Hello from South Africa

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Danny 2021

Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Messages
7
Location
South Africa
I am glad to be part of this community. For some time, I thought I was alone in my passion for turning pure wood (i.e. not from kits) pens until I found out how to search (using the word Bic in the search parameters, like "Bic sticks"). I am sure I am going to enjoy being part of this forum, and share some ideas.

I love working with unusual materials, so I source wood from various (mostly chance opportunities) sources. Some of my woods include cork oak (not commercially available, the tree is in my garden), karee (Searsia lancea) (also in my garden), sekelbos ( known as sicklebush, Bell mimosa, Chinese lantern tree or Kalahari Christmas tree) bought as firewood, Rhodesian teak (offcuts, broken furniture), peach and apricot (from my garden) and some more. I think you get the picture. My first two Bic stick pens I bought at curio shops, so I do not claim that the idea is mine, but what I did with it is my idea. I vary my styles from thick to thin and long to short. I never know what the outcome is going to be - I make it up as I go along on the lathe. I finish all the pens with beeswax (also from my garden:)). I drill the wood through and turn between two centres.

I am definitely not an expert, and I did not have any training on a lathe. I work by trial and error, and some Youtube videos were very helpful. Here are some of the pens I have made.
Cork oak 01 001.jpg
Penne 5.jpg
Penne 7.jpg
 
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Hi Danny !! . Warm welcome to IAP !! :D :D

Thanks for showing those lovely Bic Sticks !!
 
Hi Danny. Those are pretty darned cool. Shaping as you go is a good thing. Sometimes the wood itself determines how it wants to be shaped either by grain or inclusions.

You must have quite a large garden with all those trees. What is the wood in that first picture of the single pen? I like the waves in the grain.
 
I don't have such a large garden (1 000 sq meter, or about 10 000 sq feet, including the house), but I love trees so I have a lot. The single pen is cork oak. I had difficulty getting the colour right on the photo - it is a bit more grey than it came out - but I also absolutely love the grain. It is different from any other wood I have used, and very different from normal oak. It sands and polishes to a very smooth finish and feels lovely when using it. I can use branches as thin as about 4-6cm (1 - 2") and still get a decent quality pen. I think the one in the photo was from a much thicker piece, though. On the bottom photo, the one second from the bottom left is also cork oak and is much closer to the real colour. The interesting rear end of the pen is where I removed the bark, cleaned it with a wire brush and waxed it. This is what the wood looks like just beneath the cork bark. (I still have lots of the cork I removed, and still have a few ideas for the cork, although a pen is not currently on my shortlist.) The cork oak seems to darken with age and just gets a richer appearance.
 
Welcome Danny

Interesting ideas and shapes. Tha5s the great thing about this forum, lots of suggestions to spark new work or forms.

have fun and stay safe
 
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