Hickory

[keepanionme14]

I'm about to have my hardwood floors replaced with Hickory. I know there are going to be scraps and was wondering if anyone has used wood flooring scraps for pen making? If so, any experience with Hickory?

 

[Crashmph]

I have used lots of flooring bits to make pens in the past. I still have some pieces laying around somewhere thinking I will get to them eventually. You just need the flooring scraps pieces thick enough to work with.

 

[bjbear76]

Absolutely, they make nice pens. You can segment pieces together to achieve different patterns or make larger blanks for bottle stoppers, etc

 

[MarkD]

Hickory has been hit or miss for me. Sometimes it's real plain looking but sometimes you get one like this:

 

[designer]

When I was still in Michigan, I bought from Victor at Landfill Lumber. Reclaimed flooring. All worked out well for turning. It was convenient living near him.

 

[sbell111]

If you are doing your own floors, you will be able to pick through to find the best pieces to save for pens. The bonus is that the ones that you want for pens will probably be the ones that you wouldn't choose for your floor.

 

[low_48]

Just don't run it through a thickness planer to size it if it is prefinished. The clear finish they use these days is really abrasive to steel blades.

 

[Hendu3270]

I quit using plain straight grain wood pretty quick after starting pen turning personally, but I would think you could use it in some nice segemting and it would add a little contrast to some projects.

Typically I use Hickory when I throw some ribs on the pit or when I'm smokin' a butt.