Mr. Anonymous Game #23 @ 18/04/2015

[Skewer]

Thanks George, Thanks Mr. A! Nice to be able to follow along your find and to get the sense of discovery - the videos were a nice touch, it was a fun game.

 

[robutacion]

Well folks, interestingly there is still one prize outstanding that I forgot and no one made any mention of, if you look of my post #25, you that, I have clearly indicated to question that would win the prize, it slipped away, no one noticed and if someone did, it should have said something, it would be very OK...!:biggrin:

So, the question was;

*- The best description of what the wood inside will look like, in colour, density and grain...?

Who got the closest that haven't already won some blanks...???

Lets see...!

1080Wayne did with this, "Very dark red, very tight grain, chatoyant, no obvious spalt, maybe some lighter mineral staining ."

Congrats mate, you manage to squeeze in on the prizes and, what is fair is fair...!:wink::biggrin:

Someone once said to me, "son, better late than never...!":biggrin:

Wow, what a rush..!

Cheers
George

 

[Krash]

... no one noticed and if someone did, it should have said something, it would be very OK...!:biggrin:

So, the question was;

*- The best description of what the wood inside will look like, in colour, density and grain...?

Who got the closest that haven't already won some blanks...???

George

I did notice that and was hoping my description was close.

OK, I'll go a different route.

I think it will be a lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights.

I saw your first picture and thought I might be in the running ...

Kinda looks lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights, right? Then you went and waxed it and turned it all dark on me. Huumm, maybe I should have assumed you'd put a finish on it! Oh well .... next time!

 

[1080Wayne]

Thank you George . I almost feel bad about that one , because I remember you mentioning the rot resistance of the red gum more than once . I also have a piece that I got from you several years ago that has what I would call white rot in half of it but no typical spalting at all , so I was fairly confident in that answer . And please believe me , it would not have mattered at all if that question had been totally forgotten . I get paid with the fun that I have learning from you and , occasionally , teasing you .

The last question was the most interesting to me . After your summer season comment I was pretty certain that it had to be a mosquito repellant , but I couldn`t think of anything but Deet , which most of us in N America grew up with or diesel fuel , which was occasionally used by bachelor farmers .

Deet was developed by the US army as a result of a pickle or two that they got into in S E Asia , so I find it quite ironic that the easiest solution to the mosquito problems they encountered could have been found in their pickle jars .

Having hosted my first mosquito of the season two days ago , do you happen to know if it is only 7% white pickling vinegar that works , or is the 5% apple cider stuff also okay ? I guess I should do my own experiments . Canadian mosquitos may be more willing to eat a pickle than Australian ones !

My thanks again to you George and to Mr Anonymous for an enjoyable interlude . I will look forward to receiving the blanks , but if they are at the 30% moisture that you estimated , they will take some time to get to the less than 6% that I need for pens that won`t crack .

 

[robutacion]

... no one noticed and if someone did, it should have said something, it would be very OK...!:biggrin:

So, the question was;

*- The best description of what the wood inside will look like, in colour, density and grain...?

Who got the closest that haven't already won some blanks...???

George

I did notice that and was hoping my description was close.

OK, I'll go a different route.

I think it will be a lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights.

I saw your first picture and thought I might be in the running ...

Kinda looks lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights, right? Then you went and waxed it and turned it all dark on me. Huumm, maybe I should have assumed you'd put a finish on it! Oh well .... next time!

Kelly,

Sorry for my delayed reply...!

I haven't read you last comment until just now and, I believe you are correct in being disappointed that I didn't include you on the list of winners for these "special" blanks, you are also correct that, I did not stipulated if the closest match was raw or coated wood and in my mind, Colonial Red Gum is dark as hell but, only after wet or coated with anything so, you guess should have been considered also, my apologies...!:redface:

You said,

"OK, I'll go a different route.

I think it will be a lighter reddish colour with wavy grain and some darker highlights."

Not so much, the lighter reddish, Colonial Red Gum I ever seen is quite identical in colour when dry/uncoated, I can not say the same for the wavy and darker highlights. There was a particular detail that I haven't noticed when I waxed the few shorts I had but today, I got quite a surprise when I turned/made samples of 4 of these blanks.

I decided to try to reduce the amount or darkness the wood get when coated by, doing the same thing as I did with some of my Cork wood that as the Colonial Red Gum, it darken too much when coated or wetted so, I stabilised with yellow dye, 1 straight and 1 cross cut blanks.

Today, I selected the same cut types blanks but, raw/uncoated and finished them as always with the CA finish (not too many coats, 4 or 5) and the surprise was when I say the dark highlights showing considerably more than I ever saw before.

