Timoho (Kleinhovia hospita L)

Battara · 22nd September 2008, 01:42 AM

Is pelet wood endangered or extinct?

fearn · 22nd September 2008, 03:17 PM

Hi Battara,

According to the wikipedia article on Kleinhovia hospita, it's grown as an ornamental and used for crafts and medicine. In other words, it's not endangered.

As noted above, the pelet pattern above is due to spalting by fungi.

F

Newsteel · 23rd September 2008, 02:14 AM

Timoho or Kleinhovia hospita L wood naturally do not have 'patterns grains'. It is caused by beetle or bugs that bore inside the tree trunk or branches. Soon the fungi spread throughout the interior of the wood causing them to create pattern like grain. And yes, the wood may not be as strong and at certain point, it can easily be brittle. And that is why before treatment is necessary to prevent such cracks or chipping-off of wood materials.

A. G. Maisey · 24th September 2008, 11:32 PM

The tree that produces timoho may not be an endangered species, but timoho wood with good markings, suitable for use in a wrongko, is virtually non-existent in the markets in Central Jawa.

Up to a few years ago there were plenty of old Jogja wrongkos from good timoho wood, but in recent times these have just about dried up---you can still find them, but they are not nearly as plentiful as they were, say, prior to ten years ago.

fearn · 25th September 2008, 04:11 PM

Dear Alan,

Actually, your last observation is a good lead-in to a question and an observation.

The question (perhaps also to Newsteel): how do you stabilize spalted timoho wood so that it isn't so brittle?

The observation: I'd guess that the decrease in marked Timoho wood is probably due to what might be termed "improved tree hygiene." I'm guessing that the rules on the wood harvest have changed, and it's either legally no longer acceptable to sell insect damaged wood (perhaps because someone decided it was a good way to spread insects, for instance). Alternatively the use of insecticides and fungicides (or ideally non-chemical tree-growing methods) has become more prevalent. A third possibilitiy is that timoho wood is getting harvested too young to have the patterns. Not sure which of the above is true, but it could be a mix of all three.

In any case, a keris maker or two needs to have a little chat with some wood suppliers and the timoho growers, and if possible, figure out a premium price for the patterned wood for the wrongkos. Then they'll start supplying it again. If there's a legal reason why patterned wood is no longer available in the wood trade, it might be useful for the wrongko makers to start growing a few trees themselves, as a supply.

my 0.02 perak,

F

A. G. Maisey · 25th September 2008, 09:31 PM

In about 1984 I became acquainted with a tukang wrongko whom I got to know very well.He was the grandson of a very famous tukang wrongko, and he knew the trade intimately.Between 1984 and 1997 he was only able to obtain a single piece of timoho that he considered suitable for use in a wrongko. From memory I think he got one normal size wrongko and two of three small wrongkos from this piece of wood.He worked alone, rather than as a member of a community engaged in making wrongkos, and this perhaps limited his sources of supply to a degree.

After 1997 I became acquainted with a different tukang wrongko, once again the grandson of one of the old-time greats.He refuses to try to obtain wood and will only work on wood provided to him by a customer. Between 1997 and April 2007 he had not worked on any new pieces of timoho wood.

During the period from 1984 until the present it has never been easy to obtain quality wrongko wood.When there was a lot of forest being cleared in Sumatra and Kalimantan there would be spasmodic floods of acceptable wrongko wood, but tighter governmental controls over the last 10-15 years have seen these inflows of material cease.

One of the woods favoured in recent times for wrongkos is burl teak (kayu jati gembol) and there is still a dribble of this material. Another popular wood is akasia, and there is a reasonable amount of this available. Once you remove these two woods from consideration, there is almost nothing else with good figure that is currently available.For a long time woods have been imported to fill the demand . In the absence of wood with good grain, other common woods such as sono, mahony and cendana Jawa are used, however, even good sono has become difficult to obtain.

As to the possibility of the dark spots in timoho continuing an active rotting process. I have encountered only two timoho wrongkos where the dark spots had rotted away. The rot was not confined to the dark spots, but took considerable portions of the light wood as well. Both these wrongkos were Balinese. On timoho wrongkos that I have re-finished myself, I have never encountered any unusual difficulty with working the dark areas of the material; where a dark spot intruded to an edge, this edge was no more fragile where the spot was, than in the area around it. I do not believe that any special treatment is used by tukang wrongkos to treat timoho prior to use.

According to Haryono Haryoguritno, at the end of year 2000, the trade price for a piece of timoho with kendit grain, sufficient to make a wrongko, was equivalent to 7 to 10 grams of gold. This was for untried material only, that is, the wrongko had not been shaped, thus there was no certainty that the material would provide a wrongko with a good kendit. The market value is already there, if good timoho were available, it would be appearing in the market-place, but this is not the case.

In Indonesia "legal reasons" do not apply. If timoho with good grain existed, it would appear in the market-place.

fearn · 25th September 2008, 11:05 PM

Thanks Alan,

That information helps a lot.

If patterned timoho wood is that valuable, I'd suggest going into business making some. It looks like it's easy to grow (link), and it has uses beyond wrongko wood, which means that the whole tree could be used. What someone needs to do is to hook up with a mycologist to culture the fungus responsible for the staining. You get some trees, wound them appropriately (doesn't necessarily have to be with an insect), and inoculate with the staining fungus. Harvest a year or two later. The return from the sale of the wood would be enough to pay for the mycologist's services.

This is just a thought, not a solicitation to go into business. There are people who make a living inoculating wood with commercially important fungi, so in theory this could work. If patterned timoho wood and teak are that valuable, it would be an interesting thing for someone to try.

