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Ramin for ramrods?

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I noticed TOTW has ramin wood for ramrods and wiping sticks. The blurb says it is straighter and better than hickory. Is anyone familiar with ramin? I plan to make several wiping sticks for my rifles and this sounded good.

Thanks for any help.

Jeff
 
Thanks for the information. Think I'll order a few to make wiping sticks, not ramrods. Just something to play with. A previous thread discussed plain wood rods, mostly hickory, and tow for wiping during a shooting session and trying the different approaches sounds like fun. I don't hunt anymore and just use a steel range rod with muzzle guide as a ramrod.

BTW, this ramin wood recently went into international protected status so TOTW won't be able to get more of it.

Thanks again.
Jeff
 
I have used the ramin wood rod blanks from Track of the Wolf. I've had no problems with them. The wood is dense, tough, and elastic, and it takes a good finish. It seems to have a slight sheen to it that you don't see as much in hickory, but if someone handed me a ramin rod blank and said it was hickory, I would probably take his word for it. I believe (but can't confirm) that some of the cheap, imported "hand forged throwing 'hawks" have been sold with ramin handles.

I also looked up ramin a while back as brother Two Feathers did, and noted the CITES listing. Track must have acquired quite a stock of it, if they are still selling it, because I looked it up some time back while trying to find out what it was.

I don't necessarily think ramin is any better than hickory, but for me it has worked just as well. There are a number of woods which will work. Fred Stutzenberger did a nice article about ramrods for Muzzle Blasts Online (Ramrod Rights & Wrongs), and he included this interesting Table of Load-Bearing Capacities of Native Woods. Interestingly, southern yellow pine compares very favorably with a lot of the domestic hardwoods, and black locust was the best of all.

Ramin is not the only "foreign" wood used for ramrods. I know that West Indian lancewood (Oxandra lanceolata… not the ornamental lancewood from New Zealand) was used for ramrods on a lot of British trade guns shipped to the United States and Canada. I have no idea where you would find any for ramrods now, though.

And then there's whalebone, which was also used in the past... Good luck finding any of that!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
Ramin wood is absolute garbage. It is anything but dense, tough, or elastic. It is VERY prone to splitting and splintering, and just flat out breaking across the grain. It is also very prone to compression fractures, which will show as little "wrinkles" across the grain. It is dangerous stuff. Useful only for kindling.
 
I have used the ramin wood rod blanks from Track of the Wolf. I've had no problems with them. The wood is dense, tough, and elastic, and it takes a good finish. It seems to have a slight sheen to it that you don't see as much in hickory, but if someone handed me a ramin rod blank and said it was hickory, I would probably take his word for it. I believe (but can't confirm) that some of the cheap, imported "hand forged throwing 'hawks" have been sold with ramin handles.

I also looked up ramin a while back as brother Two Feathers did, and noted the CITES listing. Track must have acquired quite a stock of it, if they are still selling it, because I looked it up some time back while trying to find out what it was.

I don't necessarily think ramin is any better than hickory, but for me it has worked just as well. There are a number of woods which will work. Fred Stutzenberger did a nice article about ramrods for Muzzle Blasts Online (Ramrod Rights & Wrongs), and he included this interesting Table of Load-Bearing Capacities of Native Woods. Interestingly, southern yellow pine compares very favorably with a lot of the domestic hardwoods, and black locust was the best of all.

Ramin is not the only "foreign" wood used for ramrods. I know that West Indian lancewood (Oxandra lanceolata… not the ornamental lancewood from New Zealand) was used for ramrods on a lot of British trade guns shipped to the United States and Canada. I have no idea where you would find any for ramrods now, though.

And then there's whalebone, which was also used in the past... Good luck finding any of that!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
Brother Notchy Bob:
I'm not an expert or even knowledgeable on this subject. I just did a little digging, but I appreciate your allegiance. I have used Indian "LACEWOOD" for knife handles, (DO NOT care for it). It looks like junk plywood when it's finished, but I think you said LANCEwood. That's a new one on me. However..if you're interested I have a truck load of Whale Bone! ;) Kiddin' Duuuh!!!! Thank you for your insight. Everyone has their own opinion. I say if it works, and it ain't killed ya.' why not?
God bless:
Two Feathers
 
Ramin wood is absolute garbage. It is anything but dense, tough, or elastic. It is VERY prone to splitting and splintering, and just flat out breaking across the grain. It is also very prone to compression fractures, which will show as little "wrinkles" across the grain. It is dangerous stuff. Useful only for kindling.

