BARK like a Pen!
- Thread starter Krash
- Start date
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walshjp17
Member
Recycled, recycled material. Perfect. Gorgeous pen.
johncrane
Member
Looks really good, well done.
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robutacion
Member
Great pen mate...!
I have "some" blanks made with the Old Radiata pine bark planted near my house, over 100 years ago, all along the back road, they are gigantic are are reaching their life expectancy, 3 of them had to come down and I got the wood for the lot, some of the bark is nearly 2" thick so, I cut some into pen blanks.
I turned a couple of samples and finish them with CA and they look similar to yours, amazing wood grain type structure. Not the easiest materials to handle raw and stabilization didn't work that well as the bark is water/liquid repellant but improved slightly, never the less...!
Thanks for showing it to us...!
Cheers
George
I have "some" blanks made with the Old Radiata pine bark planted near my house, over 100 years ago, all along the back road, they are gigantic are are reaching their life expectancy, 3 of them had to come down and I got the wood for the lot, some of the bark is nearly 2" thick so, I cut some into pen blanks.
I turned a couple of samples and finish them with CA and they look similar to yours, amazing wood grain type structure. Not the easiest materials to handle raw and stabilization didn't work that well as the bark is water/liquid repellant but improved slightly, never the less...!
Thanks for showing it to us...!
Cheers
George
Dale Allen
Member
Outstanding!
jimm1
Member
Mulch huh? Very cool.
plano_harry
Member
That turned out great! Really nice grain pattern in the wood and the Yucca is a nice touch.
A great looking pen, the yucca ban really sets it off. Well done.
mikespenturningz
Member
Good job Kelly. Are you stabilizing this bark?
eranox
Member
That is too cool! What a beautiful grain structure in that bark! I really like the yucca, too. I have a lot in the back yard. May have to check it out!
Krash
Member
For sure! It needs multiple coats of CA then a gentle, sharp tool since it us so soft. Kinda fun tho to find a pen on the ground in the back yard!
Krash
Member
I kinda wonder how the yucca will take a stain.
OZturner
Member
Great Pen, Kelly.
Love the material.
Brian.
Love the material.
Brian.
SteveJ
Member
You've done that kit proud!
hobbyist2013
Member
This is such a fantastic piece of woodworking. Beautiful pen blank!
Krash
Member
No I didn't Mike. It was a challenge since the bark is so soft. Now that it's done, it will dent easily. Stabilization would be a great thing to do for this bark.
terry q
Member
Well done. Turning bark takes a special kind of patience. I tried turning Black Locust bark. It's difficult. Stabilizing didn't work for me either.
wyone
Member
Ok... so I am confused... was this a large chunk of bark that you used CA to stabilize? I guess I have never been around bark thick enough to make a blank out of. That said, just today I was in the shop and came across a junk of White oak that still has bark on it. Now I am wondering.. should I just take the bark off, CA enough together to get enough thickness and then try to stabilize? you have peaked my interest. 
robutacion
Member
Most wood/tree bark is buoyant so, it won't sink, and it doesn't sink, doesn't take any water/liquids so, stabilizing under vacuum doesn't work as it does with normal softwoods and CA has limited effect on the soaking, you have to use the super thin CA (5cup) to get "some" penetration.
This small amount of penetration can be very useful when, you are turning the blank and soaking every time you reach soft material (better if just before reaching the soft stuff) so, slow process. Using a "flap disk", you will be able to control the amount of material you are taking and you can wait just before the final size to start soaking the blank with CA, and continue on with the hand sanding stages...!
Remember that, trees grow bark as the first stage of their defence, against wood eating creatures, sun expose and water/weather protection, this is the reason why they are buoyant, being water proof/resistant will maintain the wood from rot and fungi growth, something that will happen immediately (to a certain degree depending of the tree species) so, expect to have difficulty to soak pine bark, regardless tom what you use...!
A good thickness of CA as finish, is one of the best options to protect and maintain the material looking good for a long time, a good floor varnish can be as effective but, not as easy to apply as multiple coating/layers however, dipping, brushing or spraying, the floor varnish can be sanded and polish the same way as the common CA finish...!
Hope this makes sense to you...!
Cheers
George
This small amount of penetration can be very useful when, you are turning the blank and soaking every time you reach soft material (better if just before reaching the soft stuff) so, slow process. Using a "flap disk", you will be able to control the amount of material you are taking and you can wait just before the final size to start soaking the blank with CA, and continue on with the hand sanding stages...!
Remember that, trees grow bark as the first stage of their defence, against wood eating creatures, sun expose and water/weather protection, this is the reason why they are buoyant, being water proof/resistant will maintain the wood from rot and fungi growth, something that will happen immediately (to a certain degree depending of the tree species) so, expect to have difficulty to soak pine bark, regardless tom what you use...!
A good thickness of CA as finish, is one of the best options to protect and maintain the material looking good for a long time, a good floor varnish can be as effective but, not as easy to apply as multiple coating/layers however, dipping, brushing or spraying, the floor varnish can be sanded and polish the same way as the common CA finish...!
Hope this makes sense to you...!
Cheers
George
1080Wayne
Member
Ok... so I am confused... was this a large chunk of bark that you used CA to stabilize? I guess I have never been around bark thick enough to make a blank out of. That said, just today I was in the shop and came across a junk of White oak that still has bark on it. Now I am wondering.. should I just take the bark off, CA enough together to get enough thickness and then try to stabilize? you have peaked my interest.
Rather than take layers of bark off to glue up , you will have a better looking pen if you strengthen the bond between the bark and the wood with thin CA , then drill the blank so that a portion of the bark will end up on the surface of the finished barrel , taking care to turn it down slowly , with several stops for re-application of thin CA to the bark . The contrast between the dark bark , light earlywood , and possibly some of the darker latewood will look great (at least it did on the oak I turned ).
Krash
Member
Fer sure Terry!
Check this one out. That center segmented section is ponderosa bark. It is surrounded by walnut, aluminum, and ebony. Wow, talk about differing hardnesses! I had to be super careful and be sure to periodically soak the bark portion with thin CA to finish it.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f179/single-sided-scallops-120206/