Black Walnut???

[Hayseedboy]

All,

Do any of you turn black walnut? If so, just for pens? Are they popular? What are you having to pay for it? I bought some blanks the other day for $1.50 each. Did I do ok?

Are there any more questions I can ask in one post :?

Thanks!
lr

 

[edstreet]

I use English walnut, bastogne, franquette walnut, claro walnut and black walnut. So far for pens the best ones have been english walnut. Just be careful and use a slow speed and not burn the wood.

I buy the high grade walnut in 2 1/2ish x 12ish blocks and cut what I need from them. Think the price is around $40 - $50 for 8-12 of them. It really depends on figure to.

Ed

 

[R2]

I use Queensland Walnut Which is not a Walnut at all.[]

 

[mrcook4570]

Black walnut can often be found for $0.25 - $0.50 per blank. Burl will often run $1.50 per blank. You can also find black walnut in many firewood piles []

 

[kent4Him]

I love Walnut, but the pen buying public does not see to share my love. I see some Claro pens, especially if you can get two tone blanks.

Black walnut does well for my bird houses. One of my better sellers.

 

[jskeen]

I have several hundred pounds of dry black walnut in the loft of my shop, the remains of a tree on my parents place that they finally lost a fight with the power company over. I use it for lots of projects, both turned and flat work, but for pens i find that the base color is too dark, and the grain details too large to show well. Even the most brightly colored swirl grain in a flat piece of black walnut generally just looks brown on a pen. Also, like all walnut, the grain is very open and takes a good bit of filling for a smooth quality pen finish.

For larger turnings however it works beautifully, and finishes up very well.

 

[GaryMGg]

For flatwork, black walnut is probably my favorite non-exotic wood to use, especially when it's got some curl. For pens, by itself it takes a really special piece to show off its beauty.
However, I like segmenting it with maple or other contrasting woods.
Like anything prices range, but I'd expect to see black walnut blanks for $1.00 or less.

 

[Russianwolf]

Since I can get walnut for $3/bf for flatwork, $1.5 for pen blanks seems high. It would have to be a spectacular piece.

As was mentioned. when working with a small piece (1/2 inch diameter by 5 inches long) Walnut usually just isn't that eyecatching. Maybe crotch figure or burl would work, but plain black walnut is kinda.... plain.

I have some curly Turkish Walnut (much tighter grain) that I'll be turning this weekend. I'm hoping it has enough "pop".

 

[Gary Max]

Heck my best selling casing pens are half walnut burl. I really like the stuff so that makes a difference also.

 

[George7]

I've never made a pen from walnut that I really liked. I find that the grain and color variations are too large to make an outstanding pen. However, I was at a show last weekend where 3 different people asked if I had any walnut pens.

 

[fernhills]

The only way i use walnut is in a laminated pen with lighter woods,in that way they shine,or in somthing like fountain pen with striking hdw.they also look sharp too.In the northeast here walnut is fairly cheap it all over as far as plain walnut is concerned..