Olive Wood

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johnkofi

johnkofi

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
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141
Location
Marion, Indiana, USA.
I am very new at Pen Turning and it has definitely become an addiction. I found some Olive Wood at Rockler, but the price was kinda high for my budget.
The Cigar Pen that I turned seems to be very popular at the Christian University where I work and I really enjoyed turning it.
I am wondering where would be the best place to find Olive Wood and the best prices. I have found some on eBay at about $2.75 ea including the shipping.
Thanks - John
 
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That's not a bad price. Ususally on ebay the more blanks you buy the better the deal. Just be sure and get a certificate of authenticity for each pen you make. Customers usually like one, especially if it is given as a gift.
 
Sometimes "more expensive" doesn't necessarily mean "better", but even more often "cheaper" means "cheaper". $2.75 including shipping is indeed a good price. BUT Woodturningz has BOW for $3.00 per blank, including certificates for each blank, and having purchased these from them a couple of times, I can promise you that you won't be disappointed in the quality of the blanks you'll receive.
 
Not sure if I can give a plug to companies here on not, so I hope I don't break any rules.

I bought a 2x2 six or so inch long piece of olive wood from rockler, turned into 4 rather nice pens, but they don't have nearly the figure or interest as the five pen blanks I got from Craft supply which were all really nice.

The pen blanks I saw at rockler didn't look so hot, they had a bottom of the barrel look about them, which is why I got the larger peice, but in doing so I really think I didn't get the same level of quality as craft supply.
 
Chris,
You keep this up and I might have to just have the entire paycheck forwarded to you [8D]

I would be interested in seeing some pics of nice size penblanks and also some 2"x2"x12" spindles for Xmas ornaments..[:)][:p]


Originally posted by Kalai
<br />Hi , I have some olive wood blanks I will sell for $1.50 ea, it is the same olive as the BOW but it grows in Hawaii, aloha.

Chris
Kalai[:)]
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The only issue I would bring up with the Ebay suppliers is that they tend to take a good amount of time to get it to you. What you get, you will like, but they are not the most timely.
 
Thanks for all of the advice.... I wish I would have asked this question before I won the eBay auction.

fiferb...... that is the company that I won the auction from.

Chris.... When I finish these 15 blanks I will get in touch with you to see if you still have any more HOW available.

Thanks - John
 

Chris.... When I finish these 15 blanks I will get in touch with you to see if you still have any more HOW available.

Thanks - John
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Looks like HOW is going to stick.
I just turned some Italian Olivewood

... IOW sounds painful!

The wood was very hard to work with, maybe IOW is suitable.
 
Originally posted by RONB
<br />My source http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/ Good prices and service.
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They have some good blanks, but there service is terrible, nobody ever answers the phone and it took over a month to get my order. CSUSA is much better at getting my stuff to me when I need it
 
Originally posted by wizical
<br />
Originally posted by RONB
<br />My source http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/ Good prices and service.
Click to expand...

<b>They have some good blanks</b>, but there service is terrible, nobody ever answers the phone and it took over a month to get my order. CSUSA is much better at getting my stuff to me when I need it
Click to expand...
And they have some pure crap as well! A friend ordered several dozen good size spindle blanks and almost a third had splits filled with what looked like CA and sawdust! I held these in my own hands and could not believe they would ship some garbage like that.

When he complained, they wanted him to ship it back for replacement but he said the rates were outrageous so he just lived with it in hopes of salvaging enough to make pen with!

The lesson I learned is that it's "Buyer Beware" anywhere you buy, not just Ebay.

I would however be interested in seeing some examples of some HOW, especially in some 1 1/2" square or larger spindle blanks.
[:)]
 
Hi everyone, I will get some HOW posted in a week or so, it is all in log form so I will cut some pen blanks and some larger blanks and a few bowl blanks.[:)]
I know there are some sellers out there that do sell junk but I want you all to know I never sell junk wood, i will throw it away first and if for some reason the wood you get from me has a problem I will replace or refund at no extra cost to you, I want you to be able to buy from me with out thinking twice about it.[:D] Aloha to all.[;)]

Chris
Kalai[8D]
 
Originally posted by Texatdurango
<br />
Originally posted by wizical
<br />
Originally posted by RONB
<br />My source http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/ Good prices and service.
Click to expand...

