Camelthorn with Torquoise Inlay

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hewunch

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Joined
Aug 5, 2008
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4,657
Location
Albany, GA
OK, so I am at one of my favorite wood shops (Woodzone in Columbia,SC www.woodzone.com) and the owner there is a great guy named Carl. Well, he says, "hey we got this new wood, maybe you would like to make a pen out of it". I say, "Yeah, what is it called?" He says, "Camelthorn".

Well, I have never heard of camelthorn, and to be quite honest this blank had so much wax on it, I was not looking for anything exciting. Boy, was I blown away by the grain. Almost like a cross between bloodwood and bocote. So, our last meeting a guy is showing inlays. And mentions the next time you are near one of those rock stores on vacation pick up some cheap torquoise or malichite and bust it up yourself. Well, the next week I am in Helen, GA. And what do they have there? You guessed it Torquoise and Malichite. So here is my first torquoise inlay on my first piece of camelthorn. Comments welcome.
bigbencamelthorn.jpg
 
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DaveM

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Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Messages
136
Location
Houghton Lake, Michigan
Great looking pen. Reminds me a bit of a beefwood blank I had a couple of years ago. (Ironically it ended up going home with a local meatcutter!) I really like the turquoise bands. Tasteful and nicely done.

Dave
 

hewunch

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Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
4,657
Location
Albany, GA
I usually try not to title things in a risky way. I guess we all can't be perfect all the time. :rolleyes:
 

bobskio2003

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2005
Messages
344
Location
Fulton, NY, USA.
Camelthorn is probably one of the hardest woods I've turned. It does have beautiful grain but can be miserable to work with. A lot of the pieces I've gotten have cracks in them (although they can be easily filled). I guess I'm just trying to say that Camelthorn isn't a wood I'd recommend to a beginner. Bob I.
 

hewunch

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Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
4,657
Location
Albany, GA
Bob, you are right, it is hard. Harder than purpleheart and close to ironwood. I have a carbide tool that I use for most of my lathe work, so it comes off in ribbons. I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks to the others for their kind words, even though there is a big chunk out of the Turquoise in the pic.
 
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
10
Location
cape girardeau,mo
I have been working with camelthorn for quite a while now it is easy to work with and takes a beautiful finish just aquired some with sapwood in it
 

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Bree

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Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
1,736
Location
Buffalo, NY
OK, so I am at one of my favorite wood shops (Woodzone in Columbia,SC www.woodzone.com) and the owner there is a great guy named Carl. Well, he says, "hey we got this new wood, maybe you would like to make a pen out of it". I say, "Yeah, what is it called?" He says, "Camelthorn".

Well, I have never heard of camelthorn, and to be quite honest this blank had so much wax on it, I was not looking for anything exciting. Boy, was I blown away by the grain. Almost like a cross between bloodwood and bocote. So, our last meeting a guy is showing inlays. And mentions the next time you are near one of those rock stores on vacation pick up some cheap torquoise or malichite and bust it up yourself. Well, the next week I am in Helen, GA. And what do they have there? You guessed it Torquoise and Malichite. So here is my first torquoise inlay on my first piece of camelthorn. Comments welcome.
bigbencamelthorn.jpg

Lovely pen Hans! Excellent. How did you glue in the inlays? CA? What viscosity did you use? I used CA and found when using some very fine glitter that it ran when I used thin and it didn't get all throughout the thick or medium. It wasn't easy to get a uniform blending. And it is very messy!!

Next time I am doing all glitter gluing outside of the workshop!!!
:eek::eek::eek:
 

Marc

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
349
Location
3355 Lookout Pl Reno NV 89503
Very nice pen and I like the thought about crushing your own turqoise and malachite. I'll bet there are quite a few other rocks that would look good.

Here is Nevada, lots of the tourist places include rocks and gemstone shops where there are a variety of highly colored rocks. Most are polished up so I don't know what they would look like when they are crushed up. Seems like it might be worth a few dollars to find out.

Keeping the crush contained does sound like a challenge.
 

handplane

Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2008
Messages
69
Location
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Nice looking pen.

The best trick I've seen for crushing stone is an electric coffee grinder. Makes a lot of noise but you can get chunks or dust or anything in between.
 
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