The darkest of them all when coated, was the "cured under water Colonial Red Gum wood" the darkness was universal and consistent throughout the entire wood while in this root wood, it show considerable differences that, I really didn't noticed until I turned these samples.

I haven't taken any pics tonight because was already too dark when I finish them, tomorrow I will show then to you all and those more familiar with this wood as obviously Kelly is, will see what I mean.

There was no great difference in colour between the stabilized with yellow dye and the uncoated ones, after the CA finished was applied however, the stabilization has harden the wood uniformly and if a way, less prone to have some softer spots, as I noticed on the second raw blank I done.

There are not a lot of these softer spots, I throw way the very soft stuff however, one has to remember that, this wood is extremely old and have been in a humid environment for a long time, if this wood was one of those that spalts easily, most of it would be spalted but, and the same way, one has to accept that, the wood has affected from some mineralisation that, was cause the wood to become soft in some areas and created all the dark spots that appear, all over the wood.

So, stabilization is not absolutely necessary, nor even close but, there will be the possibility that a few blanks will have some small spots that may be softer, those would be hard to see from a generic look but, visible if a very closer look is attempted. I would say 95% have no small soft spots and, if you see one, you will get it resolved but soaking that spot with thin CA...!

So Kelly, you indeed deserve to be included in the winners group, your darker spots was unbelievably, spot on...!:wink::biggrin:

Therefore, I will correct the winners list and will invite you to Paypal me the shipping costs as per everyone else...!

Once again, my apologies mate, was not intentional...!

Pics coming tomorrow (actually today, is after midnight...)

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Thank you George . I almost feel bad about that one , because I remember you mentioning the rot resistance of the red gum more than once . I also have a piece that I got from you several years ago that has what I would call white rot in half of it but no typical spalting at all , so I was fairly confident in that answer . And please believe me , it would not have mattered at all if that question had been totally forgotten . I get paid with the fun that I have learning from you and , occasionally , teasing you .

The last question was the most interesting to me . After your summer season comment I was pretty certain that it had to be a mosquito repellant , but I couldn`t think of anything but Deet , which most of us in N America grew up with or diesel fuel , which was occasionally used by bachelor farmers .

Deet was developed by the US army as a result of a pickle or two that they got into in S E Asia , so I find it quite ironic that the easiest solution to the mosquito problems they encountered could have been found in their pickle jars .

Having hosted my first mosquito of the season two days ago , do you happen to know if it is only 7% white pickling vinegar that works , or is the 5% apple cider stuff also okay ? I guess I should do my own experiments . Canadian mosquitos may be more willing to eat a pickle than Australian ones !

My thanks again to you George and to Mr Anonymous for an enjoyable interlude . I will look forward to receiving the blanks , but if they are at the 30% moisture that you estimated , they will take some time to get to the less than 6% that I need for pens that won`t crack .

Hi Wayne,

You're welcome, I'm glad that I spotted my mistake and was able to fix it so easily.

The cheapest of all vinegars here in Australia is the white vinegar and it can be mixed with many other things, including diesel but, it stinks too much for my likings while I like vinegar, the smell and taste. I know of some people here that mix it with citronella oil, this mix is probably one of the best you can use and costs very little if you put it in a spray bottle of some nature...!

As for the moisture in that chunk of wood, most was surface soaking from the rain (1" or so) the wood did had some moisture in it but, and since the pieces were opened up, particularly the 2 pieces that I sliced into 22mm thick boards within 24 hours of making the pen blanks, the MC% content was only 17%, I know because I measured it to know how long I need to keep those 2 blanks I wanted to stabilized, in the oven, 2 hours later, was all over...!

There is here some extra moisture from the rain we have been having these last few days but, by the time the wood is packed and travel to its destiny, the only thing it will need is to be left alone for a couple of weeks in a ventilated location or, if anyone wants to turn some blanks straight away, they can but, I would suggest at least 1 hour in the oven at 70° Celsius...!

The wood is everything but GREEN...!:wink:

Cheers
George

 

[Krash]

So Kelly, you indeed deserve to be included in the winners group, your darker spots was unbelievably, spot on...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

A TOTAL WAG! :hypnotized::biggrin:

Thanks George! I appreciate it sooo much!

 

[robutacion]

The game is not over, yet...!

OK so, here are the pics of the samples I made yesterday...!

I identified each cut type and stabilized or raw with letters, A, B, C, D, some are just close up shots.

Now, there is one short sample (B) that was really poorly done, I did not sand enough with the 120 and 240 grits, after the 36 grit flap disc and I never checked it before applying the CA, the lathe was never turned off from beginning to end, something that I wouldn't do, if I was making a pen or, wanted to give the sample the same finish as I normally put on pens. The purpose of the samples was more to see if the stabilized wood, using the yellow dye would darken less than any other finish.

