"Georgenised" blank/wood, what is it...???

[robutacion]

So, last week in conversation with an IAP member that also buys pen blanks from me, I was telling "him" that I had a test to do with some wood I got that was looking a little too sad and not very pretty even though had a good "pedigree/bloodline" sort of speak.

This friend answered back saying that he would wait anxiously for those blanks to be "georgenised" before he would order some. I really felt that, this term is a very accurate term for most of the work I do, a great word in my books, I have to start using it from now on, thanks mate...!

Those blanks are done and last night I turned one as a sample to see if I have gave them some life...!

What do you reckon...???

Any idea to what it is, and what was done to it...???

Enjoy,

PS: All pics are from the same blank.

Cheers
George

 

[glenspens]

Not a clue George, but they are sweet....

 

[Edward Cypher]

Casted burl of some type. Love the blue and white swirl!! Nice job George.

 

[gimpy]

Box elder burl, doubled cactus juiced using alumilite dyes

that's my final answer :redface::redface:

 

[tgsean]

I should take responsibility for the word Georgenised! I think its Sky Blue PR Resin mixed in with burl and then something else....... Like the white swirl effect

 

[Mike Powell]

What ever it is, you did it right. Those are great.

 

[philb]

Looks like some PNG Amboyna that's been blue dipped/dyed!

 

[alankulwicki7]

It's a piece of wood with some stuff added to it...

 

[JohnU]

Looks like amboyna or some other very nice burl where the sap wood took a nice blue dye or stabilizing and didn't penetrate the heart wood. It also Looks Great George! As always, Very nice work.

 

[robutacion]

It's a piece of wood with some stuff added to it...

Absolutely...! I couldn't agree more...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Well, I can say what I did to them to make them look like this, I don't mind to share how I do things, it served me well so far, as I'm not of a greedy nature and I'm not a business, I'm a busy hobbyist, as a business I would have to keep all the secrets for obvious reasons so, aren't you all lucky that I'm only a hobbyist...???:wink::biggrin:

The second step is where the final results depend upon so, the first step is to make sure the blanks are perfectly dry and free of any moisture (there is a big difference between these two) so, they are cooked/dried in an oven for 3 hours minimum at 70°Celsius.

The wood is of oily nature so, as soon as they are cooked and while hot (be very careful here, use a well ventilated location and avoid the vapours while doing this...!) as you will be using acetone. Have a container with some wire mash at the container's bottom, add the blanks and put another raw of wire mesh with some weight to avoid "floatation".

Add some acetone, counting for "soaking" to be sufficient to allow the hot wood to soak it completely so, the wood has to be fully submersed in acetone for a few hours until the wood reaches saturation point.

At this point, the oil in the wood will start braking down and will start moving to the bottom of the blank/container, this is why the wire mesh is important, it only needs a couple of millimetres thickness to keep the oils residue to stay away from the wood . At this point is important that you don't allow that oil concentration to dry in the bottom of the blanks surface so, you have to keep an eye to not allow the wood to be exposed without acetone.

When they are ready to come out, have some full news paper ready to lay them on and keep them in the shade to dry. Make sure you will not produce any open flame while you doing all this...!

The news papers will soak the acetone faster and will absorb any oil residue that drains out of the wood. When fully dry, the blanks are then stabilised with Cactus Juice and some/lots of blue illuminate dye, at full vacuum until no bubbles are seen (it will take hours).

Leave the blanks in the solution for a few hours after you remove the chamber lid. Drain well, rap with foil and cook for 90 minutes at 90° Celsius and if everything went to plan, the results are as per the sample shown...!

And yes, the wood used were the PNG Rosewood Burl pen blanks that I cut and that were almost if not all, all white sapwood burl, just worth the effort on such quality burled Rosewood otherwise, the poor guys didn't have much going for them, in my view...!

PS: I just can see some of you saying...! "Hummmm, so that's what he done, I have to try that...!"

Cheers
George

 

[Cmiles1985]

That's a beautiful blank!

 

[Dinki Di]

A great new word from tgsean Georgenised.

New word for the Oxford dictionary Georgenised = Pen blanks manufactured and tested to the highest world standards by a very generous person who shares his immense knowledge with fellow woodies.

Great work Mate

Gaetano

 

[robutacion]

A great new word from tgsean Georgenised.

New word for the Oxford dictionary Georgenised = Pen blanks manufactured and tested to the highest world standards by a very generous person who shares his immense knowledge with fellow woodies.

Great work Mate

Gaetano

Thanks mate,

I'm glad that you agree with the new word, suits me to the ground, really, thanks Sean...!:wink::biggrin:

As for sharing the knowledge, I had some great masters showing me some of the ropes, other ropes I figured them out myself, I'm still learning, and I always be, till the day I die, is my choice to not take what I've learn to to grave, the more I can share, the happier I will be, that's just the nature of my modesty, I wouldn't have it in any other way...!

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

PNG Rosewood soapwood burl in Resifills, done...!

Well, continuing with the work on the PNG Rosewood sapwood burl, I just finish a few of the blanks/pieces I stabilized blue but were casting stuff due to its shape. I finish them this afternoon by spraying them with a good gloss varnish I purchase ($100 for 1 gallon), the pics attached were taken just after they were finished both sides.

Not the right weather to spray, high humidity, rain and strong wind gusts and while my very well know spraying racks have received some interesting "words" from some of our members, today it proved to a bad idea, with these strong winds, I had had them before, many times without causing any problems to this "special" trapezial rack however, about 1 hour after I got these blanks varnished, the wind blown them all to the ground, that is full a sand and all other rubbish that the winds blow into it, such as tree leafs and anything that the wind can carry, not counting the amount of sawdust and other stuff, common on the dirt floor of a work-shop

I was not impressed, that varnish takes 5 hours to dry in a normal dry day, the varnish is thick and stays sticky for hours but when dries, is a great product. Lots of acetone and half roll of paper towels later, I had then wiped clean, with the help of my lovely wife, that come to investigate the reason I was using some "strong" language that could be heard on the other end of town, oh... I was seriously pissed-off...!

Anyway, about 1 hour to clean them out and then re-spray the whole lot again, finish just on dark...!

They should be secure from falling this time but, the first job I will do as soon as I get all the finished blanks out of that area, is to do, what I was suppose to have done, long ago, build a solid frame where the boards and the spray racks can go to, and never be blown by the wind, leaning on, touching, etc., etc., ever again. I have had a few too many close calls but this one do it for me...!:frown:

Anyway, these Resifills and the stabilized blue are all done, they are all I had from processing that last PNG Rosewood burl, I'm expecting some more very soon but, I'm not sure if I will have much of the sapwood burl to play with, will see...!

These will be available for sale, very soon...!:wink:

Enjoy,

Cheers
George