lignum vitae

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fafow

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I was turning some lignum vitae for a pen this weekend and I was wondering, with all the natural oil or wax that it contains and the hardness of the wood, does it even need any finish applied, or even wax or renwax?

Also, after turning it was primarily brown in color. After reading a few comments at this site I put it in the window (even though it was raining all weekend) and it started turning dark green in less than 24 hours.
 
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I've turned many lignum vitae pens and pencils. I've had success with both bare polished wood, and with CA finish. I tried finishing LV with its own resin and it looked good at first, but the finish did not hold up.

Lignum vitae heartwood turns a dark olive green with exposure to UV light. That's why it is also called greenheart. I have never seen LV go back to brown.

Regards,
Eric
 
LV pens - I finish with CA. Handling quickly dulls the shine left by buffing only.

Other turnings from LV - I do as the others and buff only (no finish)
 
I have a 20 year old LV pen that was only buffed with White Diamond and its still holding its shine. I think the secret was buffing at a really high speed to draw out the wax and resins and then, essentially baking it to the surface.
 
Originally posted by Aderhammer

I searched greenheart and according to this, it can explode at the mill from it checking so quickly!
Click to expand...
Well, that's one of the problems of using a wood's common name. There are multiple species going by the same name. Lignum vitae, Colubrina arborescens, Chlorocardium rodiei, and Ocotea rodiaei (which is the subject of the article) are all called "Greenheart".

Regards,
Eric
 
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