Potential mallet head material for Mike Hill

[Friedrich9]

@Mike Hill
first is Flordia black iron wood.
Krugiodendron ferreum
I traded some western myall for this with your mallet project in mind. I’m not thrilled with the cracks along the pith, but this stuff is almost as hard to find as A. peuce so beggars can’t be choosers. If you want all heartwood, I’d probably cram as much jb weld as possible into the cracks with a putty knife then tighten a ratchet strap or two around it, then scrap out the ends to do a glue sawdust blend to hind the defects.

This piece is a little over 7” long. The heartwood is 3”-3.5”+ across depending on direction 4.5” across one way. 5.5” across the other.
$90 plus shipping

 

[Friedrich9]

I can cut you the bottom 8.5-9 inches of this purple gidgee log for around $140. It’s 4.5” diameter. Heartwood is definitely over 3” in diameter. End cracks along the pith. That’s why I am offering longer than 6”, I’m hoping the cracks will disappear deeper into the log. I have plans to turn the top part with the knots so that half isn’t for sale

 

[Friedrich9]

Gidgee. Both are solid and 3 1/8” square. One on the right is a little over 17” long. $180.

One on the left is a little over 20” long. $240. I’m willing to cut a piece off of this as long as the remainder is 12” long

 

[DLJeffs]

Shoot - cut any of those into a 4 inch long piece, drill a hole in the center, glue in a 1 inch dowel and start whacking stuff.

 

[Big Ry]

That Florida black ironwood is pretty ugly, Mike. I'll take one for the team though. You just say the word.

 

[Webb]

For that amount of change, find an antique lawn bowling ball made out of Lignum vitae.

 

[daniscool]

For that amount of change, find an antique lawn bowling ball make out of Lignum vitae.

Doesn’t have the same provenance.

 

[Webb]

Doesn’t have the same provenance.

How so?

 

[daniscool]

How so?

I can quite easily get my hands on lignum vitae. Black ironwood? Purple gidgee? Much harder.

 

[Webb]

I can quite easily get my hands on lignum vitae. Black ironwood? Purple gidgee? Much harder.

Genuine - I doubt it since it disappeared from the market years ago due to becoming an endangered species. About the only way I know you can get a readily find a piece for a mallet head is find an antique lawn bowling ball.

Argentina - yes and aka Verawood but it is not genuine Lignum vitae.

The mallet and chisel handles in my avatar are Argentina LV and Purple Heart.

 

[daniscool]

Genuine - I doubt it since it disappeared from the market years ago due to becoming an endangered species. About the only way I know you can get a readily find a piece for a mallet head is find an antique lawn bowling ball.

Argentina - yes and aka Verawood but it is not genuine Lignum vitae.

The mallet and chisel handles in my avatar are Argentina LV and Purple Heart.

I know of the difference between genuine and false and it is actually easier for me to get genuine than Vera wood or Argentine. I can list four online sellers off of the top of my head in German areas alone that stock guaiacum and only one who sells plectrocarpa.

Cool mallets.

 

[Big Ry]

Genuine - I doubt it since it disappeared from the market years ago due to becoming an endangered species. About the only way I know you can get a readily find a piece for a mallet head is find an antique lawn bowling ball.

Argentina - yes and aka Verawood but it is not genuine Lignum vitae.

The mallet and chisel handles in my avatar are Argentina LV and Purple Heart.

Webb, its actually not all that hard to find true Guaiacum. I have several pieces myself, including 2 blocks that I bought from Al on this forum. I also have several pieces of Plectrocarpa/Bulnesia and can very easily tell the difference between Guaiacum and Plectrocarpa/Bulnesia. Being a species from the Caribbean and Central/South America, Guaiacum is still grown and also illegally harvested in many of those areas. You can definitely find logs/slabs/billets on eBay that are of dubious legality, and they WILL ship to the US (I have not ordered from them. They just told me they would.). The stores will pop up for a bit, sell a bunch, then disappear. Presumably eBay finds out and bans them.

From my understanding, Guaiacum Officinale is hard to find and much of what you see on the market is Guaiacum Sanctum, but its all still true Lignum Vitae. There are a couple other Guaiacum species that are basically unicorn species from what I've gathered, but they were never the commercial species...that was Guaiacum Officinale. I also understand Guaiacum Sanctum to be used as an ornamental tree in the southern US. In fact, I believe some users here have it on their property, though I don't recall who.

 

[daniscool]

Webb, its actually not all that hard to find true Guaiacum. I have several pieces myself, including 2 blocks that I bought from Al on this forum. I also have several pieces of Plectrocarpa/Bulnesia and can very easily tell the difference between Guaiacum and Plectrocarpa/Bulnesia. Being a species from the Caribbean and Central/South America, Guaiacum is still grown and also illegally harvested in many of those areas. You can definitely find logs/slabs/billets on eBay that are of dubious legality, and they WILL ship to the US (I have not ordered from them. They just told me they would.). The stores will pop up for a bit, sell a bunch, then disappear. Presumably eBay finds out and bans them.

From my understanding, Guaiacum Officinale is hard to find and much of what you see on the market is Guaiacum Sanctum, but its all still true Lignum Vitae. There are a couple other Guaiacum species that are basically unicorn species from what I've gathered, but they were never the commercial species...that was Guaiacum Officinale. I also understand Guaiacum Sanctum to be used as an ornamental tree in the southern US. In fact, I believe some users here have it on their property, though I don't recall who.

@Spinartist was the one.

 

[Friedrich9]

A lot of genuine Guaiacum was released from old naval ship yards being closed/cleaned out on the east coast a while back. I got some larger blocks through that pipeline. 100+ year old stuff. Good thing it ages well