (cocobolo, kingwood, blackwood). Reasonably sharp tools should be fine.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. According to the information I have the wood came from spare bearings for the stern tube. - Dave

 

[qquake]

There is so-called "genuine" lignum vitae, and Argentine lignum vitae. I have turned the Argentine version with no problems.

Lignum Vitae | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

 

[howsitwork]

Drill with care, FREQUENT FLUTE CLEARING is ESSENTIAL. Test fit the tubes , you may need to drill oversize to get them in as the wood is so oily it "shrinks" back and grips the tubes. Seriously I had major issues and ended up drilling 0.1mm oversize to get the tubes to slide fit.

Clean the hole with alcohol to remove dust , gunk and some of the oil so the glue will grip. I use epoxy but polyurethane might work don't think CA will be of much use as it will not penetrate due to high oil content ( I stand to be corrected on that if anyone has had success but I didn't ).

Agree with Mal about finishing , I just buffed it up using its own shavings after gentle sanding. Steak ate coated paper or abranet works well , ordinary sand appear is useless as it just clogs in seconds.

I just turned with my HSS roughing gouge then a well honed skew before moving onto sand paper .

Did try my favourite melamine finish after diluted cellulose sanding sealer but then tried just do sanding and buffing and liked the result better.

Only had issues with one pen that I had to rework as had used too much alcohol ( on the blanks you understand ). I had been having trouble getting the tubes is as I recall and leaned it out multiple times . Anyway the blank split after finishing and giving to my mother . Only a fine crack after a few months but this was a family pen made from grandfathers old bowling balls so total rework was needed. Other 3 worked fine but they were made after I worked out the process on this initial one.

A delight to turn as it self lubricates as you go. Can be a bit " pungent " though.

 

[wolf creek knives]

My father in law turned a lot of this stuff in his Navy days back in WWII. Carbide was not an option for him. He did tell me that any turner worth their salt should be able to turn "big ribbons". Good luck, love to see the completed project and how it turned. I've got a small piece of it that I'm thinking about turning some day.

 

[J_B]

The blanks I turned were tough on tools. Very hard stuff. Be prepared to sharpen a lot or rotate carbide's often. And second Mal's words on finishing. It is so oily finishes do not amount to much but look great with a the friction polish and a high buffing the platters I have done had a nice shine.

jb