Article on Lignum Vitae

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have a shop mallet made of Lignum Vitae. It is pretty much indestructible with a good heavy feel to it. My favorite mallet.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
Interesting article. I wonder how Lignum vitae is cut and milled since it's so incredibly hard.

Powhatan, Va is about 30 miles west of Richmond and 120 miles from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
 
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drw

Donn
Corporate Member
Very informative and interesting article! It would be interesting to see a short video of the bearings being made...it is hard for me to wrap my mind around a bearing made of wood!
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
Wow, what business plan says oh... every 400 years you can have more raw material!

And the obvious one: "Honey, I have a business idea..."
 

ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
Wow, what business plan says oh... every 400 years you can have more raw material!

And the obvious one: "Honey, I have a business idea..."
While 400 years is pretty extreme it is typical in forestry. Where I live forestry is the number one industry. They clear cut lots on a 20-25 years cycle. Imagine waiting 20 years between pay checks. Talk about living on a budget.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
While 400 years is pretty extreme it is typical in forestry. Where I live forestry is the number one industry. They clear cut lots on a 20-25 years cycle. Imagine waiting 20 years between pay checks. Talk about living on a budget.
Most tree farmers get a subsidy from the U.S. to grow the trees in addition to the revenue from the sales themselves. The key to the 20-25 year cycle is to have enough volume that you can rotate and harvest every 4-5 years and coast 'til the next cutting. Lots of tree farmers in SC are 'land poor' from this practice.
 

Matt Furjanic

New User
Matt
I been making and using bandsaw guide blocks from lignum for years. They last longer than the steel ones, and the self-lubricating property of lignum works well against the bandsaw blade.
 

ncfromnc

New User
neil
Nothing like building a business based on using up the remianing population of a single species. Why is this even allowed?
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
It's not illegal to import Lignum vitae into the US. Maybe it's unethical but...

Sustainability: This wood species is in CITES Appendix II, and is on the IUCN Red List. It is listed as endangered because populations are severely reduced and exploitation for both its wood and resin extracts have continued for hundreds of years.
Appendix II – This appendix contains species that are at risk in the wild, but not necessarily threatened with extinction. Species in this appendix are closely regulated, but are typically not as restricted as Appendix I.
 

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
I been making and using bandsaw guide blocks from lignum for years. They last longer than the steel ones, and the self-lubricating property of lignum works well against the bandsaw blade.

+1
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
I've been in his shop several times over the years. A really great guy. The only way to describe the wood inventory would be jaw-dropping awesome. Its amazing how many various grades of that wood there are. The grade used for submarine bearings isn't the same as used for workbench mallets, that's for sure.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
Nothing like building a business based on using up the remianing population of a single species. Why is this even allowed?
The article says they have a harvest schedule of 400 years. They said they only cut from the same area every 400 years. They are protecting the trees, actually helping to make the species more sustainable and reducing the threat of extinction. I’d say that’s exactly what we need more of.
 

ncfromnc

New User
neil
The article says they have a harvest schedule of 400 years. They said they only cut from the same area every 400 years. They are protecting the trees, actually helping to make the species more sustainable and reducing the threat of extinction. I’d say that’s exactly what we need more of.
Yes they do. When I was a kid, the tobacco companies told us cigarettes won't hurt you. Sorry but very hard to take the word of a company that exploits a very endangered material. Wholesale logging of a rare material is a possible scenario here. Not against the use of lignum, or other rare material..... Just not the business manufacturing end that tends to promise, take and apologise.
 

ncfromnc

New User
neil
It's not illegal to import Lignum vitae into the US. Maybe it's unethical but...

Sustainability: This wood species is in CITES Appendix II, and is on the IUCN Red List. It is listed as endangered because populations are severely reduced and exploitation for both its wood and resin extracts have continued for hundreds of years.
Lignum vitae grows in the United States (Florida keys). CITES is only enforced at the borders of countries. It doesn't cover transport within a country.
 

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