Trees like stone

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Trithor

Chico (..... the clown)
Joined
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Sandton, South Africa
These stand for decades after they have died. The termites just eat the sapwood, leaving a chorded skeleton towering for decades above the rest of the bush. Fires are about the only thing apart from time which destroy them (and create them in the first place) Combretum imberbe (Leadwood)
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The wood is a deep chocolate brown with charcoal highlights. Attractive, difficult to work, and extremely dense (sinks in water, hence it's colloquial name) the supports of the roof at the farm are harvested dead logs.
 
Not sure about this one, but I have tried to use many different hardwoods to mount orchids. I have noticed in the past that hard, dark, dense woods that have a high oil content will last a very long time but some orchid roots won't stick to them very well. I made some beautiful baskets with Koa in the past, but roots wouldn't stick to them...
 
Is it good for mounting orchids? :D
The trees loose branches over time. When I am feeling industrious I collect a few pieces to take home and mount a few epiphytes. The orchids seem very happy, and the mount lasts. My problem is that my humidity is not high enough for bare timber mounts.

Not sure about this one, but I have tried to use many different hardwoods to mount orchids. I have noticed in the past that hard, dark, dense woods that have a high oil content will last a very long time but some orchid roots won't stick to them very well. I made some beautiful baskets with Koa in the past, but roots wouldn't stick to them...
As with most tropical and subtropical hardwoods, I am sure that there is some oil content, but it is not very high at all. I have never made baskets out of it as it is too hard to work, but I do use it as bare wood mounts and the roots stick just fine. I use African Rosewood for my baskets (Guibourtia coleosperma), which has a higher oil content, and the roots seem to be happy with it. On the subject of oil, I have used cedar chunks to mount orchids in the past, and did not notice any problem with the roots (Widdringtonia spp)


:clap:

Have not found a really dark dense species in South America yet except very small species trees. And i need an excuse to go to South Africa. :drool:
What time should I collect you from the airport?
I have cut the timber in the past, but due to the hardness you cant use a 'woodmiser' type saw, as sparks rather than sawdust come out of the kerf when you try to resaw it. It is possible to saw using tungsten tips, but that obviously limits the width of the recovery. What do you want to use the timber for? There are a number of dark timbers which are easier to cut and work.
 
What time should I collect you from the airport?

:evil:

I have cut the timber in the past, but due to the hardness you cant use a 'woodmiser' type saw, as sparks rather than sawdust come out of the kerf when you try to resaw it. It is possible to saw using tungsten tips, but that obviously limits the width of the recovery. What do you want to use the timber for? There are a number of dark timbers which are easier to cut and work.

Looking for species to replace ebony for guitar fingerboards. Needs to be dense wood and the darker the better. Fingerboards are small so many species of trees that are ignored may yield timber that have potential.
 
And I don't suppose you are looking for 30m3, or 1m wide boards? I will give it some thought. By the time you land, I should have a few options for you and some samples:)
 

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