A pair of Escarpment Live Oak Sierras (Worthelss Wood II)

[MesquiteMan]

Here is a pair of chrome Sierras in Escarpment Live Oak that I have "fixed" with a new, more efficient "Worthless Wood" technique. I will be writing a tutorial for the new process when I have time.

The first is an IAP Edition due to the resin color and the second is a Texas State University Edition. Both have a CA finish, of course.

 

[ldb2000]

That is wild Curtis . I have never seen wood with grain like that .

 

[wdcav1952]

WOW!! Curtis those are truly spectacular!

BTW, I finally finished one of your double-dyed spalted hackberry Sierra blanks. It turned (pun intended) out well. I'll try to get a photo tomorrow.

 

[jedgerton]

Curtis,

Those are spectacular! I've never seen wood like that (let alone enhanced as such). When we have a chance to talk, I hope you can help me overcome whatever is going on with my CA finish attempts.

John

 

[toolcrazy]

Those are really cool. I like that.

 

[Druid]

Excellent Curtis, look forward to the tutorial. I'm begginning to experiment with a high pressure dental pick on worthless wodd, have you tried that yet? Your insight or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated.

 

[workinforwood]

That's really sweet!

 

[johncrane]

Curtis!
there a big WOW!!!:biggrin: looking forward to the tut

 

[wolftat]

That is some pretty wood Curtis. You did a nice job on the casting.

 

[sparhawk]

That is awesome Curtis. Love that look. Havin been trying some worthless wood casting lately but not much success. looks like i need to try harder.

 

[CaptG]

Those are some of the sweetest pens I have seen.

 

[akbar24601]

WOW Curtis! Those are totally COOL!!!

 

[mrburls]

Looks great Curtis, fantastic grain pattern, nicely cast.

Keith "mrburls"

 

[Rarest wood]

simply stunning.

 

[cnirenberg]

Curtis,
Those are some awesome pens. The contast is more eye catching than the cactus. I can't wait to read your tutorial, you have got my casting jones going again...just when I thought I was cured.
Thanks.

 

[Constant Laubscher]

Great looking pens! nicely done.

 

[TribalRR]

Those are very cool!!!

 

[jkeithrussell]

Really, really nice.

 

[Jim15]

Outstanding pens, great work.

 

[alphageek]

Holy Cow curtis - That has to be among the coolest things I've ever seen.

I'm not setup for casting, but this is definately the thing that would make me want to. I can't wait to see how this came about... Is the 'gaps' natural or man-made?

 

[MesquiteMan]

The "gaps" are natural. There really is nothing special about "Worthless Wood II" that makes this effect. It is just a different, more efficient way of doing it. This is a piece of Escarpment Live Oak that was very green that I intentionally dried very fast in a hot toaster oven. That caused the grain to open up like it did. I then cast it with new technique that makes the voids fill better. If it was done with the traditional WW technique, there would have been less resin penetration and more voids left unfilled.

 

[broitblat]

OK,

I have really enjoyed the results of the worthless wood creations in the past, but the figure and color in this version is nothing short of spectacular.

Is there something unique to Escarpment Oak that allows the grain to open up like that, or would other woods do the same under similar drying conditions?

Thanks for sharing.

-Barry

 

[bitshird]

Curtis, that is some wild wood, definitely some WOW in them, beautiful pens. looking forward to the tutorial

 

[CharlestonPenWorks]

I definately recognize the oak grain. I have turned several pens in live oak that show a beautiful grain , the downfall is that there is very little pop in the color of the pen. This definately pops!! Please let us know how you did it.

 

[PenPal]

Curtis

Exciting concept very well made and turned. I often wonder how you have time to accomplish all you do, certainly among the most creative pen makers I know. The colours live and make a statement every time.

Thanks for showing. Peter.

 

[papaturner]

Very unique look........Good job.

 

[Skye]

OOOOH OOOOOH! I've got some oak just like that, but the grain didn't split open like yours. Now I'm wishing it did! I just recently cut up a piece of oak and made a bowl from the crotch. It's got the same swirly patterns. I'll try to get a pic of it, you should be able to appreciate it.

 

[VisExp]

That is a very cool effect Curtis. Beautiful pens.

 

[woody350ep]

Those are pretty sweet. Curious though, are you using CA finish because of the wood grains that end up exposed? I imagine that is why because I didn't figure you would on the resin, but just making sure.

 

[ranchonodinero]

Curtis, Are you crushing or twisting the blanks in order to get more voids? Those are incredible pens!

 

[ahoiberg]

man is that cool. great idea and work there curtis.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Mother Nature did all of the splitting. All I did was help here along in a hot toaster oven. I did not do anything else to make it split. Live Oak is quite unstable anyway so the extra heat (200 degrees for a few days) did all of the work.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Jason, I put a CA finish on all of my pens, Worthless Wood especially. The resin does not penetrate the wood itself enough to get good protection. I also do a CA on my cactus to make sure it is all sealed. The other factor is that Alumilite does not polish up quite a glossy as I can get with CA and I prefer a high gloss finish.

 

[johnnycnc]

absolutely stunning, Curtis!
Some of your best work to date,those are fantastic!!!!

 

[woody350ep]

Sounds good to me. I figured it was something like that. I prefer a high-gloss finish as well, so I have no argument for that

 

[StatProf]

Gig 'em

No Texas A&M Edition???? Where's the love?

Let me help out.

For the A&M pen you start with a really beautiful blank. Turn it down to where it is almost perfect. Then you step away from the lathe and invite a friend to come and finish the piece for you. But instead of finishing the piece he takes a ball peen hammer and smashes the mess out of it. Then all of your friends make fun of you because you used to have a good pen, but now your pen can't even beat the Baptist school in Waco.

And then you cry!

StatProf - Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2000

 

[Dario]

Curtis,

These are just unreal. WOW!!!