Care package from George

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
I cannot believe that Pat got that glorious piece of wood so cheaply ... George you are out of your mind !!!!

I reckon there are over 250 5 inch long pen-sized blanks there, and an olive wood blank should fetch at least $4, so that means a total of more than $1000.00

Aussie dollars, but who cares now. . OK, so someone has to cut it into blank-sized pieces.

At that rate, you will die poor but well-loved, George !!!!
 
Last edited:
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
I cannot believe that Pat got that glorious piece of wood so cheaply ... George you are out of your mind !!!!

I reckon there are over 250 5 inch long pen-sized blanks there, and an olive wood blank should fetch at least $4, so that means a total of more than $1000.00

Aussie dollars, but who cares now. . OK, so someone has to cut it into blank-sized pieces.

At that rate, you will die poor but well-loved, George !!!!

Hold on your horses my friend, that blank (and no other) I would sell for AU$15.00 per kilo to anyone who would want it, plus shipping off-course, other blanks of that size (not that I cut many that size) would either be more or less depending on its grade and drying condition/stage. The grade would have to do with the quality of the blanks, no cracks (almost impossible with Olive wood), little cracks, large cracks and or crevasses.

The blank that I sold to Pat is grade 2, there is only one in stock that I would call grade 1 and a couple of grade 3, no cracks or defects with a good grain, would be in the "Gem" classification (my term) that others would call "Exhibition grade", if they are truthful with the grades.

Now, according to my calculations and depending upon the type of machine used to slice that blank up, using a normal thickness bandsaw blade, one would get about 110 pen blanks of 21mm square x 130mm long out of those, the amount that would have no cracks/flaws is impossible for me to say without slicing it all up but I would risk to say about 70% would be clean, what grain? that is another issue, I sell clean Olive blanks for approx AU$1.30 until very recently they were AU$1 each sold in boxes of 10

Now, the Olive "Pretty" pen blanks and the Olive burl blanks are sold in packs of 4 for AU$10.00 a pack and the Olive wood "Gems" are sold in packs of 4 blanks at AU$12.00 a pack and everything in between, these have been priced like this for some years now.

Clean and quality grain in Olive wood, results in a great percentage of waste and lower grades however and for these last 10 years, I have been providing Olive wood prices that you simply can't find anywhere and why...? because I have made a promise to myself to stop the rip-off that was the cost of buying Olive wood blanks in stores or through people claiming the wood was grown and coming from the Holy Land, I recall well regular pen blanks being sold at AU$5+ not including shipping.

Anyone that wanted Olive wood but not necessarily or required to have been grown in Holy Land, started you have the opportunity to buy it from me at a lot more fair and realistic prices, the over commercialization and propaganda associated with what we know as BOW (Bethlehem Olive Wood) was getting out of hand, when I start calling the attention to the Olive blanks buyer's here (Australia) and overseas, of the lies they have been told and explored from, with the consequent supply of thousands of blanks from Australia to anywhere, for the low price of AU$1 each + shipping, things started to change and we now are buying BOW blanks for a fraction of the price, have you asked yourself, why...?

Anyway, those that followed me from years ago know well the problem I have with the issue and how I exposed it all, I've made lots of enemies sure, but I have had many thanking me for making them aware of what was going on and the possibility to start using quality Olive blanks for the fraction of the price they were paying before.

Oh geezz, even today and after all these years, with the situation completely changed, I still get a knot in my gut, thinking/discussing it, that will not change, regardless...!

Coming back to the blank value you think it's worth, I only wish that my wood's would fetch such prices, or that I would have the audacity of charging that much but the reality is very different and even the best quality wood/burl/etc., I get, I sell them at a fair prices why, because I want to and I can...!

I doubt I would have made the value of the blank approx. AU$170 in pen blanks, unless I would cast the cracked ones but, I'm over that so, not everything is cut into pen blanks because, and as I made reference to it previously, I have a number of wood turner's that rely on me to supply the larger blanks they need and I always like to have some cut for someone with a need or a want of something larger and that is exactly the case with Pat Keefe where, he expressed to me that he always dreamed of turning a large bowl out of Olive wood and that I could help him with and after I sold him a smaller Olive blank as part of a bigger order, I decided to make this one off offer to Pat, and help him realise something that is important to him, I've lost absolutely nothing instead I feel grateful and pleased...!

I have a few more blanks of that size, grade1 and 3, similar in sizes and weights, if I recall correctly, you can have any of them for the prices I'm willing to give/quote you, please have a look at the pics attached and make the decision if you are interested.

