What wood looks good with Black Titanium?

[dweir]

To all you "experienced turners"... What woods look really good with black titanium kits. I have a customer that wants a Euro with blk Ti with purpleheart. I think lighter woods like maple and such look better with the darker kit (blk ti and blk enamel). To me, purpleheart looks better with TiGold or Chrome. This is going to be a 150 buck order. I am thinking of making one in TiGold and One in Blk Ti and letting her pick. Personally, I hate purpleheart. Any tricks to keeping the brilliant purple color? Also, Know of any good people around here that do Laser Engraving for a decent price? It will be the box, and not the pen/pencil set. This is going to be a law school grad present. I am also going to turn a fountain. Looking at the Baron from CSUSA or AZ.

Any tips?

Thanks folks,
You are an invaluable resource.....

Dave

 

[THarvey]

BOW looks good with the black TI.

 

[PenWorks]

Black Palm & Black Ti

 

[dweir]

Sorry, Kind of stupid, what is BOW? Ironwood?

Still Learning,
Dave

 

[sbell111]

Originally posted by dweir

Sorry, Kind of stupid, what is BOW? Ironwood?

Still Learning,
Dave

Bethlehem Olive Wood (which looks pretty much like any olive wood, but comes from Bethlehem so it costs more and you can get more for it, if you tell the story.)

In my opinion, the wood that looks best with a certain kit or finish is the kind that the customer wants. If they told you what they want, make it with that. Personally, for black Ti, I like materials that aren't black like ebony, but have some black in them like spalted woods or PR with a black 'ribbon'.

 

[dweir]

Thanks,
I am going to make what the customer wants. I am going to find some good Purpleheart and go from there. I like Olivewood, but I heard that some suppliers really suck at customer support.

Thanks Again,
Dave

 

[mrcook4570]

I have used blk ti with many different woods and acrylics and have yet to find one that I didn't like. One of my favorite blk ti combinations is Irish bog oak.

Purpleheart also looks very nice in blk ti.

Blk ti provides class without the bling.

 

[alamocdc]

I'm not sure I've seen a wood that doesn't look good with Blk Ti.

 

[dweir]

Thanks.. I am going to try some tiger/quilted maple and some other woods (BOW and Amboyna) to see how they would look. Got some folks that are waiting to spend $$$ for my crappy work Most don't have a clue what is involved in making a basic pen.

Thanks for all your input/suggestions/help and criticism.....
Dave.
jr.turner, but trying to be in the big leagues... from the photos I have seen in the gallery, I have a lot to work on.....

Dave

 

[Brewmeister35]

I love the look of Buckeye on Blk Ti. It's just outright sexy[8D]

 

[edstreet]

no question about it, amboyna burl.

 

[hughbie]

i LOVE black Ti. to me it just looks more elegant. i've not found a wood that DOESN'T look good with it. IMHO

 

[turned_for_good]

If I had to choose it would be black ash burl, but for the most part almost any wood looks good with Black Ti.

 

[GBusardo]

Originally posted by PenWorks

Black Palm & Black Ti

I second that, also red palm, but thay can be a little trouble to turn.
If a customer wants Purple heart though, give em purpleheart!!

 

[rherrell]

Purpleheart would be my first choice also.

 

[Paul Downes]

I saved out a piece of white oak that dulled the crap out of my chain saw chain. Had a real nice grey colour with an iron nail in the middle.. I was thinking the other day that it's just about the same shade as black Ti.

 

[workinforwood]

White top burl is perfect, the rest of you just don't know..especially the men in the crowd. <so my wife tells me>

I'm curious though..you say you like olivewood, but some suppliers don't have good customer support. what is the support you are looking for? As long as it shows up and is what it is supposed to be, isn't that good enough? There's a few people here that can hook you up too, and some offer money back guarantee. Most suppliers will back that type of guarantee anyways as long as you eat the shipping. If you can't find the wood you need in this forum, just ask, and we'll all surely jump in with alternative suppliers that have met our approval many times over.

 

[Dario]

As mentioned, almost anything looks good on Blk Ti.

