Bethlehem Olive Wood in Roman Harvest

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tgsean

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This is Bethlehem Olive Wood in Roman Harvest. I really like how the grains have turned out. I love this timber. Its simple and elegant. Finishes up beautiful with CA. A lot of my registrars order this timber. It comes with a certificate of authenticity, that seems to attract them too!
 

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mark james

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Beautiful blank, beautiful kit, beautiful finish... I love how you aligned the blanks to keep the grains in line!
 

robutacion

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Well, I like anything made with Olive wood, you done a very good job on that blank, the grain lines are very pretty.

As for being Bethlehem Olive wood (BOW), is the small printed piece of paper, all you need to believe, its the real thing...?? if so, good for you...!:)

Sorry, you probably aren't aware of my struggles, with this very issue, for many years, this has been discussed to death on IAP and many other places so, you may want to search some of my threads on this issue and understand my view points however, I never get tired to ask the question. Do you have an answer...???

Don't bother if you don't, most people don't have it, neither...!:wink::biggrin:

Lets keep those nice pens "rolling"...!:)

Cheers
George
 

tgsean

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You are right George, one will never know. But I did import this from Israel and it was posted from Jerusalem. So, someone must go through a lot of trouble if they want to deceive people. Nevertheless its olive no matter where it came from eh!
 

robutacion

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You are right George, one will never know. But I did import this from Israel and it was posted from Jerusalem. So, someone must go through a lot of trouble if they want to deceive people. Nevertheless its olive no matter where it came from eh!

That statement I agreed with entirely, no questions about that however, I have some news for you, in regards to the perception that, "some/most" of the Olive wood that is shipped from Jerusalem/Israel, is not the real thing, that wood in imported from Italy and is high quality, a lot better than what "trimmings/prunnings" could ever produce from most of the existent trees that, are still very young (in most general areas where the old trees have been bulldozed out due to their Holy war. Have a look here at some examples of the reality

Now, the last time I calculated the prices of Olive wood imported to Israel, based on the container volume and prices provided the the exact exporter of this wood from Italy, a single pen blank will cost approx, US$1.10 landed in Israel, is not that difficult to see why they do it, the world demand is far too huge...!

I don't know what is worse, buying false BOW or buying the wood from the trees that managed not to be burnt by those destroying them, they want to impose mortal pain to others, I don't think that, what this wood symbolizes is really what the true BOW from the Holy land should signify and mean to those with Christian and other, believes...!

I was taught to respect others beliefs and religions, while I have absolutely no religious beliefs or tendencies however, my upbringing was done among 99% of Christians with one of the world famous symbols of Christianity, only 25km from my town, the well know "Fatima", I know what Olive wood in general means to them and particularly, any small piece of Olive wood that can be proven to have come from Jerusalem Olive trees and not posted from Jerusalem post offices (very different thing) but, this is where those doing it have the upper-hand in the perception people get from it, as I get that claim all the time, "has to be the real thing because, it was posted from....!:eek:" Once upon a time (long ago) that was the case but not, anymore...!

Just keep in mind that, this is my verifiable opinion, I don't want to start another argument about something that I have discussed countless times however, for those new people that, weren't aware of any of this, they need to become aware and do their own searching to base their opinions and decisions, the next time they want/need/are requested to make a pen with some true BOW and are willing to see beyond the small piece of paper that is printed by the thousands and given with each blank.

This last decade and a half, the situation has deteriorated considerably in relation to obtaining the true/genuine BOW wood, in my opinion, if I wanted to make sure I would get a true piece of BOW, 2 things had to happen, I would need to travel to Jerusalem, go the the Villages and have it cut in front of me or, have someone in the area, that I could trust completely and that could do that for me, any other way, in today's greediness, I would not accept, period...!

So Sean, this is my honest opinion to you, I sincerely apologise if my comments will make you a little uncomfortable when it comes to be truthful to yourself and the fact that, you believe(d) that, you have/had the real thing, and to those that ask you to make a pen with a piece of the true/real Holy Olive wood, the odds are, you may not...!

PS: Keep up the good work, mate...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George
 

mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
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Medina, Ohio
Hmmmmm. Interesting.. Didn't put a lot of thought to that before, but you are probably right George. Still, a pretty wood; but market'd correctly...maybe not.

Well, I like anything made with Olive wood, you done a very good job on that blank, the grain lines are very pretty.

As for being Bethlehem Olive wood (BOW), is the small printed piece of paper, all you need to believe, its the real thing...?? if so, good for you...!:)

Sorry, you probably aren't aware of my struggles, with this very issue, for many years, this has been discussed to death on IAP and many other places so, you may want to search some of my threads on this issue and understand my view points however, I never get tired to ask the question. Do you have an answer...???

Don't bother if you don't, most people don't have it, neither...!:wink::biggrin:

Lets keep those nice pens "rolling"...!:)

Cheers
George
 

robutacion

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Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Hmmmmm. Interesting.. Didn't put a lot of thought to that before, but you are probably right George. Still, a pretty wood; but market'd correctly...maybe not.

Absolutely Mark, you hit the nail right in the head, Olive wood, regardless where it grows and what species it may belong too, is one of the prettiest, densest and safest woods for humans use, that you will find out there, that is not the issue and never will but, is what BOW became that, bothers me considerably.

The fact that, Christian believers are willing to pay any price for a piece of Olive wood from the Holy Land, that has created the problem to start with. Ruthless people, thought of that as they primordial target and make a fortune in the process, do they care about the religious and sentimental significance these people have from owning a piece of Holy Olive wood...???

Absolutely NOT, they don't care less, if people are prepared to pay any asking price for a piece of Olive wood with a small piece of printed paper as a certificate of authenticity attached, believe that they got the "real" thing and ask no questions, well that's how millions of dollars have been made, and people has been fooled time and time again. It that is fine by some, it ain't fine by be, not even close...!

If you didn't know this has been going on for far too long, you are not to blame for purchasing it however, but after you have been made aware of the "ruthless" trading, and you prefer to ignore it and continue buying it, you become then part of the problem and not part of the solution...!

There has to be a more verifiable and undoubtable way to provided buyers with a better guarantee of what they are buying, is indeed the real thing, unfortunately, buying Olive wood direct from the Holy land sellers, is as much a guarantee as is going to the supermarket to buy an item that you will be sure, was not made in China (as I explained on previous post), or had something to do with China (using China only as an example, I'm not racist...!)

Unfortunately, for new turners, they made the assumption that the only Olive wood that they can buy and use, from all the false publicity the BOW gets, is BOW or any Olive wood with a card as a certificate, that what they have been told, heard and seen so, they don't really know any better and the first they thing is trying to make a pen or something else out of Olive wood, they look for something "tagged" as BOW.

The strange thing is that, a lot of these people, have no affiliation to Christianity nor they are trying to satisfy a request from someone that it is, they don't care less what BOW actually means, apart from being Olive wood and not because is Bethlehem Olive wood, as one of the places from where the true Holy Olive wood , could come from however, they are missing the fact that, they are paying twice or more, if Olive wood is all they want, there are many of us out there that, has quality Olive wood available to share with others, for prices that have only to do with the quality, age and wood dryness conditions, as any other wood as a natural resource...!

So, call me what you want, consider some of the information that I keep providing and make your decision, at least you are in the position to consider if any of this in important to you or not and act accordingly...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George
 
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Sawdust1825

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Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
83
Location
Illinois
Beautiful work! I just got some of the Bethlehem Olive wood also. It is really nice. Beautiful grain and the blanks are excellent quality.
 
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