Skie_M
Member
Yup ... not pens, just blanks I've turned round and pre-finished so that people can have a look at how the wood looks once turned, and get an idea of how the finished pen could look.
I dunno how many people have an opportunity to turn these woods, but it can't hurt somebody's marketing out there to have someone show off some really pretty examples of their stock, so here we go ...
First up is some kind of burl ... I'm going to guess it's Buckeye Burl, and that it was dyed a very dark color ... perhaps even black. It was a very short blank, only about 2.5" long, and I got it in a PITH exchange from Wyone... (It's the shorter one on the right ... perhaps it was dyed a very dark silver?)
Well ... as I mentioned, it was dyed a very DARK color. Once the finish was applied (BLO + CA) it looked quite black. I'll have to look at it again under bright sunlight, but the sky is overcast today. Here's what it looks like now:
Next up, I went and got a turning spindle from WoodTurningz of Curly Mango. This stuff looked interesting on their website, with a hint of chatoyance, which I happen to like a lot, so I got it. They didn't have ANY of the smaller sizes available, so I ended up buying their 3x3x12 turning spindle and cut it down for pen blanks (left 6 inches of it full size, cut 7 pen blanks off two sides and kept a 2.25" square x 6" spindle as well), and turned just one blank to see what it'll look like. I found that it's got an open grain, similar to oak and mahogany, needing to be filled/sealed for a proper glassy smooth surface, unless you're into leaving the wood grain exposed for the texture. Now, with this stuff it'll just be 1 pic each, as I have extra blanks to give you guys a before and after look:
If it weren't for the fact that it's got no "eyes" in the wood grain, I'ld easily mistake this stuff for Red Oak!
And finally, for this post, another selection I picked up from WoodTurningz in large size spindle, a 2x2x12 Curly Eucalyptus. Again, I cut this down to pen blank size, keeping a 6-inch length of it full sized for other possible projects. I'm quite impressed with this particular wood species, as it's got a lot of chatoyance and was quite close-grained and easy to turn. I may have to do another video on this particular blank ... the color shifts are just gorgeous!
All the wood I got from WoodTurningz (I bought 5 different spindles, including Holly, Red Mallee Burl, and Curly Pyinma) showed up here with sealed wax ends or totally covered in wax (red mallee was totally coated all round) and all 6% moisture content or less (meter wouldn't even give me a reading on the mango and eucalyptus ... they're both totally bone dry!). All in all, I'm impressed with the quality of the wood as well as the price I got, from them. I just wish I didn't have to shell out 32 bucks for the mango, as all they had available was their largest size, but that's OK ... I have uses for it! :biggrin:
Next up, I may see how some of these mutt blanks turn out that I got from Brian G .... There's a green one in here my sister is just waiting to steal.... :devil:
I dunno how many people have an opportunity to turn these woods, but it can't hurt somebody's marketing out there to have someone show off some really pretty examples of their stock, so here we go ...
First up is some kind of burl ... I'm going to guess it's Buckeye Burl, and that it was dyed a very dark color ... perhaps even black. It was a very short blank, only about 2.5" long, and I got it in a PITH exchange from Wyone... (It's the shorter one on the right ... perhaps it was dyed a very dark silver?)
Well ... as I mentioned, it was dyed a very DARK color. Once the finish was applied (BLO + CA) it looked quite black. I'll have to look at it again under bright sunlight, but the sky is overcast today. Here's what it looks like now:
Next up, I went and got a turning spindle from WoodTurningz of Curly Mango. This stuff looked interesting on their website, with a hint of chatoyance, which I happen to like a lot, so I got it. They didn't have ANY of the smaller sizes available, so I ended up buying their 3x3x12 turning spindle and cut it down for pen blanks (left 6 inches of it full size, cut 7 pen blanks off two sides and kept a 2.25" square x 6" spindle as well), and turned just one blank to see what it'll look like. I found that it's got an open grain, similar to oak and mahogany, needing to be filled/sealed for a proper glassy smooth surface, unless you're into leaving the wood grain exposed for the texture. Now, with this stuff it'll just be 1 pic each, as I have extra blanks to give you guys a before and after look:
If it weren't for the fact that it's got no "eyes" in the wood grain, I'ld easily mistake this stuff for Red Oak!
And finally, for this post, another selection I picked up from WoodTurningz in large size spindle, a 2x2x12 Curly Eucalyptus. Again, I cut this down to pen blank size, keeping a 6-inch length of it full sized for other possible projects. I'm quite impressed with this particular wood species, as it's got a lot of chatoyance and was quite close-grained and easy to turn. I may have to do another video on this particular blank ... the color shifts are just gorgeous!
All the wood I got from WoodTurningz (I bought 5 different spindles, including Holly, Red Mallee Burl, and Curly Pyinma) showed up here with sealed wax ends or totally covered in wax (red mallee was totally coated all round) and all 6% moisture content or less (meter wouldn't even give me a reading on the mango and eucalyptus ... they're both totally bone dry!). All in all, I'm impressed with the quality of the wood as well as the price I got, from them. I just wish I didn't have to shell out 32 bucks for the mango, as all they had available was their largest size, but that's OK ... I have uses for it! :biggrin:
Next up, I may see how some of these mutt blanks turn out that I got from Brian G .... There's a green one in here my sister is just waiting to steal.... :devil:
