robutacion
Member
Hi everyone.
I have an interesting story to tell about something that I was sent to as Truffle pen blanks by someone in Queensland, that I had the pleasure to be visited by a few months later, together with his wife.
At this point I'm not going to mention any names but, that can chance latter on. Anyway, someone wanted to learn how to utilised small bits of nice wood that, he didn't have use for until he saw my Resifills. A lot of people have been doing this sort of work for a lot longer then I but, I was probably the closest one he could reach and willing to show how its done, not sure...!
He was the one to provided me also with some of his stash of PNG Rosewood Burl, mostly known as Amboyna burn/wood but that I had seen before however never used so, I was keen to swap some wood with for sure. He sent me some already cut pen blanks of 3 species (if I remember correctly...!) 2 already mentioned, the third being the Australian Budgeroo tree wood, just a few samples of each...!
The one that intrigued me was the Truffle, as it looked so much like very dry Olive wood
(Olive on the left), the heartwood, sapwood and even outer skin have amazingly similarities, the wood looks solid but not excessively heavy however, the "Truffles" that I know about are the ones the can be eaten and normally too small to make full size pen blanks from so, I was intrigued...!
Well, I'm told that, the Truffles are from his son's property, don't remember if in Queensland or elsewhere but, the son has a large property with all sorts of stuff growing in it so, he have plenty of wood to play with. Back to the Truffles and I don't know exactly what the name of the tree that produced these "crazy potatoes" is but, there are apparently many tree species that produce this underground buds, not easy to find, as I'm told.
The next lot I received, he brought with him on the air-plain, together with Amboyna, Cedar and 2 slices 22mm thick from a large Truffle he cut at home before he left. He had plenty of small Amboyna off-cuts so that we could used to show him how to make the Resifills unfortunately, most of what he brought couldn't be used as they were too short and with square cuts on both ends, not thick enough, etc. but, I had enough to make a full mold with 6 or 7 blanks with all variations possible on the wood bits and their placement in the mold.
He wanted to see what I could use with the Truffle slices, as it is very difficult to get a full blanks size from a whole Truffle, even if large, due to the shape so, and in my view, a great possibility to be used in conjunction with resin and transform it into Resifills (my name for this type of blanks...!).
We had a great day together, and I'm sure he learnt a thing or two, including learn how I do my CA finish that went just right with the demonstration of using the "Flap disc" to shape and size one of the blanks/Resifills we made from the Amboyna so, he got pretty much some "guidance" from the beginning to the end product and its finish..!
I took no pics on that day (I should though...!) so, the blanks I made for him (7) and the one that was finished, I have no record of them but I made some more the next day with some of the Amboyna he brought and also from the 2 slices of the Truffle buds.
Was no point in spending the time with the Truffel's while he was here, was simply not enough time, while the "principle/technique" for making these type of wood and resin blanks is the same, regardless of the wood used (well, almost...!) so, after I made the Truffle blanks I took pics to send him of how they turn out.
I should also say that, he brought in a suitcase with him on the flight, he (per person) was allowed 23kg of luggage, his was 20kg of wood and 3kg of cloths and essentials as they were going to stay for a few days with a relative living near by (30km away). It was funny when he walked in with that heavy suitcase and opened it in the work-shop where we went immediately to get to the "business"...!
When all done, was time to fill that suitcase again but this time, with my woods, which he though he knew what he wanted, that all changed when he saw what I've got, well, almost as we never went to the storage paddock, no need away, the best goodies are all at the house. That damn suitcase was not big enough, I'm sure he though of, a few times but we kept putting in and weighing at the same time, my wood was slightly lighter weight so the volume was tricky but limited by the suitcase size so, I don't know where he put the stuff that come with the wood but, wasn't much space for anything and the suitcase was just on the 21kg limit so I reckon, he had to put on a few extra pieces of clothes on him, to get through boarding, going back home...!:biggrin:
Since, he sent me a 3kg postal bag with 3 full Truffels, 1 small and 2 large ones, interestingly the small one and one large was full of holes, perfectly round about 6-7mm diameter and not deep, about 1/2" or so. None of the Truffle wood I had from him had any signs of wood borer or similar so, I though that someone has drilled shallow wholes everywhere for whatever reason so, I sent him an email asking who done the holes...? Could it be Customs thinking that they were filled with something...??? don't know...!
