Lignum Vitae IS Ironwood. Beech is very soft if you are thinking pressure and wear resistance.
I really don't know what other woods to try. Oak was popular, and willow, and elm, for other projects. But for bearings? I don't know what was used on windmills, grainmills, or water wheels. Might be good to find out (though I wouldn't be surprised it was and oversized oak bearing packed with oil-soaked tow. Fine for larger things, not so good for an instrument like ours. Chris *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 2/8/2008 at 5:00 PM Leonard Williams wrote: >How about ironwood or beech? The latter I'm sure was available in >medieval Europe. > >Regards, >Leonard Williams > _ > [: :] > / | | \ > | | | | > (_==_) > !~¿ > > > >On 2/8/08 8:03 AM, "Chris Nogy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> That is the wood. >> >> Hard, dense, grows moderately slowly. Pretty blue flowers on the tree, >that >> turn into a drop shaped orange seedpods. >> >> Takes a while to cure. It is a hard wood to work, doesn't turn well >except >> with the sharpest of tools. Can be mechanically polished to a high gloss >> (only scraping and rubbing, no chemicals or wax). Doesn't absorb >anything >> very well. A block in almost any shape will sink immediately if placed >in >> water. >> >> Has a hardness of more than 4000 on the Janka scale (oak is about 1800). >> >> It is not the friendliest wood in the world to hand tools. But it has >> tremendous stability and resistance to deformind under pressure. That >is why >> it made a good hammer head. That and it is almost as heavy as the steel >in a >> regular head. >> >> Chris
