Mac In Oak Ridge
Member
Kind of amazing that I now see pen blanks everywhere I look. I had the pull rope on my chain saw break a few weeks ago. Yesterday evening I put a new rope in and gave it a pull. Started right up.
Standing there with running chain saw in hand the plum tree caught my eye. Damson Plum, about 15 ft. high. Most of it dead limbs, haven't had a plum on it in 3 years. About 2 ft. from the ground five very large branches join the trunk at roughly the same place.
I cut all the branches off. Sawed straight down through the crotch for about 15 in. That put me about 8 in. under the crotch area. Then I cut both halves off and took them to the shop. Set the bandsaw for a 3/4" cut and started slicing.
I have about 50-60 pen blanks. Some of it looks beautiful. Reds, purples even some yellow places. There were some termites in the heart and signs of some very tiny holes like powder post beetles make. A tiny amount of spalting and I suspect the yellow is spalting because it was in the areas that the dead limbs were attached.
Anyone used Plum Wood for pens? Do the colors hold up or do they all go brown over time?
Standing there with running chain saw in hand the plum tree caught my eye. Damson Plum, about 15 ft. high. Most of it dead limbs, haven't had a plum on it in 3 years. About 2 ft. from the ground five very large branches join the trunk at roughly the same place.
I cut all the branches off. Sawed straight down through the crotch for about 15 in. That put me about 8 in. under the crotch area. Then I cut both halves off and took them to the shop. Set the bandsaw for a 3/4" cut and started slicing.
I have about 50-60 pen blanks. Some of it looks beautiful. Reds, purples even some yellow places. There were some termites in the heart and signs of some very tiny holes like powder post beetles make. A tiny amount of spalting and I suspect the yellow is spalting because it was in the areas that the dead limbs were attached.
Anyone used Plum Wood for pens? Do the colors hold up or do they all go brown over time?