<b>They have some good blanks</b>, but there service is terrible, nobody ever answers the phone and it took over a month to get my order. CSUSA is much better at getting my stuff to me when I need it
Click to expand...
And they have some pure crap as well! A friend ordered several dozen good size spindle blanks and almost a third had splits filled with what looked like CA and sawdust! I held these in my own hands and could not believe they would ship some garbage like that.

When he complained, they wanted him to ship it back for replacement but he said the rates were outrageous so he just lived with it in hopes of salvaging enough to make pen with!

The lesson I learned is that it's "Buyer Beware" anywhere you buy, not just Ebay.

I would however be interested in seeing some examples of some HOW, especially in some 1 1/2" square or larger spindle blanks.
[:)]
Click to expand...

what wood spindles did you order from CSUSA, cause they dont sell any of the BOW spindle blanks, so you are confused, and I have to say. EVERYTIME, I have ran into a problem with CSUSA, they always remedy it. that is my two cents
 
Pen blanks, 1.5"x1.5" stopper blanks, 2"x2" ornaments blanks, BOWL blanks....well, there goes the budget [:p][:p][:p][:)]



Originally posted by Kalai
<br />Hi everyone, I will get some HOW posted in a week or so, it is all in log form so I will cut some pen blanks and some larger blanks and a few bowl blanks.[:)]
I know there are some sellers out there that do sell junk but I want you all to know I never sell junk wood, i will throw it away first and if for some reason the wood you get from me has a problem I will replace or refund at no extra cost to you, I want you to be able to buy from me with out thinking twice about it.[:D] Aloha to all.[;)]

Chris
Kalai[8D]
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The wood that I have got from Chris is outstanding and he is easy to deal with. While bethlehemolivewood.net/ has my money and I am still waiting over a month for my stuff. I may as well ask for a refund and order it from Chris.
 
For three years I have ordered Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth olive wood from Diane and Ghasen. While there delivery can be slow, keep in mind that they live and work in Israel. They don't control the political climate in that part of the world and occasional delays are inevitable. Diane and Ghasen have been friends of the site (and me) since its inception and have made numerous donations. They are honorable people and if you have had a problem with wood from them, my experience shows that they will go the extra mile to satisfy you. As for the olive wood itself, Chris is right. This is simply European olive wood, one of 100 or so species of olive wood found around the world. It has, however, been grown in the Holy Land. To me, there's a difference.
 
Originally posted by wizical
<br />
what wood spindles did you order from CSUSA, cause they dont sell any of the BOW spindle blanks, so you are confused, and I have to say.
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Kevin, ya gotta keep up better![:)], I'm not confused at all. If you re-read the posts you will see that my comment was directed towards bethlehemolivewood not CSUSA!

1. Ron commented on bethlehem wood...
2. YOU said... "<b>They</b> have some good blanks"
3. To which I replied "And <b>they</b> have some pure crap as well!"

See how that worked out, the "they" was bethlehem wood!
 
As for the olive wood itself, Chris is right. This is simply European olive wood, one of 100 or so species of olive wood found around the world. ...... To me, there's a difference.
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I just did some pens where the customer supplied his own Italian Olivewood. I can 100% support the above statement, not all olivewood is the same. This Italian stuff cracked VERY easy, gummed up the drill bits, it was horrible to work with! I easily spent twice the time I expected in filling this order.
I talked with a fellow turner who had had the same situation and his solution was to throw out the Itailian wood and replace it with BOW.
 
Originally posted by Kalai
<br />Hi everyone, I will get some HOW posted in a week or so, it is all in log form so I will cut some pen blanks and some larger blanks and a few bowl blanks.[:)]
I know there are some sellers out there that do sell junk but I want you all to know I never sell junk wood, i will throw it away first and if for some reason the wood you get from me has a problem I will replace or refund at no extra cost to you, I want you to be able to buy from me with out thinking twice about it.[:D] Aloha to all.[;)]

Chris
Kalai[8D]
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You can't go wrong buying from Chris.

