Found on Road DEAD, Apprentice Cigar Twist Pen

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maxman400

maxman400

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Location
Omaha Arkansas
This Wood grows all over the desert as scrub brush, I found this piece on the side of the road after a grader ran over it. It has a lot of cracks that I filled in with CA. The outside is ash gray in color but the inside is something else. Any suggestions on how to fill in the cracks better or how to keep the C.A. from turning white would be appreciated.
 

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Very Nice Rescue! I love to see wood with character. You gave that poor road kill a nice resting place. In someones hands.
 
It's always sad to find a dead cigar pen on the side of the road! Looks like you did a good job on the resurrection though!:biggrin:

Great find and great job!!!
 
It's been my experience that ca will turn white if to much accelerator is applied. I think it has something to do with the heat generated by the chemical reaction. Its amazing what mother nature can give us if we just look. Some of my nicest pens are from wood found laying around the ranch I hunt on. Great find and a great looking pen.
 
Nice save, pretty wood though The wood looks like Desert Mesquite, when I was a pup we used to live in Las Vegas way back in the 50s, I had to help my dad clear a building site Way Way outa town it was off east Charleston about 2 miles east of Boulder Highway, that stuff was so thick it was insane, but right in the middle of this thicket was a huge old cottonwood tree. we used to call it grease wood from trying to burn it green it was a little oily, sure wish I had some of it now.
 
Next time you are at Home Depot or Lowes ask the key guy for the shavings from the key machine. Fill the cracks with the shavings and then the CA. When I fill the cracks I tap the side of the wood to get the shavings to settle in. Works well and it is free.
 
Next time cast alumilite around it under pressure and it will fill in all those cracks....dye the alumilite to get a neat coloring effect. This is known on the IAP as "worthless wood".
 
I think it still came out great. Awesome character to it. I have only used CA as a filler, but go the extra mile and try the Worthless wood route next time.
 
CA's really not that great of a filler....it's properties don't allow it to bond to itself very well, only to bond two mating surafaces....the tighter they are pressed together the better CA will bond. If you're looking to turn the wood and then fill the cracks, especially large cracks, then epoxy would work much better for you. Inlace is basically just (expensive) epoxy with powders in it. Cracks can be a neat opportunity to color fill and add even more character to the wood, but if you're just using CA with no coloring and you can see through the crack down to the brass, then that doesn't really look too sharp, IMHO. Overall though, nice save on the wood! I think the wood itself looks awesome for a piece of trash (essentially). You have the essence of what worthless wood is all about....bringing out the beauty in junk wood that others would entirely neglect.:biggrin:
 
Thanks, I have seen some of the worthless wood here on IAP and I have read your post's about casting. I am new to turning and so far I have not found anyone close to me with any experience that I can draw from. Can you recommend any books or videos that I can use.
 
GouletPens said:
CA's really not that great of a filler....it's properties don't allow it to bond to itself very well, only to bond two mating surafaces....the tighter they are pressed together the better CA will bond. If you're looking to turn the wood and then fill the cracks, especially large cracks, then epoxy would work much better for you. Inlace is basically just (expensive) epoxy with powders in it. Cracks can be a neat opportunity to color fill and add even more character to the wood, but if you're just using CA with no coloring and you can see through the crack down to the brass, then that doesn't really look too sharp, IMHO. Overall though, nice save on the wood! I think the wood itself looks awesome for a piece of trash (essentially). You have the essence of what worthless wood is all about....bringing out the beauty in junk wood that others would entirely neglect.:biggrin:
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Brian,
Your absolutely correct. I gotta remember the epoxy for next time.
 
bitshird said:
Nice save, pretty wood though The wood looks like Desert Mesquite, when I was a pup we used to live in Las Vegas way back in the 50s, I had to help my dad clear a building site Way Way outa town it was off east Charleston about 2 miles east of Boulder Highway, that stuff was so thick it was insane, but right in the middle of this thicket was a huge old cottonwood tree. we used to call it grease wood from trying to burn it green it was a little oily, sure wish I had some of it now.
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Well I am very close to vegas and I do have Mesquite on my property but this is not mesquite, I think you got it right with the grease wood, from what I can tell this is a Bush like plant that has small yellow flowers on it, and grows every where out here. I am going to start searching for some better pieces since this one came out so nice. If I find some I will keep you in mind. Thanks again Max.
 
I would dig out the cracks and knots and fill them in with crushed turquoise. Just sprinkle in the crushed stone and add a couple drops of thin CA. You'll want to do this before you get to your final shape as it will require skew work and sanding to get it smooth.
 
maxman400 said:
Well I am very close to vegas and I do have Mesquite on my property but this is not mesquite, I think you got it right with the grease wood, from what I can tell this is a Bush like plant that has small yellow flowers on it, and grows every where out here. I am going to start searching for some better pieces since this one came out so nice. If I find some I will keep you in mind. Thanks again Max.
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Some bushes make really nice looking pens, though they are much less stable than trees. I have made some pens from rhododendron root, but only doing worthless castings. I would stabilize them with something like Ultraseal as a minimum, doing worthless casting if possible.
 
GouletPens said:
Some bushes make really nice looking pens, though they are much less stable than trees. I have made some pens from rhododendron root, but only doing worthless castings. I would stabilize them with something like Ultraseal as a minimum, doing worthless casting if possible.
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Do you know of any book that cover casting?
 
Book? No, but there is talk of it quite often here on IAP, and many of the members here do exactly what I'm talking about. You can look in the library here and see MesquiteMan (Curtis Seebeck) has a tutorial PDF on 'worthless wood casting'. Actually, I have it right here. Curtis is sort of the founder of worthless casting, as far as I know.

And there is a casting and stabilizing section of the IAP here, which has topics like this quite often. I'm warning you though, it's a WHOOOOOLE other world and it quite addicting!!!!
 

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GouletPens said:
Book? No, but there is talk of it quite often here on IAP, and many of the members here do exactly what I'm talking about. You can look in the library here and see MesquiteMan (Curtis Seebeck) has a tutorial PDF on 'worthless wood casting'. Actually, I have it right here. Curtis is sort of the founder of worthless casting, as far as I know.

And there is a casting and stabilizing section of the IAP here, which has topics like this quite often. I'm warning you though, it's a WHOOOOOLE other world and it quite addicting!!!!
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Thanks, this is very educational and is what I was looking for.
 
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