Lignum Vitae

So last night I went back to Woodcraft to pick up some more wood for turning. While there, I happened to see a 2x2x24 piece of wood that looked very much like the green wood I turned the other night. It was labeled "Lignum Vitae". It was less expensive than I thought it would be, but still not cheap. I found another piece of the wood that looked exactly like what I had gotten before and took it up to the front and asked the guy what it was. He confirmed that it was indeed lignum vitae. So apparently, that's what I was turning.

The cool part about this is that lignum vitae is kind of an amazing wood. Very tough, strong, and long-lasting stuff. It's naturally very oily so it doesn't dry out or rot, and it was used for important pieces on ships. It was basically the forerunner to modern plastics. Anyway, it's all in the Wikipedia article. The natural qualities of this wood made it incredibly handy stuff. It doesn't need a protective coating, since it's just so naturally tough.

Here's where it gets even cooler. The wood also has sort of mythical history. Merlin's wand was supposed to have been made of lignum vitae. The name means "wood of life" which is also awesome.

So anyway, there you go. The wand I made is even cooler than I thought. I ended up putting some poly on it, but I didn't need to. The stuff is sort of bullet proof, sounds like. So anyway, I'm going to buy more of it and it will become a standard wood in my repertoire. I'll just have to figure out a better way to sand it so it isn't so annoying. I'll keep you posted, of course.

Oh, and here's a full picture of the wand I made, all sanded up and off the lathe, with the ends finished and everything.

Pretty, no? I'm going to work on my pictures, specifically the lighting and background, but I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

Thanks for reading!