Lignum Vitae lawn bowls

[Derek Cohen]

I have been given two Lignum Vitae lawn bowls. Their value lies in the wood, as modern versions are made of henselite. What I would like to do is cut them up into sections, and use these to build mallet heads. I imagine that the density of the wood will enable the (rectangular) mallet heads to be smaller for the same weight.
The issue I have is how to safely saw a round ball on a bandsaw? My thought is to use a hot glue gun to attach to a board, and run this through the saw blade. I am being cautious here - any advice or suggestions welcomed.

Regards from Perth
Derek

[John Kananis]

How about a screw clamp? You can reposition the clamp as needed. Fyi, your bs blade will hate you very quickly lol. Hope that's useful.


I have been given two Lignum Vitae lawn bowls. Their value lies in the wood, as modern versions are made of henselite. What I would like to do is cut them up into sections, and use these to build mallet heads. I imagine that the density of the wood will enable the (rectangular) mallet heads to be smaller for the same weight.
The issue I have is how to safely saw a round ball on a bandsaw? My thought is to use a hot glue gun to attach to a board, and run this through the saw blade. I am being cautious here - any advice or suggestions welcomed.

Regards from Perth
Derek

[Christopher Charles]

Good gift! I would likely build a plywood box and set with shallow screws on three sides to make a flat on the ball. And freehand after that, similar to milling a small log.

Best,
Chris

[Edward Weber]

If you have a sled for your bandsaw, it's easy. You only need to create a small enough flat spot to keep it from rolling. A little hot glue to secure the gas is all that's needed.
Most other methods involve some sort of clamping, which pinches the wood on the blad, not good.

I have made several mallets using Argentine Lignum Vitae (Vera) for the heads and they work wonderfully. I use a small one for adjusting wooden planes

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I would think about a vacuum holder attached to a sled. I have also pinched round items in wooden Jorgensen parallel clamps combined with the miter gauge or sled for a pass through the table saw or bandsaw. I hope Willie Wood is OK with a Bowl being reduced to "wood".

[Kent A Bathurst]

Somewhere in this process is fiber that will become scrap - round object into rectangular, and all that.
Small piece of scrap plywood and a screw or two buried into the scrap bit[s]

[Dwayne Watt]

Drill a hole in a piece of board that the ball can rest upon. This will stabilize the sphere and provide great glue area. Then use some hot melt glue. Remove the glue with denatured alcohol. No screws needed. Reposition and re-glue as needed. Use a miter gage or sled to steady the assembly through the blade.

[Cameron Wood]

I picture a pair of boards with holes drilled. Sandwich the ball between the boards and screw to fillers on each end.

Leave part of the ball exposed, or just saw through the whole business.

[Jim Becker]

All these ideas are nice, but I'm going to emphasize that the spherical piece must be securely held at a minimum for that first cut, and in a way that it cannot rotate or skate away and that your hands are not anywhere near it. A similar challenge holds for those initial cuts on a small "log" that's going to get sliced by the bandsaw.

[Derek Cohen]

All these ideas are nice, but I'm going to emphasize that the spherical piece must be securely held at a minimum for that first cut, and in a way that it cannot rotate or skate away and that your hands are not anywhere near it. A similar challenge holds for those initial cuts on a small "log" that's going to get sliced by the bandsaw.

Jim, that is the issue, and why I have asked the question.

These are solid wood, not hollow as with modern bowling (alley) balls. Lawn bowls balls (say that fast!), which I have, are different.

I think that the first cut should be across the grain, and down the centre. This will then produce two halves which will have stability, and can be ripped into lengths.

Adding a few short screws and hot glue into one side is my preference at this stage. Hoping to hear from others.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Greg Parrish]

Derek, I would probably make up a variation on a clamp like this and assemble it with the blade inside the screws to get my flat sides. Basically turn it 90 degrees from the orientation shown. Should get you at least one flat side, and then you can improvise another clamp after that if needed for each additional cut.

Example on idea: https://www.instructables.com/Sphere-Drilling-Jig/

Here is another example on the idea: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2018/05/07/ball-holder-jig-lets-machine-sphere-multiple-ways

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I use screws in to the work piece on one of my band saw sleds. With an additional block of wood or another steel bracket I would trust it to cut a sphere in half, even for very hard wood.

496200

[Tom Levy]

How big are these? You have a lathe if I remember correctly. Get a chuck of scrap wood 2-3” thick and slightly bigger than the sphere. Bottom should be flattish, knock off corners to make octagon, then turn a rough hollow/bowl/dish on the other side that’s the same radius as the sphere. Shouldn’t need more than a couple inches for a dish to hold it, check for fit, then go to town glueing it in and you’ll have a flat bottom assembly you can bandsaw.

