Favorite light colored woods other than maple

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RogerC

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So after jumping into the deep end and starting this journey by turning 100 pens for our clients at my full-time job and then turning a few more for friends, I've come to realize that I rather like doing this :biggrin:.

I'm looking for other woods to try out and wanted to know what your favorite light colored wood is. Which offer the most visual interest for you?

I've done quite a few maple (curly, birds eye, and spalted varieties), so I'd like to hear what other species you like.

Thanks,
 
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Dehn0045

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I like Burl's, but they can be a little more challenging. Some need to be stabilized, others can be turned without. Brown and red mallee burl can be done without stabilizing, also thuya burl. My personal favorite so far is Honduran Rosewood Burl, a little pricey, but makes a gorgeous pen - I turned mine without stabilizing. Try whatever you can get your hands on. There are only two wood blanks I've turned that I didn't like - jatoba and plain white oak. The jatoba looked a little like a turd, and the plain white oak was just that --- plain.
 

Dehn0045

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Just noticed you specified "light colored wood", whoops, lol. Still some burls you can try, maple or box elder. Curly mango is pretty light and looks nice. I got some stuff called Capa Blanco from Puerto Rico that was pretty light and super curly, loved it.
 

mmayo

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Try yellow heart, Osage orange, olive wood, apricot wood ( my new best friend ), red heart ( maybe too dark).
 

randym

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Ash would be another choice. Depending on where you live, it can be easy to get a lot of it for free. The wood borer has taken it's toll here in the Midwest. A friend had 13 trees cut down in their yard. (BIG ones!) I looked through the piles of logs and picked out some pieces that I think will have some interesting features. I'll find out once it's completely dried out.

I have my eye on one that has lots of burl on it. Working on getting permission to cut it down to help the landowner out. Of course I'll go one further and take the wood away as well! :)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

Woodchipper

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Pecan. Hard wood and turns good. Doesn't have a spectacular grain but lends to staining or dyeing. I goofed with one pecan pen blank. I used a black Sharpie to color it but it didn't fill in some voids in the wood. I got a bit upset and wet a paper towel with DNA to wipe it off. Well, the DNA dissolved the black ink enough to allow it to flow into the voids and give it a dark charcoal gray. Looked decent, actually.
 

OZturner

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Roger, is it the light colour you are after?
Or is it also figuring as well as colour?
If it is just the colour, I would suggest American Poplar aka. "Cottonwood" as a local and readily available species.
To Give it an Australian Flavour, My overall favorite would be Huon Pine, that is an Extremely Exotic and somewhat scarce timber.
It has been prohibited from being felled in Tasmania, where it is uniquely local too, for many years, and the only source is from Logs that are recovered from the Rivers, Lakes or Dams.
Huon Pine can have some nice Grain Patterns and Birds Eye's, and is highly sought after, and is usually Priced Accordingly
And of course we should not forget the Pinus Radiata, and Norfolk Island Pine, as well as all the local Pines, that thrive around Suburbia.
One shouldn't leave out Camellia, Cotoneaster, and Citrus, these are also quite light coloured.
Regards,
Brian.
 
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RogerC

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Roger, is it the light colour you are after?
Or is it also figuring as well as colour?
If it is just the colour, I would suggest American Poplar aka. "Cottonwood" as a local and readily available species.
To Give it an Australian Flavour, My overall favorite would be Huon Pine, that is an Extremely Exotic and somewhat scarce timber.
It has been prohibited from being felled in Tasmania, where it is uniquely local too, for many years, and the only source is from Logs that are recovered from the Rivers, Lakes or Dams.
Huon Pine can have some nice Grain Patterns and Birds Eye's, and is highly sought after, and is usually Priced Accordingly
And of course we should not forget the Pinus Radiata, and Norfolk Island Pine, as well as all the local Pines, that thrive around Suburbia.
One shouldn't leave out Camellia, Cotoneaster, and Citrus, these are also quite light coloured.
Regards,
Brian.
Thank you, Brian. Indeed, I'm looking for something lighter in color with interesting grain. The vast majority of my experience is in building custom guitars, and I'm familiar with the lexicon of woods that are usually discussed in those circles. I was curious if there was anything I was overlooking in the realm of pen turning.

I appreciate everyone's input and ideas!
 

greenacres2

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Ash--especially crotch for pens. Only pic I could find quickly is below, second from right. This blank had a touch of BLO and finished with WTF. Last one I did I used mineral oil and then CA, was noticeably lighter in color, but the mineral oil doesn't bring out the pattern as well as BLO (at least in my eye).

earl
 

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Dehn0045

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Thank you, Brian. Indeed, I'm looking for something lighter in color with interesting grain. The vast majority of my experience is in building custom guitars, and I'm familiar with the lexicon of woods that are usually discussed in those circles. I was curious if there was anything I was overlooking in the realm of pen turning.

I appreciate everyone's input and ideas!

Ok, so here are a couple that are a little more unusual and probably more common in the pen world than anywhere else:

Black Locust Burl (not too hard to find)
1_PSX_20170906_191521.jpg


and White Amboyna Burl, the third from the right in the pic below is about as light as you will find (very rare, and very expensive)

1_amboyna.jpg
 
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