Early 20th C Zulu walking stick ??

kronckew · 4th July 2010, 08:05 PM

aha! so you're the one that beat me in the bidding, i should have added a few pounds to my bid... glad it went to a fellow forumite tho.

i believe it was marked as 'lignum vitae' which is the heaviest wood & does not come from africa. zulu's used Umhlebe (also called Umguna), a.k.a. 'assegai wood' (european name for Curtisia Faginea) a dogwood family member also known as lance wood. i believe the specific gravity of lignum vitae is heavier than water, assegai wood is just under, so the question is does it float?

african ebony and ironwood can also be denser than water tho i'm not sure if zulu's used it either.

edited:

just tried my knobkerry, which was supposedly made from 'assegai wood'. it sank like a rock...

water=62.4 lb/cu.ft.
Curtisia Faginea=56 lb/cu.ft.
lignum vitae/ironwood = 70-90 lb/cu. ft.

4th July 2010, 08:05 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	aha! so you're the one that beat me in the bidding, i should have added a few pounds to my bid... glad it went to a fellow forumite tho. i believe it was marked as 'lignum vitae' which is the heaviest wood & does not come from africa. zulu's used Umhlebe (also called Umguna), a.k.a. 'assegai wood' (european name for Curtisia Faginea) a dogwood family member also known as lance wood. i believe the specific gravity of lignum vitae is heavier than water, assegai wood is just under, so the question is does it float? african ebony and ironwood can also be denser than water tho i'm not sure if zulu's used it either. edited: just tried my knobkerry, which was supposedly made from 'assegai wood'. it sank like a rock... water=62.4 lb/cu.ft. Curtisia Faginea=56 lb/cu.ft. lignum vitae/ironwood = 70-90 lb/cu. ft. Last edited by kronckew; 4th July 2010 at 08:24 PM.