Snakewood

[OSCAR15]

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Tongue []With all that has been posted about snakewood, I thought I'd post a photo of my efforts with this material....Yes, unfortunately, it has a few thin cracks (occuring about 1 week after assembly) and I believe this is a characteristic of this material. I do not know why no one offers these blanks stabilized....Anyways, cracks or not, it makes a beautiful pen. OSCAR

 

[Johnathan]

Yes, that looks great. I would pick this one over your Koa anyday. With Snakewood I would leave the the pen unassembled for a bit, this makes it easier to get it back on the lathe to fill the cracks. What type of finish is this? Nice work.

 

[ed4copies]

Beautiful pen. As we say with snakewood, that's a keeper!!!

(Cause if you sell it, it will come back with cracks!)[}][}]

 

[Skye]

Like Johnathan said, you may want to keep the next one unassembled for a while to let it do it's thing. Repair it, let it sit another couple of weeks, check again, assemble.

 

[wdcav1952]

Oscar,

People have tried to stabilize snakewood, but for some reason stabilization does not work. Rich K did an extensive post on that subject either here or at the Yahoo Forum. The end result was that stabilization did not work.

 

[Jim15]

Oscar, another nice looking pen.

jim

 

[gerryr]

Very nice, cracks or not.

 

[BigRob777]

Nice work. I bought a snakewood blank from Ryan at Woodturningz. I'm going to hold onto it for a while (to use when I get better at penturning and finishing) and when I do turn it, I'll let the barrel sit in my truck for a week, before I finish it, then let it sit there for another week, before I refinish and assemble. Ryan was selling a whole log of the stuff, but I can't do a 2nd mortgage again.[] This stuff is gorgeous, but expensive.

I have to agree with Johnathan, I like this even better than the koa. Your shape is better on this one too.
Rob

 

[SteveRoberts]

There is no way to stabalize snakewood, too oily or dense... the stabalizers don't penetrate. That is the convetional wisdom.

Steve

 

[OSCAR15]

Thanks for the feedback....As to the finish (not shown to its best due to my lousy photography) I sanded with MicroMesh down to 3600 grit.
The finish I used was Shellawax. Does a beautiful job, and it retains the feel of the wood. I have tried CA and others, but keep coming back to shellawax. Thanks for the feedback! OSCAR

 

[jdavis]

beautiful pen and superb craftsmanship

 

[Fangar]

Looks great Oscar. Hey did you get my email regarding the Cross cut Rosewood?

Fangar

 

[jwoodwright]

Nice kit and wood. Great job.