help with choice of wood

[leatherjunkie]

I got a request to make a pen out of a natural red color wood.
what types of wood are natural red color with a lot of figure??

I will be turning a baron or jr gentlemans pen for this.

 

[Dario]

amboyna burl, red mallee burl, red morel burl, redwood burl, manzanita burl...that should be a good start

 

[leatherjunkie]

Dario,
I have some amboyna burl just not sure if it is big enough for the baron size pen. I will look into getting the other burls that you mention also so the customer can decide which one she likes best.
I know where i can find the redwood burl just not sure where to get the others.


thanks for the suggestions.
Leon

 

[Dario]

Not sure how many you need...I may be able to help if you just need a few.

Red morell and red mallee are from Australia...very pretty wood.

 

[Dario]

BTW, check Fangar (James) if he can spare some of his red mallee...he usually have premium pieces of those [^]

 

[leatherjunkie]

Dario,

Thanks, I will get back to you on this.
Right now I have to get to a drs appointment.

I do know that i will be wanting 2 blanks of each type of wood that you suggested. I always order twice as much wood when i get a pen order just in case i mess up the wood. I have learned the hard way to have backup wood handy.[B)]

 

[broitblat]

You can often find bloodwood with good figure also, and it may tend toward more red than any of the burls mentioned. I'd looks for a crosscut or angle cut in particular

 

[Dario]

Not sure about bloodwood retaining its color. From my experience, it is not colorfast and changes to brown fast. All the ones I mentioned stays red much longer and on that list redwood will loose its color the soonest. Again this is just from my experience and though finish plays a role on it...this is based on the assumption that all things are equal.

 

[TomJ]

Choice Woods out of Louisville Kentucky has good variety of burls available.

 

[kruger]

padouk in crosscut is also a good choice.that gives beautiful reflections

<br />

 

[chigdon]

The big thing with 'Amboyna' is that amboyna can be Narra burl or Padauk burl. As you can see with Kruger's Padauk, the Padauk Burl Amboyna is the way to go if you want red. The Narra Burl is more similar to Afzelia Burl. If you can find a big enough piece without too many voids Manzanita Burl is about as red as you can get.

 

[leatherjunkie]

Wow,

everyone that posted here sure gave me some great information.
I will have to ponder on this some more. I also will need to contact Fangar and Dario about getting some wood later this week.

thanks for all of the suggestions i will post the pens when i get them done.

leon

 

[ctEaglesc]

Originally posted by Dario
<b><br />Not sure about bloodwood retaining its color. From my experience, it is not colorfast and changes to brown fast</b>. All the ones I mentioned stays red much longer and on that list redwood will loose its color the soonest. Again this is just from my experience and though finish plays a role on it...this is based on the assumption that all things are equal.

Dario,
That might be true of redheart, but from my experience blood wood does not change color at least in the pieces I have.
Could it be possible you are confusing the wood you are thinking of with redheart?I have used that in the past and it does indeed turn brown.
Kruger-
From my experience Paduk is more orange than .

Whrn I turn or sand Padul the shavings and dust look like a pile of rust on the ways.

 

[alamocdc]

Padauk can be quite striking if you find the right piece. Just make sure the customer knows that the orange will become a very rich red with a little time. Bois de Rose is also quite nice and it turns like a dream.

 

[Dario]

Eagles,

Yes, redheart turns brown even faster. No, I didn't mix them up. I don't have much experience turning either though and most of my observation is based on blanks I milled.