Need help choosing wood type for gift...

[webmonk]

Hey Folks,

I had a gentleman go above and beyond in helping with our recent house purchase. I overheard him making some comments about the pens I was making so I'm going to make one for him as a thank you. I've pretty much decided on the kit. It's going to be one of the subtle, but distinguished higher end kits like a Gentleman or Statesman. What I need help on is the material to use...

What I know about him is that he loves nautical stuff, especially old wooden sailboats so I'm trying to figure out what type of wood is available enough for me to get my hands on, suitable to turn with that kit, and has some kind of nautical significance. Any and all suggestions appreciated!

 

[Dario]

Teak comes to mind.

I had the pleasure of working on a few cross-cut spalted teak (yeah I can't believe they spalt either) and at first I don't even want to use them but they finished so easily and so nicely too!

There are lots of mahogany used on boats too...again I had some (I believe Cuban) Mahogany and they too were amazing. Simple wood but looked great on the first Emperors I made

 

[alamocdc]

Lignum Vitae... they used to make block and tackles for hoisting the sails, etc. from it.

 

[jeff]

I second the LV recommendation. A relative of mine is a sailor and the LV cigar pen I made him one Christmas went over very well. I wrote up a nice info sheet for him, with photos of the tree, uses, etc. If you use LV and you want that, let me know and I'll dig around for it. It's an oily wood, turns very well. If I recall, I think I wet-sanded using liquid wax to a high shine, no other finish.

 

[webmonk]

Thanks for the input so far! I've not been able to find any spalted teak yet, but I did find a few blanks of LV on ebay that I've bid on. Still a few days left so we'll see what happens...

 

[fiferb]

My vote is for Teak. Every mariner knows about teak.

<br />

 

[fiferb]

Yikes, Sorry about the huge picture.

 

[alamocdc]

Jon, if you don't win the LV auction, let me know. I've got loads of LV blanks and I can hook you up. I'd even be willing to trade.

 

[emackrell]

A thought on the teak pen: could you put one of those cool double-cross inlays into it? They look very much like a Turks Head knot that bosun's mates use in fancywork. Most boats and all ships have some fancywork somewhere -- on the quarterdeck on a ship, in the cockpit for a boat.

Or if you can do inlays - add the signal flags for his initials.

And be sure to post pictures, you're giving me lots of ideas!

cheers Eileen[]

 

[tcastel]

Just a suggestion. They rebuilt the sailing ship Amistad at the Mystic Seaport which I visited during reconstruction and the keel of the ship was Purpleheart. I've sold a half dozen pens to sailors from that little tidbit.

 

[Sylvanite]

I've been turning "nautical" pens from Teak for fellow sailors. If you want to do an inlay, or accent work, I might suggest holly. Many sailboats use teak and holly for their interior woodwork. Lignum Vitae is another beautiful choice, although less reconizably nautical.

I've recently been experimenting with turning pens from teak in the shape of a belaying pin - what I call the "belaying pen". I have some variations in mind, one of which adds some decorate knotting (since ropework is another hobby of mine).

Regards,
Eric

 

[emackrell]

Eric, do you have any pictures of the "belaying pens" to post? They sound pretty neat.

cheers Eileen

 

[Penmonkey]

Bruce, dude edit your photo!

 

[JimGo]

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />Jon, if you don't win the LV auction, let me know. I've got loads of LV blanks and I can hook you up. I'd even be willing to trade.

Knowing how Billy is, I also have some LV I can trade/sell, and I think BigRob has some in his inventory if you want to buy straight from a supplier instead. (Sorry Billy, had to tease you)

 

[webmonk]

Thanks for the offers, but I won the auction and just got them in the mail today. I'm going to try the LV only because I couldn't find any spalted teak though I'm keeping my eye out for that...

Thanks again to everyone for the help!

 

[ctEaglesc]

Why make it out of wood?
Wouldn't a sailor appreciate rope?

<br />

 

[emackrell]

OK Eagle, that is too cool, how did you make that one?

And what is inside it, a standard piece of line or knotted smallstuff, i.e. fancywork?

cheers Eileen

 

[Sylvanite]

Originally posted by emackrell
<br />Eric, do you have any pictures of the "belaying pens" to post?

Ok, but you asked for it []. Here are a couple of snapshots of my first prototype. It was just an experiment, so I used my cheapest kit (24k slimline) rather than something more suitable. I usually use a rhodium kit on my nautical pens to match the chrome/stainless hardware on most boats. This pen is finished with teak oil, but spar varnish would also be appropriate.
<br />

<br />

<br />
I think the clip and finial detract from the form of the pen, so I'm planning to do a closed end version. A little fancywork might go as well, so I also want to embellish one with a turk's head from whipping twine. And, I may even make a teak "rail" stand for them.

Regards,
Eric

 

[emackrell]

VERY neat. Thanks for posting!!

cheers Eileen[8D]

 

[webmonk]

Well, I found some Lignum Vitae on ebay and finally had a chance to turn it. Here's what I ended up with:

Thanks to everyone who helped!

 

[redfishsc]

Try a crosscut LV blank, it shows the grain off incredibly (the chatoyance is blinding). Looks magnificent on a black Ti kit.

Nice gent. I have my first two gents sitting in the shop awaiting the fat 37/64 drill bit that I forgot to order.

 

[beaverfsu]

Very nice. Good choice.