Clark's Spinning Block vs The Dubber

[swellcat]

Amazing, anticipatory progression. I was going to suggest Osage Orange as the runner up (or co-winner) for Official Spinning-Block Wood of Texas. It's the only wood I know denser than mesquite: it is HEAVY and was used by American Indians for war clubs, in addition to bows, as referenced by the French name, bois d'arc, bow wood. Freshly-exposed heartwood is bright yellow, but it moves markedly to brown.

The color in Osage Orange is water-soluble and can thus be used as a dye.

[wsbailey]

Another good wood might be persimmon. It's in the ebony family and use to be used for golf clubs.

[daringduffer]

I do look forward to see all those blocks!

dd

[wsbailey]

One of the rarest woods is bog oak.

http://www.antiquesage.com/bog-oak-rarest-wood-world/

[Bazzer69]

What about Manzanita, or iron wood? I have plenty that’s dry after the fire that swept through here?
Barry

[SenecaLaker]

Barry, I'm not familiar with your ironwood. Here in Michigan we have 2 species that are commonly called ironwood. One genius is Carpinus..common name "Hornbeam" . The eaves are similar to a beech, and the other genius is Ostrya...common name "Hop Hornbeam. The hop hornbeam flowers look like hop flowers. Both have very dense wood. Not sure if that's what you have out there. If the wood is as dense as ours , I would bet that the grain is very tight and would make a cool block.

Dave

[William Anderson]

I haven't made many blocks in the past couple years and I'm out of finished blocks besides a couple that I owe people. I am working on them. I just found a couple pics I took when I was doing more of the exotic woods and thought I would share them. The blocks are essentially an expression of the American craftsmanship that devised the flymph in the first place, exquisite in it's modesty and function, so making these from exotics always felt a little inappropriate, but then we all love pretty things and these little blocks of wood, lacking in decoration are susceptible to immodest materials.

One of the nicest blocks I ever made was from a small piece of cocobolo. I made this one for Eric a few years ago. It's a very dark wood, extremely dense and twice as heavy as all the other species I fooled with. It's very cool in person and doesn't require a strip with such a dark surface.

IMG_0347.jpeg (440.18 KiB) Viewed 34818 times

[William Anderson]

IMG_0630.jpeg (406.53 KiB) Viewed 34818 times

[Bazzer69]

Manzanita is called Iron Wood literally because of its very high Iron content. It’s very dense and close grained. I would be happy to send you a chunk if you want. Let me know the minimum size you can deal with.
Barry

[PhilA]

I haven't made many blocks in the past couple years and I'm out of finished blocks besides a couple that I owe people. I am working on them. I just found a couple pics I took when I was doing more of the exotic woods and thought I would share them...

William,
That's a magnificent photo! Block No. MG 013 got a little teary eyed when I showed it to her.

Many thanks for continuing the traditions of Dick Clark and his spinning blocks in such a beautiful and functional way.

PhilA