bogoakworker
Member
Hello one and all, I am a retired sea captain who spent more than 40 years traveling around the world collecting bits of wood (in addition to navigating my ship, I might add). Now retired for 6 years, my wood pile is slowly disappearing as I enjoy my hobby of woodturning. Recently, I've been working with bog oak which comes from Fenland in Norfolk, England. These oak trees sat in flood water 5,000 years ago, died and fell into the water. When the floods abated, the felled trees sank into the mud and peat. The acidic action of the peat preserved the wood and also turned it black. Farmers find these ancient trees near the surface when plowing and, until recently, dug them out and burnt them. However, now they are carefully dried out leaving a wonderful timber to work with which is far harder than normal oak. It is also Englands only native timber which is black. It's expensive, which is why I use it mainly for making pens. Anyway, thanks for reading this and happy turning.