Stophel's comments are appreciated, and I respect his opinion. I suspect he and I may be touching different parts of the elephant. It is possible that I just got lucky, or maybe one of us got heartwood and the other got sapwood, or there may have just been a lot of variability from one piece of wood to the next. All I can say is that I have made (and used) two or three ramrods and some cleaning rods from it, and have had no problems. The point may be moot in the near future, as ramin is apparently no longer being imported and will probably be unavailable after existing stocks give out.

I'm sure we can agree that any rod blank, regardless of the type of wood, should be checked for grain runout before making it into a ramrod. Rod blanks don't cost much, in today's dollars, and I tend to buy more than I need so I can pick through and reject the ones that are unsuitable.

Brother Notchy Bob:
I'm not an expert or even knowledgeable on this subject. I just did a little digging, but I appreciate your allegiance. I have used Indian "LACEWOOD" for knife handles, (DO NOT care for it). It looks like junk plywood when it's finished, but I think you said LANCEwood. That's a new one on me. However..if you're interested I have a truck load of Whale Bone! ;) Kiddin' Duuuh!!!! Thank you for your insight. Everyone has their own opinion. I say if it works, and it ain't killed ya.' why not?
God bless:
Two Feathers

"I say if it works, and it ain't killed ya, why not ?" Man, I'd like to hoist a pint with Two Feathers!

I did in fact say LANCEwood, and I'm willing to bet they gave it that name for a reason. The Wood Database says it is commonly used for fishing rods, pool cues, and archery bows... long, skinny wooden objects that need toughness and flexibility. They probably rejected "fishingrodwood" and "poolcuewood" before settling on "lancewood" because it's easier to say. It sounds like it probably would be a good choice for a lance handle... or a ramrod.

Regarding whalebone ramrods, here is a snippet from Wild Sports in the Far West, by Frederick Gerstaecker. A drunk with a rifle became belligerent and then took a shot at Gerstaecker, who responded by pulling the ramrod from his gun and giving the fool a good whuppin' with it:

2020-05-18 (1).png


Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
Ramin is fantastic ramrod wood, superior to hickory. Noted for “outstanding strength/weight ratio by WD and others. Straight-grained Ramin compares equally or superior to straight-grained hickory in all merits. Some will buy. Ramin rod with runnout and it ensnappens, so they curse the wood. The same will happen to hickory or ANY wood.
 
On occasion I've bought badly bowed hickory and also Ramin that had runout - neither suitable for ram rods. A call to ToTW Custoer Service & they reshipped excellent quality replacements free of charge.
 
Ramin was once used for arrow shafts, heavy and very tough stuff, hard to break. I made several bows for kids that I bamboo backed so they wouldn't break and hurt the kid. I made their arrows out of 1/4" ramin dowels for the same reason, they were very hard to break. Even though I gave these bows away I didn't want a parent coming after me with a lawsuit if the equipment failed and the kid got injured. I could trust ramin to hold up.
 
Gentlemen
While NOT being schooled in Ramin wood, I see merit in each statement by the great members of this website and current thread participants. I'm sort of sorry that I encouraged the continuance of it with my $0.02, but I certainly do love reading your comments!
I have to agree with Brother Notchy Bob, since Ramin wood will soon become extinct, (it's already on the endangered species list) this whole conversation will shortly become nothing more than fodder for a heated campfire debate. You know how we Mountain Men are 'bout fightin' over stupid stuff! In the end; everyone has his (or her) own opinion, and with all the manure to worry about in the world these days, is this worth getting worked up over? I say...if you like it... great, if you don't...great, it won't matter in a year anyhow. Again just my $0.02.
Y'all stay safe.
God bless:
Two Feathers
 
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