Whats the hardest wood you ever cut?

[tdi-rick]

Long standing dead Hawaiian Ironwood is very difficult stuff to cut, it's very hard on a saw. I'm fighting with that stuff now, have dropped 11 and 3 more to go. I've had it throw sparks. The cut ends end up somehow looking polished rather than cut. I've cut standing dead Koolibah (that's eucalyptus to most of the world--look up the lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda") and it cut way easier than Ironwood. I've burned Ironwood logs that I could not get to go out with tons of water. Somehow it retains the heat internally like coal, and it re-ignites after a while. I feel the Ironwood is harder to cut than Keawe (Kee Ah Vay) which is the Hawaiian version of Mesquite, also an acacia family.

Never tried to cut Ebony, maybe next time I get to Ethopia.

I'd love to know if it's genuine E. coolabah or another type of Euc. (as i keep saying, there are over 700 types of Eucs)
Eucs range in hardness and density from softish to iron hard, and most don't float.
If you could get some leaves, capsules and flowers we could take a stab at identifying it.

Re your Ironwood, that's commonly called 'She Oak' here and is native here and through South East Asia, although I think it might be introduced into Hawaii ?
They commonly grow around creeks and rivers.
We are madly planting them to stabilise creek and river banks after white fella has removed most everything from our landscape.

In Matt/MCW's infamous "Todays Job' thread he has decimated about 5000 Casuarina's, we think they are C. cunninghamiana.

 

[tdi-rick]

This is a pretty comprehensive Janka hardness list

Wood Species Janka Hardness Scale/Chart By Common/Trade Name A - J
http://www.morlanwoodgifts.com/MM011.ASP?pageno=210

 

[mark360T]

I would have to say Oak and Red Elm.

 

[Opihi59]

I'd love to know if it's genuine E. coolabah or another type of Euc. (as i keep saying, there are over 700 types of Eucs)
Eucs range in hardness and density from softish to iron hard, and most don't float.
If you could get some leaves, capsules and flowers we could take a stab at identifying it.

Re your Ironwood, that's commonly called 'She Oak' here and is native here and through South East Asia, although I think it might be introduced into Hawaii ?
They commonly grow around creeks and rivers.
We are madly planting them to stabilise creek and river banks after white fella has removed most everything from our landscape.

In Matt/MCW's infamous "Todays Job' thread he has decimated about 5000 Casuarina's, we think they are C. cunninghamiana.

Wish I knew more about this particular Koolibah tree, it was about 28" was just outside of where I lived shortly when I came here 13 yrs past. There are a variety of "Gums" here and all introduced species. That particular tree was a lone dead tree, and that neighborhood has since been razed and is being rebuilt. Several others were growing close to the houses and dropping limbs, so when that one came down, they took the lot. It had standard long thin lemony smelling leaves when dry and crushed. I don't recall noticing flowers, and it dropped chunks of bark continuously, but was otherwise generally smooth.

I looked thru the Janka scale, I suppose I missed seeing Ironwood on the list or it was too well hidden or otherwise named therein. They didn't mention if the wood tested was cured, but I suppose it likely was. I'll save a few rounds of that Ironwood up here and whoever comes out here for a vacation can have a whack at it with me. I gotta say I am not looking forward to dropping the last 3 and then hacking into whatever lengths I can manage to roll outta the way with a comealong, my Jeep and a buncha Boy Scouts. At least one of them will be a leaner I'll have to deal with. Joy.

 

[tdi-rick]

It's bloody hard to impossible to identify what it is once a tree is dead.

Smooth white or light grey bark to light salmon pink with a very citrus/lemon scented leaf sounds like a Lemon Scented Gum, Corymbia Citriodora ?
We have a few growing here and the old, established one has an almost snow white trunk, the immature ones are light grey but solid in colour and the bark colour changes depending on time of year.

BTW, all Eucs shed bark, that's common for tree varieties here.

E. coolabah has rough bark like a Box.

 

[Opihi59]

It's bloody hard to impossible to identify what it is once a tree is dead.