I'd like to see some blanks also. I'd add pepper grinder blanks too. 2.5" or 3" x 8"
 
I also love the olivewood from Israel but the shipping is too high for my budget.I wanted to order $61.00 worth of spindles and the shipping would have been $49.00. Mabe a vacation there to bring some back is the way to go!
 
The first set I sold was BOW from Bethelemolivewood.com, I won it on eBay, out of the 4 penblanks there was 1 beautiful blank, but it was so oily I had a hard time keeping my bit from sticking, Turning it was very hard as well it was so oily, of the other 3 blanks 1 was fair and the other two were rather plain, lacking in the beautiful black contrasting grain,but they were turnable.
The shiping took about two weeks as they said it would, but I won't order from them again due to the quality of the wood.
There is another seller on eBay that says they are in New York and ship from there, they say they have very dark grain wood and it is seasoned, and come with nice certificates.
Just My 2 cents worth.
Ken Ferrell
 
I ordered from Bethlehem olive wood on 10-28. I got an email that same day saying that their cart didn't add s&h. I then sent them the extra on the same day.

On 11-12 I was concerned that I had not received my order. I sent them an email and got back a curt reply that it would be arriving in Texas on 11-16 for re-shipping. I was under the impression that they had stock in Texas to ship to keep from having the long waits.

I'm still waiting.

If you are in a hurry I would suggest that you look for a supplier in the states.
 
JWW, i'm in the same boat with you waiting for BOW to deliver, but luckely I ordered a bunch from woodenwonderstx and they really took great care of me. If you need some, let me know and I may have a few around.
 
John, I'm sure that Chris' HOW is great stuff, but, in your case, I'm guessing that the reason the BOW is popular at the university is not because it is olive wood, it is because of the location.

You might want to keep that in mind, or you could wind up with a pretty big inventory of unsold pens.

jeff
 
JWW, they did the same thing to me except it was like 6 weeks into the order before they told me! So it took another 6 weeks to get and I havent ordered from them since.
Ive got some nice wood from CSU.
 
Just an update for those of you that may be purchasing from BOW.

I sent them this email today;
This is 11-26 and my order still has not arrived. I would like someone to check on it for me. I feel like 20 working day, not even counting Saturdays or holidays, is plenty of time even if shipped from Israel.

This is there reply in total;
Your order should be arriving this week.

They may be good people but their business logistics/communication need some work.
 
Same kind of response I got last time I ordered from them. Two weeks later, I called again and they said they had shipped it out that day. Another 2 weeks went by and they said they don't know what happened but it had never shipped. After 5 weeks I received it finally. I totally agree with you on their communication. If they hadn't been telling me they had shipped it, I wouldn't have been so upset. Like someone here said, it is chaotic and wartorn over there and sometimes it just takes time. They have a great product but definitely not the place to order from if in a hurry.
 
Just an update for those of you that may be purchasing from BOW.

I sent them this email today;
This is 11-26 and my order still has not arrived. I would like someone to check on it for me. I feel like 20 working day, not even counting Saturdays or holidays, is plenty of time even if shipped from Israel.

This is there reply in total;
Your order should be arriving this week.

They may be good people but their business logistics/communication need some work.
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The order finally arrived today. The pen blanks look very nice.
Thanks for all of the offers to get me by until they arrived!
John
 
I have and always will buy my BOW from members on this forum. I posted a WTB, and had several members respond very quickly who had exactly what I was looking for. IMHO, no need to look elsewhere...
 
i bought some bow off ebay from holy land products, bought on sat evening and it arived thusday morning here in the uk, and i am wel chuffed with my purchase.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/18-Jerusalem-Bethlehem-olive-wood-pen-blanks-lumber-lot_W0QQitemZ200177266559QQihZ010QQcategoryZ3126QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
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I would like to say that anyone that orders BOW from the folks in Bethlehem, that will need to exercise patience, after asking on here about them after I won the eBay auction, I emailed them to see about a delivery time frame, they gave me 7 - 10 days.... 12 days later they said 3 - 5 business days.... then they said that their delivery varies from 3 - 5 weeks. I am now just hoping to get some a week before Christmas.
It would be a lot better to buy from a member on this forum any day!!
 
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