[Tom Levy]

Or skip the bandsaw and just mount between two cups on the lathe and use 1/8 or so parting tool to split it where you like.

[Sam Force]

Why over think this? I would hot glue a wedge on opposite sides of the ball to prevent rotating and cut away using the BS

[Edward Weber]

Why over think this? I would hot glue a wedge on opposite sides of the ball to prevent rotating and cut away using the BS
That's what I said.
Just rip it down the center and you're done

[Maurice Mcmurry]

For a sphere of wood with a Janka hardness of 4390 I would want to approach a power saw with more confidence than I have in hot glue. Lignum Vitae is the hardest wood in the world. It is also slick and waxy.

"The hardness of wood is measured using the Janka Hardness Test. This test measures the force required to push a steel ball with a diameter of 0.444" into the wood to a depth of half the ball's diameter. Generally acknowledged as the hardest wood, lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum and Guaiacum officinale) measures in at 4,500 pounds-force (lbf) on the Janka scale. That's more than twice as hard as Osage orange (one of the hardest domestic woods) at 2,040 lbf and more than three times harder than red oak at 1,290 lbf.
Lignum vitae, found in Central and South America, has long been used in applications requiring extreme durability and density, such as ships' tackle, carvers mallets, and hand plane soles. Naturally infused with a wax-like resin, lignum vitae polishes to a high sheen, making it a prized wood for turners. And because it is self-lubricating and water-resistant, it was, until recently, the preferred substance for shaft bearings for silent-running submarines. In fact, the highest grades of the wood are still sometimes referred to as "bearing" grade."

[Prashun Patel]

I’ve done it on small pieces with an f style clamp. Don’t go all the way through of course. Complete by hand. If it’s large I prefer a chainsaw.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Lawn bowls are about the size of a softball.

[Randall Houghton]

If it is a round solid ball mount it on your lathe and cut in half with a sharp parting tool

[Mike Henderson]

If it is a round solid ball mount it on your lathe and cut in half with a sharp parting tool

That's what I'd do. Either that, or I'd flatten the tail stock end (cut off the final bit with a parting tool).

Mike

[I've used lignum vitae a few times. I found it worked easily, maybe because the wood is a bit oily.]

[Edward Weber]

For a sphere of wood with a Janka hardness of 4390 I would want to approach a power saw with more confidence than I have in hot glue. Lignum Vitae is the hardest wood in the world. It is also slick and waxy.


Janka hardness has little bearing on how it cuts.
It's a nice thing to know for use in a project like the OP's mallet but tells nothing about how it machines. It can dull blades but I've never had an issue with cutting it.
I'd rather cut Lignum Vitae than purpleheart which is not as hard according to janka

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have never worked with it. We did spend a couple of afternoons on the bowling greens in Scotland. Our boys were teenagers and thought it was going to be terribly boring. They ended up having a lot of fun. It is twice has hard as osage orange, I suspect it is going to a bit of a challenge.

[John K Jordan]

I have been given two Lignum Vitae lawn bowls. Their value lies in the wood, as modern versions are made of henselite. What I would like to do is cut them up into sections, and use these to build mallet heads. I imagine that the density of the wood will enable the (rectangular) mallet heads to be smaller for the same weight.
The issue I have is how to safely saw a round ball on a bandsaw? My thought is to use a hot glue gun to attach to a board, and run this through the saw blade. I am being cautious here - any advice or suggestions welcomed.

Regards from Perth
Derek

I've cut a lot of different oddly shaped pieces on the bandsaw. For something round like a cylinder I usually make a custom v-block (which often isn't exactly v-shaped but custom shaped to support the round closer to the full diameter, something like this: \__/ . I usually make these out of chunks of solid wood but could be glued up 8/4 construction lumber. I make it deep enough so it still stays together when the saw kerf clears the object. I'd probably make one to fit the ball in the direction of the cut, then fasten blocks of wood on either side to constrain it.

Using screws through plywood (maybe shaped like a box?) and into the wood is a very safe way to cut round and odd shapes.

I turn and mill lignum vitae but never tried to use hot glue on it. Since it is oily/waxy will the glue stick?

JKJ

[John Kananis]

I turn and mill lignum vitae but never tried to use hot glue on it. Since it is oily/waxy will the glue stick?

JKJ

That was my concern as well, the oily properties of the wood. That's why I suggested a screw clamp. Parting on the lathe was also a good idea I felt.