What's the best native wood

[tombear]

For the heads of pestles and other wooden grinding/ battering implements ? And by native I mean any wood that's been here since the Romans.

i need to turn a six inch diameter head to fit on a four foot something handle to make a knocking-mel., the used standing with the mortar on the floor sized pestle that goes with the comedy sized millstone grit mortar we dug out of the garden a few years back.

i suppose the main attribute would be resistance to splintering/getting chavelled. Weights not so important as I can use lead inside it to increase that.

ATB

Tom

 

[bobnewboy]

Beech? Its very tough and dense.

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) might be another option for you. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/native-trees/hornbeam/ How we use hornbeam
Hornbeam timber is a pale creamy white with a flecked grain. It is extremely hard and strong, and so is mainly used for furniture and flooring. Traditional used for the wood included ox-yokes (a wooden beam fitted across the shoulders of an ox to enable it to pull a cart), butchers' chopping blocks and cogs for windmills and water mills. It was also coppiced and pollarded for poles.

Hornbeam burns well and makes good firewood and charcoal.

 

[NoName]

I used Wild Cherry but it splitted too easy.

Now I have pear (slits bad) and it is ok after years of hard use!

So conclusion: Use hard to split wood

 

[Leshy]

Sycamore sounds like the perfect timber for the job as it doesn't splinter easily Tom .
That is why it has for years been used for baby rattles and kids toys .

Now I'm not so sure about its native status , but it certainly would stand to the job at hand.
And I hear it turns very well too.

 

[Pioneer72]

I would probably vote hornbeam too, its fairly hard stuff.

I think Boxwood would be the hardest native, but it is only available in small sections as it is usually a hedgerow size.

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks, I've only got small bits of Boxwood, which is a shame as it is lovely to turn. I'll see if I can score some Hornbeam, although I'm not sure where I could get that on the cheap, I'll need a block a little over 6 inches in section and allowing for neck to fit the handle to ( to match the original ) and the bits that will be dug into when mounting it on the lathe, at least 8 or 9 inches long.

i may actually have a piece of sycamore big enough already. I'll have a root about later to see. If not I'll certainly be able to find a log big enough from a mates firewood stash.

Although there's some as argue that Sycamore is a later introduction I reckon it came with the Romans, they were such huge users of it elsewhere and introduced so many other species they found useful I can't imagine them not planting it. If I remember right ( and it's nearly thirty years since I was last peeking down a microscope counting spagnum moss spores or whatever they are called and being pathetically happy when a birch pollen swam into vision ). That there's something about sycamore pollen that means it doesn't survive for long periods so it doesn't turn up in cores.....

Anyroad, thanks!

ATB

Tom

PS the pollens identical to Field Maple which is native , I had to look that up, I knew there was something else that muddied the waters.

 

[Paulm]

Hornbeam or hawthorn would be my choice if you can get hold of some. Sycamore is good for chopping boards, spoons, spatulas etc but I think would be too soft for this application unless it was one of the harder maples ? Beech can be a bit brittle and may not stand up well either I suspect.

 

[mr dazzler]

holly? Hard white dense. Just harder to get thicker section logs
Elm for non splitability

 

[Toddy]

Hornbeam's good, but fruit woods were much used for this kind of thing. Apple, pear, blackthorn, etc.,
The Romans would most likely have used olive, but it doesn't grow here.

M

 

[tombear]

Hawthorn I may have some wide enough, I'll get the lads to drag in the trunk that they cut down after it hadn't recovered for a year or two. I was going to split it into 4 to make heavy walking sticks as people keep expressing interest in the one I did for myself. I'll see what I can get out of the log.

Holly I don't have in thick enough sections, it split on me so ended up as blanks for spoons.

I'll poke about to see if there's any fruit wood being cut by my cronies, or ideally has been in their wood piles for a few years.

Elm, I would love to get some but it's so expensive, loads of stuff I'd like to do in elm.

Thanks folks, please keep the suggestions coming. I think I need to do some more grovelling on freecycle etc.

ATB

Tom

 

[Robson Valley]

My best reference is Trees in Canada (Farrar). For the related North American species = Carpinus caroliniana (American Hornbeam, musclewood, ironwood),
Farrar says:"Very heavy, hard, strong wood.. . . . . " Nice compliment to what bgm recommended in #3.