And so that you and other folks don't start to make assumptions, for the weight of 12kg to any Overseas destinations such as USA, CANADA and UK, the only shipping option is Express Courier International (I will not use Economy shipping for such a parcel size and value) and the cost will be AU$247.00 + blank cost, and that is why...!:eek:

PS: I don't know where I put the pics of the other grade 3 blank, I have to check what I did with it...! Blank #1 is grade 3 and blank #2 is grade 1

Cheers
George
 

Attachments

  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    87.6 KB · Views: 235
  • 002.JPG
    002.JPG
    80.1 KB · Views: 239
  • 003.JPG
    003.JPG
    98.2 KB · Views: 225
  • 004.JPG
    004.JPG
    89.6 KB · Views: 210
  • 005.JPG
    005.JPG
    86 KB · Views: 231
  • 006.JPG
    006.JPG
    86.8 KB · Views: 215
  • 007.JPG
    007.JPG
    98.3 KB · Views: 229
Last edited:

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
George, thank you for the detailed discussion ... I know that I have been paying too much for Olive wood pen blanks !!! . Of course, I was not totally serious in mentioning a price of $1000.

I always read everything you write here, and I again enjoyed the read :)

I am glad that Pat has the opportunity to make a bowl and I hope he posts a picture.
 
Last edited:

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
George, thank you for the detailed discussion ... I know that I have been paying too much for Olive wood pen blanks !!! . Of course, I was not totally serious in mentioning a price of $1000.

I always read everything you write here, and I again enjoyed the read :)

I am glad that Pat has the opportunity to make a bowl and I hope he posts a picture.

Hi Pat,

I understand what you are saying and I'm OK with it however, you have to remember that, many other folks read these posts, and they will interpret it as is written and believe it and that is the very reason I decided that to clarify any possible miss-assumptions and really provided accurate and additional information on the issue.

Even for those that absolutely require true BOW for their pens with "authentic" certificates however, the blanks prices should be a lot more economic and more in parallel to other quality common woods.

Some years ago, in the vigorous discussions I was involved with, about the BOW true blanks and the so-called "Authentification Certificates" that are provided with all Olive blanks named BOW, I claimed at that time that, anyone could make or copy/print those certificates and they would mean absolutely nothing.

Well, only a few weeks ago I was on eBay and I come across a store that sells Authenticity certificates from every wood out there that come with a certificate, Bow, Whisky, rare woods and anything you may thing off, they sell then all by the dozen, I couldn't believe my eyes...!:eek:

Seriously mate, if you really want a decent size Olive wood blank, just let me know as I will see what I can do...!

Cheers
George
 
Last edited:

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Wow, well done..!

What size round did you endup with..?? 27 sierra blanks out of the off-cuts seems a lot to me..!:eek:

You are making good use of it and that is what matters..!:biggrin:

Cheers
George
 

Pat Keefe

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2016
Messages
95
Location
Towradgi Australia
Hello George, I ended up with a 280mm rough blank and cored it for a 240mm second blank. Now to wait another year or so, before it dries.
 

Attachments

  • Olive Burl Bowl Blank 01.jpg
    Olive Burl Bowl Blank 01.jpg
    206.3 KB · Views: 207
  • Olive Burl Bowl Blank 02.jpg
    Olive Burl Bowl Blank 02.jpg
    183.4 KB · Views: 234

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Hello George, I ended up with a 280mm rough blank and cored it for a 240mm second blank. Now to wait another year or so, before it dries.

Looks good mate, looks good...!

Now, don't wait until the wood shows 4 or 5% moisture content, you ain't going to get that unless you wait a good 30 years, the natural oils in it will keep the wood well above 10%MC after dry, is just the nature of the wood and if I was you, because you are in Australia and you can get easily any of the products I use, go to any Mitre 10 store and look for a product that Feast & Watson makes that was called "Fungishield" but is now called I thing, wood primer Timber Primer | Wood Preserver, For Priming New Timber

You have 2 options, you either use it to soak all the wood from the rough turned piece, I mean, soak it in an out at least 4 times letting it dry overnight in between coats, that prevents the wood from cracking and warping too much, you can soak it until the wood takes no more, let it dry for a couple of months and finish it or, you turn it down to final size and shape, sand it up to 240 grit and then soak the living life out of it until it soaks no more.

Let it dry for a few weeks after then you can remount it and finish it by sanding to finer grits 400 is normally enough. At this point, you need to make a decision on what type of finish you want on it, if gloss you need to use whatever you normally use for that type finish but, if you want it satin, because the wood have been saturated in the treatment stuff, is like being stabilised, you can finish the wood simply by polishing, it comes out beautiful.

You have options and you don't have to wait that long, the wood was 19%MC when left here, now that you reduced the size and cored it, the wood will very quickly reach your ambient MC and it should read about 12% or so, that for this wood, is considered dry...!

PS: Use that Fungishield for any green turnings you make, as soon as it comes out of the lathe, start soaking it, a brush and a drip tray is all you need however, any liquid that runs out of the wood, do not put it back in the original container, it will contaminate and it will start to dry/set in the can, this applies to most products I know so, when you get to the last coat and you still have some liquid in the tray, put it in a separate container and use it within 3 months, better that way.

Cheers
George
 
Top Bottom