snakewood baron

[its_virgil]

Here is a picture of a snakewood baron. It is my first snakewood pen. And to answer your next question, yes it cracked. It cracked while still on the mandrel. I drilled the blanks 6 weeks ago. I turned them to finished dimensions in three sessions over a three week period and sanded them one grit at a time over an entire weekend...waiting between grits...heat has been suggested as the cracking agent. After the final sanding I had dinner and went back to the pen in a couple of hours (no I did not eat for all that time ) and the cap and barrel had both cracked lengthwise. I left the pen on the mandrel and put it on the shelf and in the next two weeks the cap had two more cracks and the barrel had one more. I sanded with 600 and saved the dust and made a CA/dust slurry and filled the cracks, scraped off the CA with a scraper, resanded and applied a CA finish. No other cracks have shown up and the pen had been finished for two weeks. It is still a nice pen...the plating is sterling silver and I will enjoy using it...the cracks are difficult to see, but they are there. Any and all comments welcome.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[DWK5150]

That looks great I think!! I havent been brave enough to try snakewood cause of hearing all the storys about it craking.

 

[chigdon]

It is beautiful. It would be my favorite if it wasn't for the cracks (regardless of the price). I have one that I have repaired cracks on and we use it daily. I just can't sell any of them.

 

[LAKingsFan]

Thats nice!

Ron[]

 

[Darley]

Don this one is really nice like the wood, but I read that a lot of people
got the same problem with this wood ( cracking problem ) where can I find
this snakewood blank? I would like to try it, what kind of glue do you use
to glued the tube?

 

[Termite1964]

Nice pen Don. I have not tried snakewood but I plan on it in the future. From the picture, I can't see the cracks. Great work.

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Serge: the blank for this pen came from http://www.westpennhardwoods.com but I'm sure BB at http://www.arizonasilhouette.com has snakewood also. West Penn Hardwoods was a vendor at the symnposium here in Texas back in October. I used epoxy for gluing the tubes.

Termite: Thanks for looking. The cracks are very thin, run the length of the cap and barrel sections. And, yes, you have to look closely to find them. They are well hidden in the pattern in the wood. Even with the cracks, the pen is a keeper, and I would sell it but I would tell the customer about the snakewood cracking and no guarantees on this one.

This one is going to the new Doctor in the family, who happens to be my son. He graduated from medical school last year just started his residency in general surgery in Houston. The plating is sterling silver.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Darley
<br />Don this one is really nice like the wood, but I read that a lot of people
got the same problem with this wood ( cracking problem ) where can I find
this snakewood blank? I would like to try it, what kind of glue do you use
to glued the tube?

 

[Glenn McCullough]

Don,
First and most importantly...congratulations to he and you on the new doctor!! what an accomplishment on both parts!!
secondly, thanks for the information on the snakewood. It is still a nice pen and I bet if your son has an issue with it, you will service it even without a warranty.

 

[alamocdc]

Very nice, Don. Like many others, I've been waiting to turn mine (two half blanks) b/c of the cracking issue. I may just gut up and do it anyway. Yours is quite inspirational.

Serge, Woodturningz has snakewood blanks too.

 

[its_virgil]

I have 4 more blanks. I think the next one I will turn the wood without gluing in the tubes and assemble the pen without gluing in the tubes. Maybe unglued tubes will allow then wood to move without cracking. I finally decided to do everything I had read about preventing cracking and if it cracked I would still have a nice pen. I will also try the method described by Steve Haine, aka Borg_B_Borg, in a recent post. Anything is worth a try. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />Very nice, Don. Like many others, I've been waiting to turn mine (two half blanks) b/c of the cracking issue. I may just gut up and do it anyway. Yours is quite inspirational.

Serge, Woodturningz has snakewood blanks too.

 

[jcarrell]

don, would flexible CA maybe help here?

i too had the same problem you did a year ago, with a snakewood blank that had been sitting in a drawer for over a year...it still cracked...

i think maybe i'll also try a few of the ideas that have been mentioned here

torne pluma...jeff c, in foat wuth
www.bubbasville.com
www.texaswoodshop.com

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br />I have 4 more blanks. I think the next one I will turn the wood without gluing in the tubes and assemble the pen without gluing in the tubes. Maybe unglued tubes will allow then wood to move without cracking.

 

[its_virgil]

I think someone had a snakewood pen crack with flexible CA. I don't think there is any escaping this problem. Enjoyed Saturday...THANKS!
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by jcarrell
<br />don, would flexible CA maybe help here?

i too had the same problem you did a year ago, with a snakewood blank that had been sitting in a drawer for over a year...it still cracked...

i think maybe i'll also try a few of the ideas that have been mentioned here

torne pluma...jeff c, in foat wuth
www.bubbasville.com
www.texaswoodshop.com

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br />I have 4 more blanks. I think the next one I will turn the wood without gluing in the tubes and assemble the pen without gluing in the tubes. Maybe unglued tubes will allow then wood to move without cracking.

 

[PenWorks]

Beautifull figure to that piece of snakewood. I think that is the only way to make a snakewood pen, let it crack, repair the cracks and your good to go. Very nice pen.

 

[Jim in Oakville]

Hi Don,


A great looking pen...


I have turned one snake wood, it cracked, I did much like you mentioned...it became an obsession....I think I worked harder on that one blank than any other I have ever turned. It sold quickly...but I was not sad to see it go, that was a free pen for the price I sold it for.....

It's a special wood and you have done it proud..very nice!

 

[UKpenmaker]

Stunning pen Don, that wood goes very well the the kit. I must have a go at some snakewood sometime, hope it comes out without cracking[]

 

[airrat]

I agree with others here Don. Try the flexable CA. Also sand at slowest speed if you dont already. should help with heat build up.

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Anthony, Jim, Andrew, and Tom.

That's what I decided to do Anthony. Turn it, let it crack, repair the cracks and use or sell it. I have a buffalo horn baron that I made back in July and I carried it last week. I showed some pens to the bubbasville group Sat and the buffalo horn pen had cracked...big time...looks like that canyon out your way. Never had a deer horn pen crack, though.
Do a good turn daily!
Don'

Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />Beautifull figure to that piece of snakewood. I think that is the only way to make a snakewood pen, let it crack, repair the cracks and your good to go. Very nice pen.

 

[chigdon]

I have tried boiling the snakewood blank for an hour the night before, putting the drill bits in the freezer, and everything else I could think of. The other fun thing is that it can develop crack(s) weeks or months later also!!! It is really to bad it is so beautiful.