Ancient wood question

[ossaguy]

I was wondering if anyone's ever turned any of the ancient wood blanks that are on special at Woodturningz? They are English Bog Oak that they say are like 3000-5000 years old,and come with a little certificate.

If they were in peat bogs,do they really stink? Is there any features in the wood? Are they hard to turn/finish?

I want to make the stylus pen for my sister,and she is into fossils & old stuff so I thought I would look into it.It sounds interesting.

Thanks for any feedback,

Steve

 

[G1Pens]

Kauri would be another option

 

[diamundgem]

I have turned kauri. It was a big disappointment . Not much grain ,color or anything special/ Expensive. Turns easy though

 

[renowb]

Same here. Having said that, they do sell because, I believe, of the age.

I have turned kauri. It was a big disappointment . Not much grain ,color or anything special/ Expensive. Turns easy though

 

[ttpenman]

I agree about the Kauri. Looks incredible in larger pieces when you can really appreciate the figure. But in a pen blank they are pretty plain. But you can't beat the 50,000 year old age!! Ancientwood is located here in northern Wisconsin and shipped all over. Pretty pricey. One comment -- the wood has to be sanded really fine -- the best pieces I have seen are sanded smooth as glass.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

 

[StephenM]

I turn Irish bogwood all the time. The guy I get it from has had it carbon 14 dated and the pieces range from 3500 BC to 5000 BC. (helps to have an archeological site on your property and have lots of friends who work at Universities).

It doesn't smell at all and is basically just jet black. If you look closely, you can see some grain but from a couple of feet away, it looks like a piece of black plastic. I may try cutting the next piece cross grain and see if that yields any more interesting results.

In the back of my mind while I'm sanding it I'm wondering if I'm going to unleash some caveman virus that's been dormant for thousands of years but other than the urge to turn a club and naming our last son Grog, there haven't been any side effects.

 

[renowb]

Might unleash the Wooly Mammoth!

 

[Chris Bar]

Ditto on kauri. Have four blanks left to make eventually (maybe) make pens for my grandsons. Must be perfect since there will not be any ahs or wows due to the wood.

 

[Fibonacci]

I personally like the kauri. I find it to have a nice color and a lot of chatoyence.