This brings me to the second part of this post, the samples A and B are the same type cut, blanks C and D are a different cut, on each cut, there is one raw and one stabilized blank, and for a chance to win 12 of these blanks, I need someone that, has not yet been awarded with a prize on this game, only...!

Winners please, kindly shut it...!:wink::biggrin:

Please, identify as per above explanation;


*- Blank A _______________

*- Blank B _______________

*- Blank C _______________

*- Blank D _______________


Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

Shut it ??? Oh George , this is the first time we have ever seen stress cracks in wood that were caused by dynamite !!

 

[robutacion]

Shut it ??? Oh George , this is the first time we have ever seen stress cracks in wood that were caused by dynamite !!

Hahahahah, ok, I made it a little less "dramatic" by adding "Kindly"...!:biggrin:

Stress cracks from dynamite, where...???

If you want to see stress cracks from dynamite, I can show you some...!:wink:

So, no one seems to want to play this game...??? what's up folks, no one else here want to get a dozen of these blanks...??? seriously...???:biggrin:

Hahahah. more for me...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

Shut it ??? Oh George , this is the first time we have ever seen stress cracks in wood that were caused by dynamite !!

Hahahahah, ok, I made it a little less "dramatic" by adding "Kindly"...!:biggrin:

Stress cracks from dynamite, where...???

If you want to see stress cracks from dynamite, I can show you some...!:wink:

So, no one seems to want to play this game...??? what's up folks, no one else here want to get a dozen of these blanks...??? seriously...???:biggrin:

Hahahah. more for me...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

I was being semi-serious George . The stress imposed upon the wood cells by the blast would range from extreme to almost none depending on the tree root structure and its location relative to the blast point . Much of the stress would be compressive . The blotchy dark areas could be ones that suffered that kind of damage and were then preferentially mineralized afterwards .

The horizontal lines in Sample B also look like a damage site .

 

[lyonsacc]

A - crosscut
B - crosscut stabilized
C- straight cut stabilized
D - straight cut

 

[southernclay]

A - crosscut
B - crosscut stabilized
C- straight cut
D - straight cut stabilized

 

[Krash]

*- Blank A - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank B - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank C - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank D - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

:biggrin::wink:

I hope I didn't give it away! :biggrin:

 

[wyone]

I think you are wrong about block c

 

[robutacion]

*- Blank A - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank B - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank C - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

*- Blank D - lighter reddish color with wavy grain and some darker highlights

:biggrin::wink:

I hope I didn't give it away! :biggrin:

Geezzzz mate...! you just made it too easy for everyone, huh...???:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[Krash]

huumm ... kinda looks like those non-winners need to read the instructions a little better!

... the samples A and B are the same type cut, blanks C and D are a different cut, on each cut, there is one raw and one stabilized blank ...

Cheers
George

Edit: Or maybe I need to read it better! George's sentence can be read two ways. Now that I read it again, maybe there are only two cuts (A/B and C/D) with one raw and one stabilized in each pair.

 

[lyonsacc]

I think I see a difference . . . maybe


A - crosscut
B - crosscut stabilized
C- straight cut stabilized
D - diagonal cut

 

[Edgar]

huumm ... kinda looks like those non-winners need to read the instructions a little better!

... the samples A and B are the same type cut, blanks C and D are a different cut, on each cut, there is one raw and one stabilized blank ...

Cheers
George

Edit: Or maybe I need to read it better! George's sentence can be read two ways. Now that I read it again, maybe there are only two cuts (A/B and C/D) with one raw and one stabilized in each pair.

Well, now I'm confused too.
I read it to mean that A/B are one type of cut and C/D are another type of cut, with only 2 types of cuts involved in these 4 blanks.
What do I know though - maybe each one was cut differently.

 

[wyone]

I think they are all cut square

 

[robutacion]

huumm ... kinda looks like those non-winners need to read the instructions a little better!

... the samples A and B are the same type cut, blanks C and D are a different cut, on each cut, there is one raw and one stabilized blank ...

Cheers
George

Edit: Or maybe I need to read it better! George's sentence can be read two ways. Now that I read it again, maybe there are only two cuts (A/B and C/D) with one raw and one stabilized in each pair.

Yes Kelly, you've got it...!:wink:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

And this is the end of this game...!

Hi folks...!

Interestingly, no one got it right, the first blank of each group was the stabilized one and the 2 cuts were, cross cut for A & B and straight cut for C & D...!

So, how am I going to resolve this...???

Well, there were only 2 members that have posted guesses and that haven't been awarded with these blanks before so, is better to get them both a prize, huh..??? Yeah, I think so...!

