Lignum Vitae

[Jason Solodow]

Question: I know that Lignum Vitae is brown when freshly worked, but then turns green over tim, but how long does it take to turn green?? Is there anything that I can do to speed that up? I have a bottle stopper that I turned before Thanksgiving and I'm still waiting for it to turn green!

Thanks!

[Dave Stoler]

Sun light or a good UV source will speed up the change.

[robert hainstock]

The green color is an oily substance that will throw off any finish applied. The "green" should start to reapear shortly. If you were to "google Lignum/finish and open some of the results you will find little to No sign of the green. You might encapsolate it in epoxy, but I doubt it. Good luck with it however it goes for you. :eek::):)
Bob

[John Taylor]

HI

Not posted for sometime been busy with other things but thought I could help with this.

I have found it turns green quicker when left without a finish so what I do now is sand to a finish then clean the surface to get rid of any dust. Then remove from lathe and leave in a bright place but not in direct sunlight.

It will turn green over the next few days and can then be remounted and a finish applied. You will loose some of the colour when you apply the finish but it will come back fairly quickly.

I have two finished pieces I have kept one was finished immediatlly and 2 years later it is still brown with no sign of ever turning. The other piece was finished as above and is a lovelly green colour.

john

[Jason Solodow]

Something tells me that this not Lignum Vitae.. It has been sitting in the sun for 8 weeks and it is still dark brown. I did NOT apply a finish to it, it's only been sanded smooth...

[Alex Shanku]

Hmm...

I have resawn lignum vitae blocks (3"x3"x15") into 1/4" thick pieces for plane soles and it it green throughout.

[Marc Himes]

I have only turned one piece of lignum vitae. It was a very dense, hard wood and had a very distinct aroma. Did your piece smell different from other wood?

Marc Himes

[Alex Shanku]

I have only turned one piece of lignum vitae. It was a very dense, hard wood and had a very distinct aroma. Did your piece smell different from other wood?

Marc Himes


If you were asking me, I would have to say it was a not too unpleasant smell. Nothing remarkable anyway.

What I DID remember, was how slippery the sawdust on the concrete floor was. I mean it almost made me fall down, literally. Even after sweeping it up, a slick spot still remained for a period of time.

[Marc Himes]

That's right. When I sanded mine the dust clogged the paper almost immediately. It was oily and felt like talc. It is a different kind of wood.

Marc Himes

[Don Abele]

At my last command (USS CONSITUTION) we used a lot of LV for our belaying pins and blocks. In my experience it's pretty hard on the tools and yes, the sawdust from it is oily/slippery. That's why we use it for the pins, they natuarally lubricate themselves and spin nicely in the rail.

As for the green color, we didn't apply finish to any of them (we want the oils to come out) and I've never seen one turn green. Always a dark brown which would lighten somewhat with time as the oil dried up. But we had pins that had been outside 24/7/365 for over 10 years and were still functional (oily/smooth) and were all brown.

Be well,

Doc