buckthorn or Irish turf/ peat

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Glenn McCullough

Glenn McCullough

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I have a customer that would like me to make some pens for his Irish boutique, but have been unsuccessful finding (certified) Irish bog oak. He has suggested Irish Blackthorn or Irish turf/ peat. I guess this is a "wood" created through putting wood dust under pressure. Any one have any contacts?
 
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I would ask him if he had a second choice if it looks like it's going to be a real problem. If you do find some mature like to see a picture of it. Sorry this didn't answer your question
 
Turf is hard compacted peat that we use for heating our homes. It wood be similar to a dry piece of clay only it's less likely to crumble. Wouldn't make a great pen as it would be likely to dry out and crack. If you think of it like wet clay, shaping it and leaving it to dry that's pretty much the same way turf is created. I'll cut a piece on the bandsaw today and see what happens. I don't think it could be turned to shape, may have to be sanded and drilling and gluing in the brass tube could be a problem.
 
He has a supplier that uses compacted peat to make celtic carved mantle clocks that look superb and he sells many of them, so he says. I'll se if I can get a photo of some.


keithkarl2007 said:
Turf is hard compacted peat that we use for heating our homes. It wood be similar to a dry piece of clay only it's less likely to crumble. Wouldn't make a great pen as it would be likely to dry out and crack. If you think of it like wet clay, shaping it and leaving it to dry that's pretty much the same way turf is created. I'll cut a piece on the bandsaw today and see what happens. I don't think it could be turned to shape, may have to be sanded and drilling and gluing in the brass tube could be a problem.
Click to expand...
 
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Well this is a piece cut. The only problem is the turf we have is brown turf, turf that wasn't dug deep enough from the ground. Black turf would be more compact and have fewer voids. It's better turf to burn and gives off better heat. The deeper you dig into the bog the more compact and darker it is. I won't get into the whole bog or bog oak story but you can understand it better by reading through this Bog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Those clocks you mentioned, well, that is the exact same stuff we throw into our solid fuel stoves and cookers.

Another thing I forgot to mention. The people who carve the clocks and that probably take the fresh peat from the bog after it's laid and dry it indoors somewhere where it's not too hot. Our turf would still be on the bog during the summer and if it was very hot it would dry out too quickly, crack and even crumble up into nothing.
 
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It's just as I thought. You can use the sods of turf but the blanks you cut from it need hardening or stabilizing before you can shape them. I'll know more tomorrow on the process involved.
 
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a certificate is a piece of paper worth about $.01. It's only good if you trust the source. If you trust the source, no certificate is needed.

Keith is one of several people that I'm sure would be willing to send you actual Irish Bog Oak at a decent price. (I'm pretty much out right now, have plenty from the UK but not Ireland, or I would too).
 
The Bog Oak i have is from the same bog that we cut our turf from. I am from Offaly in the Midlands here in Ireland and the bogs in the Midlands are said to be the oldest in the country. The Bog Men that were found here weren't too far away from us, about 9 milbi. I was actually on the phone with someone last night that has two logs for me, one 10ft and one 20ft long.
 
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