Persimmon????

[shawndakin]

I was just given a piece of persimmon that is 3/4 x3/4 x 4ft. It is beautiful wood but has anyone turned this before? I know it is rock hard( old golf drivers), but im hoping it will turn ok.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Use sharp tools and it will turn fine. It is a nice grain but I am not sure how eye catching it will be on a pen. You might consider doing a golf motiff with it. I love the wood but just don't think of it as a wood for pens.

 

[les-smith]

I got some dowels once from Dario. It turns really well because it's so hard. Polishes nice. Good color. Might not see much grain, but the deep color is nice.​

 

[MatthewZS]

I have some smaller persimmon with alot of transition between the darker heartwood and the light sapwood and it made for some very pretty pens.

 

[chipd]

The pieces I had turned just fine. There are several colors in the wood but they are a bit muted and tend to be of the same color spectrum when compared to other woods. It may not be your prettiest pen but I am sure someone will find it very attractive

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've never turned persimmon, but I've seen some bowl turnings from the wood... they were very nice... there's two persimmon trees in front of the old barn across the street from my house I'm waiting for them to die so I can make a deal to get the wood.... if they don't hurry up and die may have to help them along...:biggrin::laugh:

 

[JimMc7]

I did a couple and agree with others that the grain is not very interesting. I made them for sentimental value only (tree on our lot which was downed in an ice storm). The larger persimmon mallet shows a bit more character.

 

[cnirenberg]

It should turn fine, sharp tools work the best.

 

[SDB777]

The only Persimmon I've turned was 'swirled' with acrylic in the wormholes, beautiful piece of wood!!!

I wouldn't turned it without being sure tools are scary sharp...




Scott (kind of boring wood when 'plain') B

 

[jskeen]

Agreed, not a lot of small details, but nice wood to work, and the sharp contrast between the dark heartwood and the almost white sapwood can be interesting if you capture it right when cutting the blank.

 

[shawndakin]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[76winger]

I was wondering this myself. I was given a couple logs of it last summer which I split in two and set aside to dry. My first thoughts were to make some bowls out of it, bu I haven't tried turning any of it yet though.

 

[jskeen]

If you have pieces large enough, I would think that it would look better as a bowl than a pen, just because the larger project can show off more of the dark to light transition in the wood.