snakewood pics

[penartist]

As promised from my earlier post in "the evil snakewood, again! stabilizing?" topic, some snakewood pen pics for perusal. I've had these for over 1 year and they show no signs of cracking. I was supposed to sell them, but I like them so much and don't want them to end up in someones hands that may not look after them; I'm just too sentimental . Maybe one day I'll sell them to a good home. Comments welcome.

Regards,
Evan

 

[devowoodworking]

Nice work on the snakewood pens, I would say that since it's been a year, that the natural expansion/contraction issue is not the cause of the splits so often heard about in this wood. I'd be inclined to think that this wood definitely requires far more precautions in preparing the blank to prevent any splitting after the fact.

 

[penartist]

G'day John and thanks,

snakewood is such a hard and dense timber that movement is almost non existent if it is well and truly dry. If it does crack after the tubes are glued, it means that a crack was already there before drilling. Sometimes they are so small you cannot see them which is common with tropical species. Another possibility is, that cracking may occur while the glue is curing due to the exothermic reaction.

After drilling the holes, I submerge the blanks in a thin solution of sanding sealer for about 1 week and then let dry for 3 days before glueing the tubes. I find that this greatly minimizes any possible movement and not for conventional stabilization as with buckeye or box elder burl.
Snakewood requires much more "tender loving care" than other species. It takes longer to complete your pen, but the effort is worth it. The only other species I've worked with that has almost similar to snakewood's characteristics is kingwood from South America; but is not as cranky.

Cheers,
Evan

 

[Ligget]

Beautiful pens Evan, I love Snakewood but have never tried it yet! Thanks for sharing those tips above!

 

[R2]

Lovely pens. Well done![]

 

[jhs494]

Nice pens.
Great job on doing what most have trouble with.
Keep up the great work, and thanks for all the tips on working with Snakewood.

 

[dom1971]

Awesome pen. I got 50 lbs of blanks but new to turning

Seattle,Washington

That is an awesome pen. I have managed to save over 50 lbs of choice snakewoodcuts for future endeavours. I have listed a bunch on ebay and am doing well. I have a new mini lathe and some tools. Where can i find good videos on penturning?

Dom

 

[DCBluesman]

Almost everything you need to know about pen making can be found here. http://www.woodturnerruss.com/Video-1-Index.html

 

[mickr]

Seattle,Washington

That is an awesome pen. I have managed to save over 50 lbs of choice snakewoodcuts for future endeavours. I have listed a bunch on ebay and am doing well. I have a new mini lathe and some tools. Where can i find good videos on penturning?

Dom

PSI will send you a freebie video on the basics of turning pens

 

[desertyellow]

Gorgeous!

 

[YORKGUM]

Gotta love Snakewood.

 

[artme]

They are wonderful looking pens.