Oh, oh...! I reckon he knows all about it and is challenging me to see how how salvage the worm affected ones,a s he probably has plenty of them like that, well Mister...! you are on...!:wink::biggrin:
I'm yet to get a reply for him, as I reckon he went away for the holidays however, a couple of days ago I decided to process those 3 Truffles, get as many full pen blanks size possible and make a few pieces for making Resifills with. I started with one of the biggest ones, the one I couldn't see any wholes but that quickly changed when I started slicing it at 22mm thickness.
OMG, there were some large white worms and some hard shell bugs that are identical with some of the ones I have here, maybe a little shorter but the same nightmare to destroy good wood. Most were on the sapwood (closer to the Truffle skin) so, I knew that I was going for a big surprise with the other 2 with the wholes visible....!:frown:
Oh boy, every slice I made from the other 2, I cut through the damn juicy things, I cut through half a dozen or more of these creatures on every slice, with a few more ripping the slices unto 2mm square, what a nightmare...! I could have save all that "meat" and have a good supper cooked with them, they are actually eatable, Australian Aborigines are well know to use them in their diet for as long as they exist so, bigger ones are better for that purpose (which I tried once before...! hey..., I said ONCE, thank you...!).
I've got them all cut and sized, I got 1 (one) full pen blank size out of the 3 pieces, the only one that had no wholes or would give the full length and being clean, the rest are going to be Resifills but, I have a couple of ideas to try with them as most of the wholes that the "creatures" eat are full with compact sawdust and obviously some of the chemicals they segregate while eating and "pushing back" the remnants of the solid wood...!
Well, the solid wood is dense so, stabilising them in various coloured juice mixes should make the juice to penetrate a lot faster and easier through those clogged up channels, making the juice colour be a lot vivid/darker on them, compared with the rest of the wood. The ones with open wholes, will be processed the same way but, then cast in resin with either identical colour or a contrasting colour than the stabilised "channels", something to try very soon...!
I may be wrong but, with such a nice grain, I reckon these blanks I have just described the planned of action, will come up pretty porch, what do you reckon...??? Am I on to something...???
I only wish that this damn heat would go away, 44°C today...!:rain::rain::rain::rain::rain:
Cheers
George
I have an interesting story to tell about something that I was sent to as Truffle pen blanks by someone in Queensland, that I had the pleasure to be visited by a few months later, together with his wife.
At this point I'm not going to mention any names but, that can chance latter on. Anyway, someone wanted to learn how to utilised small bits of nice wood that, he didn't have use for until he saw my Resifills. A lot of people have been doing this sort of work for a lot longer then I but, I was probably the closest one he could reach and willing to show how its done, not sure...!
He was the one to provided me also with some of his stash of PNG Rosewood Burl, mostly known as Amboyna burn/wood but that I had seen before however never used so, I was keen to swap some wood with for sure. He sent me some already cut pen blanks of 3 species (if I remember correctly...!) 2 already mentioned, the third being the Australian Budgeroo tree wood, just a few samples of each...!
The one that intrigued me was the Truffle, as it looked so much like very dry Olive wood
(Olive on the left), the heartwood, sapwood and even outer skin have amazingly similarities, the wood looks solid but not excessively heavy however, the "Truffles" that I know about are the ones the can be eaten and normally too small to make full size pen blanks from so, I was intrigued...!Well, I'm told that, the Truffles are from his son's property, don't remember if in Queensland or elsewhere but, the son has a large property with all sorts of stuff growing in it so, he have plenty of wood to play with. Back to the Truffles and I don't know exactly what the name of the tree that produced these "crazy potatoes" is but, there are apparently many tree species that produce this underground buds, not easy to find, as I'm told.
The next lot I received, he brought with him on the air-plain, together with Amboyna, Cedar and 2 slices 22mm thick from a large Truffle he cut at home before he left. He had plenty of small Amboyna off-cuts so that we could used to show him how to make the Resifills unfortunately, most of what he brought couldn't be used as they were too short and with square cuts on both ends, not thick enough, etc. but, I had enough to make a full mold with 6 or 7 blanks with all variations possible on the wood bits and their placement in the mold.
He wanted to see what I could use with the Truffle slices, as it is very difficult to get a full blanks size from a whole Truffle, even if large, due to the shape so, and in my view, a great possibility to be used in conjunction with resin and transform it into Resifills (my name for this type of blanks...!).