That said, my preference is anything that has a dark line/streak to it which ties the kit and the blank.

If you find burls with almost black lines on it...it sure will work great (at least in my eyes).

 

[wendell]

I like mesquite personally. One of the first pens I made was a mesquite with Black Ti European pen. The craftsman on that first pen left a lot to be desired but I like the wood and hardware combination.

Wendell

 

[fafow]

I usually end up using the black ti with the darker woods (bloodwood, east indian rosewood, ebony, etc). I usually use the gold ti for olivewood. I like the kit to enhance the wood. I want the wood to be the primary focus, not the kit. I usually have my wife help in deciding many of the matches between wood and kit since she is very artistic and I do not have the ability to match colors very well. That being said, the black ti always brings with it a certain amount of elegance or executive look to a pen.

 

[JimBobTucson]

One of the more stunning pens I did was a Black/Gold Ti Sierra with Pink Ivory. This single pen has commissioned a ton of work.

 

[dweir]

What I meant about poor customer support was I heard on one of these here topics that one supplier takes 2 months to ship, won't answer emails, etc. I found one on Ebay that has good feedback and ships pretty quick. I have bought some other woods from ebay (some nice BLMB and Amboyna). Price was reasonable and it had been stabilized. I am looking forward to bl ti on some amboyna. Boy, that is one beautiful wood!

 

[ssajn]

Originally posted by dweir

To all you "experienced turners"... What woods look really good with black titanium kits. I have a customer that wants a Euro with blk Ti with purpleheart. I think lighter woods like maple and such look better with the darker kit (blk ti and blk enamel). To me, purpleheart looks better with TiGold or Chrome. This is going to be a 150 buck order. I am thinking of making one in TiGold and One in Blk Ti and letting her pick. Personally, I hate purpleheart. Any tricks to keeping the brilliant purple color? Also, Know of any good people around here that do Laser Engraving for a decent price? It will be the box, and not the pen/pencil set. This is going to be a law school grad present. I am also going to turn a fountain. Looking at the Baron from CSUSA or AZ.

Any tips?

Thanks folks,
You are an invaluable resource.....

Dave
I've found that purpleheart will lose it's color and turn a shade of brown when cut or turned. After working with purpleheard let it sit in the sun and oxidize until it gets it's purple color back, then put a finish on it.

 

[gerryr]

Don't buy wood on eBay. You will get better wood at better prices from people right here, like Nolan, ElMostro, ESoto and others too numerous to mention.

I like Black and White Ebony, also called Asian Ebony, I think, with black ti kits.

 

[btboone]

I would like some bocote with nice yellow and black stripes. That would be a good look.

 

[rcarman]

Bloody Basin Jasper truestone is awesome with black Ti

 

[dweir]

Thanks for the tips, esp on Ebay. I have bought some good blanks from ebay, i am just cautious. Now that I have found this board, I will purchase from here if I can.

I do have some Bocote, looks good with chrome and ti gold, hmm, I will try a slim with it and blk Ti. I found it looks really good with Zebrawood.

I saw/heard somewhere that when you turn purpleheart and spray it with Armorall, before you seal it with CA and finish it, it will bring out the deep purple color. I am gonna try it and post my results in the finishing topic.

Dave

 

[RussFairfield]

It's a metter of personal preference; and there are only 2 choices - Everything or Nothing.

If you like black pen fittings, then everything from Holly to Ebony will make a nice pen. If you don't like black fittings, there is nothing that will make them acceptable on a pen. I am in the "nothing" group. Apparently your customer is in the group who says "everything".

 

[JohnU]

Like some have said above. What doesnt look good with Black Ti. I could personally use it on all of my personal pens. I like it on Osage Orange, Curly figured Maple, Amboyna, Cocobolo, zebra...geez its all good!

As for the Beth Olive Wood, I just bought some from Woodturningz last month on sale and had it in 4 days and completely satisfied! those guys will take care of you fast. I have also bought wood on ebay, mostly large turning blocks that I cut up for pens but after reading back posts, I am very interested and looking forward to checking in with Nolan on my next order!