There is strictly no rocket science behind building an electric incense heater. Just a bit tedious at times, and some safety concerns during the working process. Part 1 here will just show the rough concepts and the designs. Part 2, which will come later, will be a pictorial walk through. Safety precautions : Burner… [Read More…]
Kyara, is it or is it not?
Do you know that there are just countless people in the world, trying to make a fortune from all sorts of materials they try to find from the wild? Take for example, ambergris, it is quite a dark trade, the amount of rivalry between scavengers (some of them whom even tried to run others down… [Read More…]
Soil Agarwoods
There are two obvious lines of soil agarwood on the market, one from vietnam, and the other from Indonesia. The Vietnamese line consists of 3 types of soil agarwoods, yellow, red and black soil. In Indonesia, some call it yellow soil, but it is just Irian/Merauke’s Filaria material, and occasionally some papuan. But that said,… [Read More…]
Agarwood in Microscopy
oops! long overdue articles as usual. beeen reallly really busy studying and researching on tea pots and making incense sticks but i’ve not forgotten about writing. Sometimes, when people handle agarwood, they are seen pouring over the piece of wood with a handheld magnifier. What are they actually looking for?… Here are some tips…. [Read More…]
A Eulogy for Mr Lee
As briefly translated : Chairman of the Singapore’s Collectors Society, Catholic high school alumni consultant, Mr Lee Teng Kian passed away peacefully on the 27th of November 2014, 6pm, at the age of 85. His children and grandchildren were present at his passing. He is survived by his wife, five children, and many grand… [Read More…]
Does Kyara sink in water?
Does Kyara sink in water, or does it need to sink in water to be considered a top grade? The blind pursuit for “sinking” grade agarwoods had opened up a whole new dimension to material substitution. Previous post on zelkova like materials, calocedrus formosana (Xiao-Nan), or even woods like rosewood (truth bringing incense), gaharu buaya; these… [Read More…]
TV program on Agarwood
Here’s a nice TV program in hongkong on agarwood 😉 Paul Kan, owner of the Imperial Museum, and the collections exhibited in the Xiang He exhibition a couple of years ago, is aiming to educate the public in Hongkong on agarwood, kynam, and the importance of conservation. In the third episode, he did mention about… [Read More…]
How long can fragrant woods be kept?
You probably would have seen the fragrant wood storage article from some time back, where I routinely prefer to store fragrant woods in glass containers with teflon lined caps that seal, the fragrant wood really well. The aim of this method is to prevent volatiles from escaping, and also to prevent contaminants from entering. Fragrant… [Read More…]
Know your Fragrant Wood Cuts
If you are a meat lover, particularly that of beef, you should know the cuts of your meats really well. Similarly if you are a fragrant wood lover involved in either Japanese/Chinese or other forms of incense practices/ceremonies, it is just as important to know the cut types, and how they are obtained. The… [Read More…]
Age of Agarwood and the tree
Does the age of the agarwood tree matter??!! Actually….. the age of the infection/resination is the most important, not particularly the age of the tree. If you have had chopped down an agarwood tree that is a couple hundred years old.. you will find quite significant amounts of white wood. Poor old tree. And if… [Read More…]