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Thread: Treefern "timber" or "wood"
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16th February 2019, 04:13 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Treefern "timber" or "wood"
Many years ago I saw some "wood" that I was told was tree fern "wood". I know that tree ferns do not develop true wood as the stems are actually formed of roots growing down through the soft tissue of the stem. In Queensland, old tree fern stems (at least Cyathea) are very soft and quickly rot away, so my memory is at odds with more recent experience of tree fern stems. Perhaps Dicksonia stems are more substantial?
The material (for want of a more accurate word) had quite distinctive patterns in it, U shaped lighter sections in a dark, amorphous ground, and may perhaps have been a fossil or semi-fossil.
My question for this forum is whether anyone has seen this material and may be able to confirm its identification and provide images of a cross section and a longitudinal section of the material with an idea of its hardness.
Thank you in advance,
David
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16th February 2019 04:13 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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16th February 2019, 04:45 PM #2
I think the stuff you are referring to, is from NZ. I think it was Gawdelpus that had some and posted pics of pens made with it.
Brad.
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16th February 2019, 05:04 PM #3
Check out this site https://www.fernwood.co.nz/
The only pen photo I can find is this one, I know there where more, but ? It’s also called Ponga.
Last minute xmas pens +Last edited by Ironwood; 16th February 2019 at 05:09 PM. Reason: this site does some weird things
Brad.
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16th February 2019, 07:09 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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David,
I think Ironwood's answer is spot on.
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17th February 2019, 03:27 PM #5
Good Morning David
You may be referring to man ferns - Dicksonia antarctica - which are common in most rain forest areas in Tasmania.
Years ago, in the good old days, Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife commonly used man fern trunks to form corduroy pathes and also to make steps in walking tracks and National Parks in rain forest and boggy areas, on account of its durability and resilience in those conditions.
Home gardeners also used them for steps, low retaining walls and stepping stones (as disks), and again they were the material of choice in perpetually wet areas.
Man fern is difficult to cut:
- axes tend to bounce off unless extremely sharp, and even then penetration is less than with other woods,
- hand saws tend to jam; bow saws with wide kerfs jam a little less than others,
- man fern cannot be split, period.
- It must be possible to cut it with a chain saw - all those well shaped steps, walls, and stepping stones are evidence - but I have not actually witnessed it.
In these more enlightened times, PWL no longer use man ferns as a construction material, but home gardeners still sometimes use it.
I do not have photos or infromation on janka, desity, etc, of the "timber".
Many plant nurseries sell man ferns for home planting, but large ones may have large prices.
Cheers
Graeme
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21st February 2019, 11:10 PM #6
The Ponga/Punga from NZ has the black and white patterned timber, the black is like Ebony but the white is like Balsa, plus it contains many voids. I use/sell a lot of it for pen blanks and knife scales, but they are both stabilised (+ dye stabilised) and cast (to fill voids).
Neil____________________________________________Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new
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22nd February 2019, 05:43 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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Thank-you to all
Thank-you all. The reason for my question was that i was asked to identify the timber in a box shaped like a book. At first I thought of black palm, but quickly realised the scale of the figure was too large for that. The spine is clearly the NZ fern, possibly stabilised as Dai Sensei uses, as it seemed very solid.
David
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24th February 2019, 02:02 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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NZ Punga wood item
I have attached a couple of photos of the item.
New Zealand tree fern Punga wood cross section a.JPG Cross section of timber around a piece of pine
New Zealand tree fern Punga wood longitudinal section.JPG Longitudinal section
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