We had a great day together, and I'm sure he learnt a thing or two, including learn how I do my CA finish that went just right with the demonstration of using the "Flap disc" to shape and size one of the blanks/Resifills we made from the Amboyna so, he got pretty much some "guidance" from the beginning to the end product and its finish..!
I took no pics on that day (I should though...!) so, the blanks I made for him (7) and the one that was finished, I have no record of them but I made some more the next day with some of the Amboyna he brought and also from the 2 slices of the Truffle buds.
Was no point in spending the time with the Truffel's while he was here, was simply not enough time, while the "principle/technique" for making these type of wood and resin blanks is the same, regardless of the wood used (well, almost...!) so, after I made the Truffle blanks I took pics to send him of how they turn out.
I should also say that, he brought in a suitcase with him on the flight, he (per person) was allowed 23kg of luggage, his was 20kg of wood and 3kg of cloths and essentials as they were going to stay for a few days with a relative living near by (30km away). It was funny when he walked in with that heavy suitcase and opened it in the work-shop where we went immediately to get to the "business"...!
When all done, was time to fill that suitcase again but this time, with my woods, which he though he knew what he wanted, that all changed when he saw what I've got, well, almost as we never went to the storage paddock, no need away, the best goodies are all at the house. That damn suitcase was not big enough, I'm sure he though of, a few times but we kept putting in and weighing at the same time, my wood was slightly lighter weight so the volume was tricky but limited by the suitcase size so, I don't know where he put the stuff that come with the wood but, wasn't much space for anything and the suitcase was just on the 21kg limit so I reckon, he had to put on a few extra pieces of clothes on him, to get through boarding, going back home...!
:biggrin:Since, he sent me a 3kg postal bag with 3 full Truffels, 1 small and 2 large ones, interestingly the small one and one large was full of holes, perfectly round about 6-7mm diameter and not deep, about 1/2" or so. None of the Truffle wood I had from him had any signs of wood borer or similar so, I though that someone has drilled shallow wholes everywhere for whatever reason so, I sent him an email asking who done the holes...? Could it be Customs thinking that they were filled with something...??? don't know...!
Oh, oh...! I reckon he knows all about it and is challenging me to see how how salvage the worm affected ones,a s he probably has plenty of them like that, well Mister...! you are on...!:wink::biggrin:
I'm yet to get a reply for him, as I reckon he went away for the holidays however, a couple of days ago I decided to process those 3 Truffles, get as many full pen blanks size possible and make a few pieces for making Resifills with. I started with one of the biggest ones, the one I couldn't see any wholes but that quickly changed when I started slicing it at 22mm thickness.
OMG, there were some large white worms and some hard shell bugs that are identical with some of the ones I have here, maybe a little shorter but the same nightmare to destroy good wood. Most were on the sapwood (closer to the Truffle skin) so, I knew that I was going for a big surprise with the other 2 with the wholes visible....!:frown:
Oh boy, every slice I made from the other 2, I cut through the damn juicy things, I cut through half a dozen or more of these creatures on every slice, with a few more ripping the slices unto 2mm square, what a nightmare...! I could have save all that "meat" and have a good supper cooked with them, they are actually eatable, Australian Aborigines are well know to use them in their diet for as long as they exist so, bigger ones are better for that purpose (which I tried once before...! hey..., I said ONCE, thank you...!).
I've got them all cut and sized, I got 1 (one) full pen blank size out of the 3 pieces, the only one that had no wholes or would give the full length and being clean, the rest are going to be Resifills but, I have a couple of ideas to try with them as most of the wholes that the "creatures" eat are full with compact sawdust and obviously some of the chemicals they segregate while eating and "pushing back" the remnants of the solid wood...!
Well, the solid wood is dense so, stabilising them in various coloured juice mixes should make the juice to penetrate a lot faster and easier through those clogged up channels, making the juice colour be a lot vivid/darker on them, compared with the rest of the wood. The ones with open wholes, will be processed the same way but, then cast in resin with either identical colour or a contrasting colour than the stabilised "channels", something to try very soon...!
I may be wrong but, with such a nice grain, I reckon these blanks I have just described the planned of action, will come up pretty porch, what do you reckon...??? Am I on to something...???
I only wish that this damn heat would go away, 44°C today...!
:rain::rain::rain::rain::rain:Cheers
George
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