Niner
Member
What are the most popular wood species from USA used in pen blanks.
Best wood species from USA used in pen blanks.
- Thread starter Niner
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Woodchipper
Member
That would be a long list. Some as pine would be too soft, subject to dents when used or abused.
In regards to segmented blanks, I use a lot of maple and holly. Holly is scarce and hard to find lately.
I have used some really fun Walnut burls this year. Actually, anything with "burl" in the name can make a very eye catching pen. For non burl then curly maple is one that I look to use. I'll dye or stain it and then sand back to really show the stripe.
GaryMGg
Member
American hardwoods include maple, black walnut, black cherry, white and red oak, sycamore, desert iron wood, acacia, osage orange, the locusts and more.
Softwoods such as pine, redwood and cedar are common.
I have a real affinity for using crosscut old growth heart pine—classified as a softwood, it's anything but!
I've just touched the surface.
Softwoods such as pine, redwood and cedar are common.
I have a real affinity for using crosscut old growth heart pine—classified as a softwood, it's anything but!
I've just touched the surface.
egnald
Member
My favorite of the bunch is Claro Walnut and all of the Maple variations - burl, curly, birdseye, etc. - Dave
Smokey S
Member
Mesquite is the most abundant down here in South Texas on the west shore of Copano Bay. It sure is beautiful once turned. Just Saying….Smokey
I forgot to list Redwood in my post above. I've used a bunch of that too.
I'm also surprised no one has mentioned buckeye burl yet
rherrell
Member
Desert Ironwood, my favorite.
Niner
Member
Thank you all for your information and advice. I'veonly turned 3 pens so far and wondered what you folks use most often.
GaryMGg
Member
My advice is to practice making spindles using any wood you can find—inexpensive is best.
In case you don't know, hardwoods are typically sold per Board Foot (BF) which is 144 square inches—BF is calculated on hardwood as thickness X width X length.
So, a 1" thick, 12" wide, 12" long piece of walnut is 1BF.
If it were 1" thick, 6" wide, 24" long, it's still 1BF.
If you're practicing on roughly 5-7/8" long, 7/8"x7/8" blanks, you can get almost 26 blanks from 1BF of rough stock if it's about 1" thick.
Once you're happy turning spindles from various woods, you can use the high end woods many people use. Some of us go for burls and other exotics; some do segmentation and make art from a variety of woods and/or materials; and, some turn beautiful pens from that piece of timber found in the backyard.
One more thought, for now: how the wood is cut affects the look as much as anything else.
A piece of Osage Orange or Honey Locust cut with the grain can be very plain. Crosscut it and, while much harder to turn well, it's much more interesting and, IMO, beautiful.