F

22nd September 2008, 01:42 AM	#1
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,219	Is pelet wood endangered or extinct?

22nd September 2008, 03:17 PM	#2
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Battara, According to the wikipedia article on Kleinhovia hospita, it's grown as an ornamental and used for crafts and medicine. In other words, it's not endangered. As noted above, the pelet pattern above is due to spalting by fungi. F

23rd September 2008, 02:14 AM	#3
Newsteel Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 132	Timoho or Kleinhovia hospita L wood naturally do not have 'patterns grains'. It is caused by beetle or bugs that bore inside the tree trunk or branches. Soon the fungi spread throughout the interior of the wood causing them to create pattern like grain. And yes, the wood may not be as strong and at certain point, it can easily be brittle. And that is why before treatment is necessary to prevent such cracks or chipping-off of wood materials.

24th September 2008, 11:32 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,890	The tree that produces timoho may not be an endangered species, but timoho wood with good markings, suitable for use in a wrongko, is virtually non-existent in the markets in Central Jawa. Up to a few years ago there were plenty of old Jogja wrongkos from good timoho wood, but in recent times these have just about dried up---you can still find them, but they are not nearly as plentiful as they were, say, prior to ten years ago.

25th September 2008, 04:11 PM	#5
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Dear Alan, Actually, your last observation is a good lead-in to a question and an observation. The question (perhaps also to Newsteel): how do you stabilize spalted timoho wood so that it isn't so brittle? The observation: I'd guess that the decrease in marked Timoho wood is probably due to what might be termed "improved tree hygiene." I'm guessing that the rules on the wood harvest have changed, and it's either legally no longer acceptable to sell insect damaged wood (perhaps because someone decided it was a good way to spread insects, for instance). Alternatively the use of insecticides and fungicides (or ideally non-chemical tree-growing methods) has become more prevalent. A third possibilitiy is that timoho wood is getting harvested too young to have the patterns. Not sure which of the above is true, but it could be a mix of all three. In any case, a keris maker or two needs to have a little chat with some wood suppliers and the timoho growers, and if possible, figure out a premium price for the patterned wood for the wrongkos. Then they'll start supplying it again. If there's a legal reason why patterned wood is no longer available in the wood trade, it might be useful for the wrongko makers to start growing a few trees themselves, as a supply. my 0.02 perak, F

25th September 2008, 09:31 PM	#6
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,890	In about 1984 I became acquainted with a tukang wrongko whom I got to know very well.He was the grandson of a very famous tukang wrongko, and he knew the trade intimately.Between 1984 and 1997 he was only able to obtain a single piece of timoho that he considered suitable for use in a wrongko. From memory I think he got one normal size wrongko and two of three small wrongkos from this piece of wood.He worked alone, rather than as a member of a community engaged in making wrongkos, and this perhaps limited his sources of supply to a degree. After 1997 I became acquainted with a different tukang wrongko, once again the grandson of one of the old-time greats.He refuses to try to obtain wood and will only work on wood provided to him by a customer. Between 1997 and April 2007 he had not worked on any new pieces of timoho wood. During the period from 1984 until the present it has never been easy to obtain quality wrongko wood.When there was a lot of forest being cleared in Sumatra and Kalimantan there would be spasmodic floods of acceptable wrongko wood, but tighter governmental controls over the last 10-15 years have seen these inflows of material cease. One of the woods favoured in recent times for wrongkos is burl teak (kayu jati gembol) and there is still a dribble of this material. Another popular wood is akasia, and there is a reasonable amount of this available. Once you remove these two woods from consideration, there is almost nothing else with good figure that is currently available.For a long time woods have been imported to fill the demand . In the absence of wood with good grain, other common woods such as sono, mahony and cendana Jawa are used, however, even good sono has become difficult to obtain. As to the possibility of the dark spots in timoho continuing an active rotting process. I have encountered only two timoho wrongkos where the dark spots had rotted away. The rot was not confined to the dark spots, but took considerable portions of the light wood as well. Both these wrongkos were Balinese. On timoho wrongkos that I have re-finished myself, I have never encountered any unusual difficulty with working the dark areas of the material; where a dark spot intruded to an edge, this edge was no more fragile where the spot was, than in the area around it. I do not believe that any special treatment is used by tukang wrongkos to treat timoho prior to use. According to Haryono Haryoguritno, at the end of year 2000, the trade price for a piece of timoho with kendit grain, sufficient to make a wrongko, was equivalent to 7 to 10 grams of gold. This was for untried material only, that is, the wrongko had not been shaped, thus there was no certainty that the material would provide a wrongko with a good kendit. The market value is already there, if good timoho were available, it would be appearing in the market-place, but this is not the case. In Indonesia "legal reasons" do not apply. If timoho with good grain existed, it would appear in the market-place.

25th September 2008, 11:05 PM	#7
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Thanks Alan, That information helps a lot. If patterned timoho wood is that valuable, I'd suggest going into business making some. It looks like it's easy to grow (link), and it has uses beyond wrongko wood, which means that the whole tree could be used. What someone needs to do is to hook up with a mycologist to culture the fungus responsible for the staining. You get some trees, wound them appropriately (doesn't necessarily have to be with an insect), and inoculate with the staining fungus. Harvest a year or two later. The return from the sale of the wood would be enough to pay for the mycologist's services. This is just a thought, not a solicitation to go into business. There are people who make a living inoculating wood with commercially important fungi, so in theory this could work. If patterned timoho wood and teak are that valuable, it would be an interesting thing for someone to try. F