Thread: Treefern "timber" or "wood"

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.

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 +

David,

I think Ironwood's answer is spot on.

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Many years ago I saw some "wood" that I was told was tree fern "wood". ........

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

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).

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

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