Congrats lyonsacc and southernclay, your names will go also to the winners list...!

I have started cutting some more blanks today, the winners numbers increased daily and I had to use some of the shorts I had cut in the first batch to get all the 6 envelops done yesterday, they were posted today. :wink:
I cut another 2 chunks of the 6 left so, that makes half of the whole treasure processed..!

Now that I will have a few extra done, I may list some on my web-store..!

Thank everyone, this was a long one but fun...!:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[lyonsacc]

I guess close is good enough!! Thanks George!!

 

[southernclay]

I guess close is good enough!! Thanks George!!

Works for me! Thanks George!! Paypal and PM sent

 

[1080Wayne]

So the yellow dye had no effect upon the blanks . I suppose that isn`t too surprising , given the darkness of the wood .

 

[Edgar]

I received 12 beautiful, dark red Dynamite-blasted, Buried for Many Years, Ancient (aka Colonial) Australian Red Gum pen blanks in the mail today.

Thanks again George & Mr. A.
These are really nice!

Edgar

 

[Krash]

I received 12 beautiful, dark red Dynamite-blasted, Buried for Many Years, Ancient (aka Colonial) Australian Red Gum pen blanks in the mail today.

Thanks again George & Mr. A.
These are really nice!

Edgar

I got mine Monday! Sweet looking blanks. Can't wait to get em on a pen!

Thanks George and Mr. A!

 

[robutacion]

So the yellow dye had no effect upon the blanks . I suppose that isn`t too surprising , given the darkness of the wood .

Yes, I couldn't see any difference in colour but, I could see the difference in the way the stabilized blanks worked...!

I can see also that, some of you folks are starting to receive the last lot of blanks I posted, I hope everybody gets theirs and that wyone gets also his large round bowl blank...!

Cheers
George

 

[wyone]

I received my pen blanks yesterday. they are AWESOME.. turn like butter.. I tried to take a pic.. but my phone camera sucks... does not do the pen blank justice...

 

[robutacion]

I received my pen blanks yesterday. they are AWESOME.. turn like butter.. I tried to take a pic.. but my phone camera sucks... does not do the pen blank justice...

Geezz mate, you wasted no time didn't you...??:wink:

Is never an easy job to show the dark grains in that wood, through a camera lens but, they are there...!

No round blank, yet..??? it was sent at the same time as the pen blanks...!

Cheers
George

 

[Skewer]

Got my box yesterday...Thanks! Can't wait to get them on the lathe!

 

[wyone]

George.. no round blank yet.. But I am confident it will show up. I am amazed at how well the blank turned... and yes.. I HAD to try turning one today.. Love the wood.. thank you again.. very much!

 

[Skewer]

I MIGHT be able to wait a little longer than Wyone, though.

 

[wyone]

in all fairness.. it has been downpouring here.. so work was at a standstill..

 

[Chromey]

Will be a tight grain pattern, dark, with some dark red lines, could be highly figured

 

[robutacion]

Will be a tight grain pattern, dark, with some dark red lines, could be highly figured

G'day mate,

Thank you for you guess/answer but, this game has ended some days ago, the traffic/posts you see being added recently, are from the various winners (8) that have started to received their prizes/blanks...!

You will be most welcome to try next time...!

Cheers
George

 

[Sprung]

Got my blanks yesterday - thank you very much, George! Already setting aside one or two of these for the next batch of blanks that become pens!

 

[wyone]

WOW George.. you way outdid yourself. The bowl blank arrived today and I am thrilled to death!! I cannot thank you enough! I need to practice on a few other blanks before I take this one on. It looks amazing! Thank you so very much!

 

[robutacion]

WOW George.. you way outdid yourself. The bowl blank arrived today and I am thrilled to death!! I cannot thank you enough! I need to practice on a few other blanks before I take this one on. It looks amazing! Thank you so very much!

Glad to know that, you have received that blank, I was worried..!

Well mate, you wanted a decent blank, I gave you one now, is all up to you to play with it and have some fun, after all, is only a piece of woods, huh...???:wink:

However, I think that, it would be important to mention that, the shipping costs alone, is something that, would put many of you completely off, at about AU$120, in my most economical option so, I believe this is important to share and make everyone aware that, is never going to be cheap, even when the wood is given away...!

Well, I had made a promise to Mitch of giving him a good chunk blank of my #9 Colonial Red Gum butt/root, as shown in here, and that, was made good and confirmed today, thanks Mitch...!:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[wyone]

The shipping is expensive, but the bowl blank is worth way more than that to me. Partially because of the beauty of it, and partially because of the story behind where you got it and partially because it was hand picked for me by someone I consider to be a mentor.

I am very grateful. Thanks is not enough.