Lignum Vitae

[tompipes]

Have any of the flute or whistle makers here used Lignum Vitae.

I have used it to make uilleann pipes and it's a very hard and oily timber which are similar properties to african blackwood.

Just wondering.

Tommy

[Gromit]

"Lignum Vitae has been used for propeller shaft bearings on ships, and its natural oils provide self-lubrication that gives the wood excellent wear resistance.

Unfortunately, Lignum Vitae has been exploited to the brink of extinction, and is now an endangered species. Verawood—a related wood species with similar working properties and characteristics—is commonly used as a substitute, and is sometimes called Argentine Lignum Vitae. Yet even this species (Bulnesia sarmientoi) has been included in CITES Appendix III, though it is not as restrictive as Appendix II where Lignum Vitae is found."


Handy for playing in the bath or out on the ocean


http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-ide ... num-vitae/

[Feadoggie]

Have any of the flute or whistle makers here used Lignum Vitae.

Lignum Vitae has been used for whistles. Not sure about flutes but I've gotta believe someone has tried it. I have seen at least one whistle made from lignum vitae. My recollection is that it was a Thin Weasel made by Glenn Schultz. Glenn employed a fairly broad variety of timbers. But my memory isn't exactly a steel trap these days. So I could be mistaken. I think Paul Busman may have offered a whistle from LV a while back too.

I have some lignum vitae settling on the shelf intended to become high D whistles at some point. My stock is too small for flute bodies. I believe it is a good choice for a whistle or flute. It is really dense stuff. I turned a few pieces for bodhran tippers a couple years back, good choice for that use. I've thought about using it for fipples/plugs in the past but I've given up that idea since plastics are more friendly to turn. I think I've seen one or two other makers use LV in that manner, Weston whistles maybe. Just checked and Weston Whistles does show a LV whistle on their wooden whistle page.

I had a conversation with a friend who is both a cabinet maker and luthier this past weekend. We both have used mallets with lignum vitae heads in our wood working. Lignum vitae came up as a timber choice for instruments. The general agreement was that it is ideal for components that will subject to a lot of wear and tear.

Feadoggie

[Loren]

At Von Huene they made and sold a bunch of LV recorders at one point and every single one of them came back eventually with multiple cracks. It is extremely rare for a VH recorder to crack, so the fact that EVERY instrument made from LV cracked led them to conclude LV was not a suitable wood for direct blown instruments, although it could certainly be perfectly fine for bellows blown instruments that don't introduce the same extremes in moisture to the bore. I suspect that with LV it's the repetitive wetting and drying cycles that causes the wood to crack, since LV seems to be quite durable when kept wet.

[paddler]

A lot of quenas are made from verawood or guayacan. I have a couple and they are great. They not only play well, but smell nice too. This wood is often referred to as lignum vitae, and has similar properties to it, but is actually a different species.

[Terry McGee]

In my early days (late seventies?) I made one flute from Lignum Vitae. It wasn't inspiring and I think maybe it cracked, as Loren reported from Von Huene. I had more timber, but didn't persevere with it. Perhaps it's not that stable?

Another odd thing about it was that I had bored and roughed out another flute, and a year or so later happened to look up the bore of the blank. There was a crystalline deposit. No idea why.

I seem to remember that one of the period writers (Quantz?) mentioned Lignum Vitae, commenting that it was "too heavy and produced a "lifeless" flute. That would pretty much sum up my experience, but is probably too unscientific to base an opinion on.

Terry

[Sillydill]

I've got the Genuine Lignum Vitae blanks to turn into a flute, if someone wants to try!

I was gearing up to make flutes, but it just never happened. So I've sold both of my lathes. But I still have several blanks and some gun-drills.

[chas]

I have a half-dozen blanks for whistles sitting in the basement, too. I guess they'll go toward R&D whistles.

Sold your lathes, Jordan?? For shame!

[tompipes]

After I posted this question I remembered that Argentinian Lignum is prone to splitting.

The grain structure is very tight but brittle so when you turn the wood quite thin it sometimes can crack at the end grain.
The addition of extra metal bands can help this though.

It seems like it would be a fine wood for flutes and whistles because of it's oilyness but it's aroma can be a bit overwhelming for a wind instrument.
It smells great when being turned on the lathe and it's a welcome change from ebony which smells like cow poo when turned...