Green Baron

[smoky10]

A farmer that I have made pens for, using his own wood, gave me a plank about 2ft. long, 18in. wide, and 1.25in. thick and said to make him 3 ladies pens(sl's) and 3 mans pens(barons). This wood came from a barn that was slave built in the 1850's. It is poplar and is the nastiest color of green I have seen since my Air Force fatigues of the 1960's. It is so dry that all that came off it was dust; no shavings, no ribbons, just dust. I have started 3 and cut 2 apart and this is the only one I have finished. I really don't like the color.[xx(]
The batteries are dead in my camera again so I used the scanner.

 

[Doghouse]

looks like poplar, and sounds like very dry poplar. Only thing is that it will turn dark brown over time and UV.

 

[JimGo]

I am a fan of the color green in general, but agree with you about the color of this pen. At least there's some nice figure to the wood, and you did a nice job with the fit and finish!

 

[GregD]

Another green pen! For all the problems you had it turned out nice.

 

[tinker]

Actually, that is a very nice looking pen. The history of the wood is special also. Good job. Looking forward to seeing the other 5 pens.

 

[elody21]

Have you tried the rechargeable batteries especially for digital cameras? I use Monster Power batteries and charger and they last a very long time! Be prepared, they are expensive to begin with but are well worth it.

 

[alamocdc]

Tom, I actually kinda like it! [^] Nice job!

 

[ed4copies]

Tom,

Not my favorite color, but excellent finish-did the best with what you were dealt. Customer should be thrilled.

 

[smoky10]

I think I'll add a little more about the barn. The skeleton of the barn had no nails in it. It was mortise and tenon and pinned. The loft floor had square nails in it originally.

Alice, I do have rechargeable batteries but I don't take the time to charge them.[:I][]

 

[Gary Max]

Good looking GREEN pen Tom.
Heck I just made a couple of them out of the same kind of materail---I think they are going to be hard to sell.

 

[Thumbs]

I bet they'd sell like hotcakes if you outed them at a hunting goods store! Or an Army surplus! []

 

[ctEaglesc]

Originally posted by Thumbs
<br />I bet they'd sell like hotcakes if you outed them at a hunting goods store! Or an Army surplus! []

Or someone who is extremely fond of pea split pea soup.
It looks good considering what you had to start with.
I wonder what Lou see's?

 

[smoky10]

If these things hadn't been ordered I wouldn't have finished the first one.[]

 

[Rifleman1776]

I agree about the color, definately unappetizing. But it is what the customer wants. And the color of his money isn't much different and that usually looks beautiful. As old and dry as that wood is stabilization might be beneficial.

 

[smoky10]

Frank, you are right on all counts. I didn't think of stabilizing it. [:I][]