Smooth white or light grey bark to light salmon pink with a very citrus/lemon scented leaf sounds like a Lemon Scented Gum, Corymbia Citriodora ?
We have a few growing here and the old, established one has an almost snow white trunk, the immature ones are light grey but solid in colour and the bark colour changes depending on time of year.

BTW, all Eucs shed bark, that's common for tree varieties here.

Mine looked more like the first several, generally white smooth bark, but would flake off thicker chunks around dimples and nipples in the surface. Fair dinkum, hardest I had hacked into until I got into these big dead Ironwoods.

 

[AUSSIE1]

"Lemony smelling" "smooth bark"

Sounds like the Lemon Scented gum - Euc. Citriodora. Beautiful tree.

Eucalyptus citriodora - Lemon Scented Gum - Myrtaceae

 

[David (saltas)]

Corymbia tessellaris or mortenbay ash

Given your climate it maybe it is this one

river she oak cunningham casuarina what mat was cutting

beach she oak cunningham casuarina

http://agroforestry.net/tti/Casuarina-she-oak.pdf

 

[a_lopa]

The dead redgum trees outside of Birchip Victoria,edge of the desert.

Crw i was with had to go to the local saw shop to find what chain the locals used.

 

[MCW]

In Matt/MCW's infamous "Todays Job' thread he has decimated about 5000 Casuarina's, we think they are C. cunninghamiana.

About 8,500 now Rick These are pretty soft though under irrigation compared to exactly the same species grown on low rainfall in a desert area. The vast majority have been C. cunninghamiana with some other unknown species thrown in.

 

[Aussie Dave]

Grey box (dry ready to burn) is the hardest around here.Had one this year i gave up on...thought id done a crap job on the sharpening so swaped chains..no different.then a neighbour came along..gave me heaps about my crap saw lol...ok i said se how yours goes..he didnt stay long!
gone after a couple of cuts.

 

[Opihi59]

Given your climate it maybe it is this one

Definitely wasn't that one, never seen that sort of bark like a sock up the trunk a few feet on anything growing around these mad parts.

 

[Stihls]

Fatwood's the hardest one I've ever cut. For those not familiar with fatwood, it's resin impregnated pine stumpwood. Hard as a rock when fully cured. Really flammable and works great as a kindling.

testing chain saw - cutting fatwood link-->>

Fatwood link-->>

 

[cheeves]

Osage is the King!

Osage orange, Locust, Hickory, Beech. Sycamore is harder than say White poplar but much less dense than any of the truly hard woods like I listed. Sycamore is hard to split because it grows spirally not because it's dense or hard.

I fully agree. When I lived in Bethesda, OH the hardest wood I have ever cut was Osage Orange! Without a doubt. Nothing around here compares to it. Oh maybe locust when it's 5 years old. But really that Osage is amazing stuff. Remember Pignut Hickory when it was dead and off the ground was some really hard stuff. Try and split it by hand. It would put muscles in your #%&hit!

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Aussie friend's, I figured Eaucalyptus. Cut that stuff year's back on a tree job. Remebered it was heavy wood. Had not cut again until last year, tough stuff, and just as heavy, holy shiat!

 

[Chris650]

Cottonwood.

Which on itself is not hard at all, but this particular tree came from the German/ French border and had been around 100 years old. During WW2, the tree took in a lot of shell splinters, ruined a brand new Stihl chain in less than 10 minutes... :soldier:

 

[Opihi59]

Any Pictures?

 

[HD2010]

Osage Orange.

 

[Chris650]

Unfortunately not, I was too busy yelling and swearing...
I'll see if I can take a pic of the other trees that are stilll standing (might take a few days).

 

[TreeSurfer]

id have to say mesquite is the hardest i have cut. prosopis pallida. the wood is amazing to BBQ with and is a hot fire. best to cut this stiff dense wood with semi chisel otherwise youd better be good at field filling

Prosopis pallida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia