aldjmc
Member
We (my son and I) have a snakewood blank (wrapped and covered in wax) that we have plans to turn into an Ultra Cigar pen for a family member. What are some of your best practices when working with snakewood, and what should we avoid?
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jttheclockman
Member
Plan on it cracking 
You have been warned. You better be a very patient person because this will take time. Snakewood is inherent to have small hairline cracks in it from the very get-go. But to proceed you need to get the blank as dry as possible and this should be done naturally. Do not force dry it. After dry I would soak in thin CA to stabilize before drilling. Never in any process you use on it get the blank at all heated. Sharp tools is a must. I suggest a brand new bit when drilling. Drill at the slowest speed your lathe can drill and by all means drill on your lathe. You want that blank held steady and straight. Do not punch through the other side so allow for enough to get cut off. I would use denatured alcohol to keep bit cool and drill 1/8" at a time and stop and let cool. I would try to keep blank as fat as you need to because the thinner you make the more it will crack. After drilled soak the inside of hole with thin CA to stabilize it somewhat. I would definetly glue tube in with an epoxy. It is more flexible and can move with the wood if need be. Turning again needs to be done with sharp tools and no heat so take your time. I would hit with thin CA after a few reps of turning and keep this up till it is to shape. Be careful when sanding. This is another one of those times I would not touch the blank with sandpaper and just take it to shape with a sharp skew. This is going to take a few days if not a week. After all the advise and I do not stand by anything I said here or linked to so that is my disclaimer. But here is a link from the past and the same kit you ask. good luck.
https://www.penturners.org/threads/turning-snakewood.41198/
You have been warned. You better be a very patient person because this will take time. Snakewood is inherent to have small hairline cracks in it from the very get-go. But to proceed you need to get the blank as dry as possible and this should be done naturally. Do not force dry it. After dry I would soak in thin CA to stabilize before drilling. Never in any process you use on it get the blank at all heated. Sharp tools is a must. I suggest a brand new bit when drilling. Drill at the slowest speed your lathe can drill and by all means drill on your lathe. You want that blank held steady and straight. Do not punch through the other side so allow for enough to get cut off. I would use denatured alcohol to keep bit cool and drill 1/8" at a time and stop and let cool. I would try to keep blank as fat as you need to because the thinner you make the more it will crack. After drilled soak the inside of hole with thin CA to stabilize it somewhat. I would definetly glue tube in with an epoxy. It is more flexible and can move with the wood if need be. Turning again needs to be done with sharp tools and no heat so take your time. I would hit with thin CA after a few reps of turning and keep this up till it is to shape. Be careful when sanding. This is another one of those times I would not touch the blank with sandpaper and just take it to shape with a sharp skew. This is going to take a few days if not a week. After all the advise and I do not stand by anything I said here or linked to so that is my disclaimer. But here is a link from the past and the same kit you ask. good luck.https://www.penturners.org/threads/turning-snakewood.41198/
Last edited:
mark james
IAP Collection, Curator
tomas
Member
My second pen was snakewood. I had no idea of the possible problems and just charged ahead. It turned out fairly well and I used it as my daily carrier for several years. However, so much for beginners luck. Every time I have tried snakewood since then has been disastrous. Go figure.
Tomas
Tomas
leehljp
Member Liaison
AS John Mentioned, glue with epoxy. There are some rubber epoxy that has more give. It is strong but just rubbery. I used this when I made a few snakewood pens several years ago.
Do not leave in a hot car or allow it to be where sun will come through a window and shine on it for 30 minutes or so. Refrain from taking it from hot to cold or cold to hot unless it is well covered to prevent fast temperature changes.
Do not leave in a hot car or allow it to be where sun will come through a window and shine on it for 30 minutes or so. Refrain from taking it from hot to cold or cold to hot unless it is well covered to prevent fast temperature changes.
jcm71
Member
Like others have said Snakewood is going to crack. So plan for it. After drilling and gluing as described above turn the blanks to round and start sanding. Save the sawdust. You may have to save it for several months. Once you think you have enough sawdust, sand a little more and then turn to just proud of the bushings. Assemble the pen without finishing and alternate putting it in the freezer for a week and pulling it out and letting it sit a room temperature, or better yet in a hot non air conditioned shop. As Hank alludes, the temperature changes will cause it to crack. When it does, disassemble the pen, fill the cracks with the saved sawdust and seal with thin CA. Now finish turning, sand and finish as desired, and reassemble. I last made a snakewood pen in Oct2016 using this procedure. It still hasn't recracked, and the cracks I filled are virtually invisible on the finished pen.
leave it wrapped and covered in wax, put it in the drawer, find a nice piece of wood that isn't snakewood and make your ultra cigar from that. The snakewood won't crack and the pen will look great! 
All kidding aside, lots of good ideas already here. I'll add to consider using Gorilla Glue (White or Original), it is foaming and I think even more flexible than epoxy. Also, I like the idea of gradually increasing the drill bit size to limit the amount of material that is removed with each pass. Godspeed.
All kidding aside, lots of good ideas already here. I'll add to consider using Gorilla Glue (White or Original), it is foaming and I think even more flexible than epoxy. Also, I like the idea of gradually increasing the drill bit size to limit the amount of material that is removed with each pass. Godspeed.
Richard92
Member
Just reading this thread was surprised to read about the problems with snakewood. I got hold of ten 20mm blanks a few weeks ago from a guy who was selling all his kit and blanks . Looking at the packets they were in I know these blanks are over 20 year old.
I just grabbed on turned it as I do the others no problem. 9 blanks left was I lucky or is this down to the age of the blanks?
I just grabbed on turned it as I do the others no problem. 9 blanks left was I lucky or is this down to the age of the blanks?
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leehljp
Member Liaison
It could be the aging of the wood, and it could be your great fortune and it could be your skill - or a combination of all three. The real answer will be one year, two years or three from now.
That said, I made a blank once and turned it into a very nice pen. Gave full explanation here and people still had problems with trying to duplicate it. I decided to make another and document each and every step. Next blank was a disaster, so was the third. The fourth was close but it was obviously off by a tiny but noticeable amount. Neither the 5th or 6th try worked either. I gave up and just accepted that I got lucky on the first one.
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Jonkou
Member
Turned bowls in the past and recall it was a challenging material but had no degradation issues with it. Sharp tools, light cuts and proper technique will allow you to impose you will on any piece of wood. Ensure/verify the wood is completely dried then take your time, stay focused and go for it, it's gorgeous wood.
JohnU
Member
Your not out of the woods yet. When I used to turn snake wood (now I avoid it) you never knew when the crack would show up. One day your using a perfectly good pen and the next day it has a crack down the side. It's that temperamental. Good luck!
jttheclockman
Member
On a slimline that is the worst kit to put it on. Too thin. It will crack and no you were not lucky It will crack
Richard92
Member
Oh 
this is not good reading at all. Do I sell the the other 9 blanks or us them on thicker pens. I bow to you guys with the experience, I dont want to sell these to unsuspecting customers. I am still learning in this game and wood knowledge is one of them. I just love the look of this wood as well. 
this is not good reading at all. Do I sell the the other 9 blanks or us them on thicker pens. I bow to you guys with the experience, I dont want to sell these to unsuspecting customers. I am still learning in this game and wood knowledge is one of them. I just love the look of this wood as well. 
I have said many times that if snakewood doesn't crack as a blank there is no reason for it to crack on a pen. Some good hints already. The major reason for cracking is the stress put on the wood when the fittings are pressed in and the brass expands. Here are my steps to a crack free snakewood pen.
1. drill slow with sharp bits to prevent heating.
2, test tube fit but do not glue in
3. wait a day and see if the tube still fits. Likely it will not. Redrill Or file to fit
4 repeat step 3 until tube repeatedly slides in
5. Glue tube and turn with sharp tools avoiding heat
6. ream out or sand inside of tubes with dremel so fittings are a slip fit rather than a press fit. Glue fittings in.
7. enjoy your pen.
1. drill slow with sharp bits to prevent heating.
2, test tube fit but do not glue in
3. wait a day and see if the tube still fits. Likely it will not. Redrill Or file to fit
4 repeat step 3 until tube repeatedly slides in
5. Glue tube and turn with sharp tools avoiding heat
6. ream out or sand inside of tubes with dremel so fittings are a slip fit rather than a press fit. Glue fittings in.
7. enjoy your pen.
aldjmc
Member
One of my favourite replies so far!leave it wrapped and covered in wax, put it in the drawer, find a nice piece of wood that isn't snakewood and make your ultra cigar from that. The snakewood won't crack and the pen will look great!
leehljp
Member Liaison
Another suggestion: if you are not in a great hurry, get some "letterwood" blanks and experiment with them. Letterwood IS snakewood but without the figuration. Cheaper, and no big disappointment if it does crack, and you get experience at the same time. It still could be a nice looking pen even without the snakewood figuration - if it doesn't crack.
jttheclockman
Member
There is no way anyone can tell you that. There have been successful snakewood pens shown here. Or at least they said so. It is some fine looking wood. I have a couple blanks myself that one day I will play around with.Oh
I think the answer is clear ... You should, regretfully, sell the remaining blanks. As a gesture of camaraderie and good-will, I volunteer to take on the burden of dealing with the problems ...Oh
Richard92
Member
To late David have decided to keep them sorryI think the answer is clear ... You should, regretfully, sell the remaining blanks. As a gesture of camaraderie and good-will, I volunteer to take on the burden of dealing with the problems ...
Next pen will be a modified slimline for me. I will just do it like the last one and see what happens. 
jttheclockman
Member
Again I high recommend a heftier kit. Slimline the wood is way to thin and a wood that is prone to crackTo late David have decided to keep them sorry
To late David have decided to keep them sorry
You might get a little more meat in the middle depending on how you modify, but I agree with JT if you use the standard tip/clip its gonna be thin on the ends. Sort of depends on the shape you choose too. Also, if it is a single barrel modified its a really long blank and difficult to drill without generating heat.
mick
Member
I'm like several have said. My first snakewood pen, a Baron, oh so many years ago never cracked. I've had it around 15yrs and still carry it from time to time. I've turned exactly 3 since then and the results... not so good. [emoji17] One a Full sized Statesman, can we say thick walled, cracked 4 different times. I'd fill it in with sawdust I'd saved, refinish and put it on the shelf. A few months later another crack appeared. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. The pen had never been used or carried in all this time. The 4th time it cracked around the time the pen was probably 18 months old, I disassembled it and used the kit on a very nice piece of Amboyna burl.
Hopefully someone, somewhere is still enjoying that pen. That's the last time I used that devil Snakewood!
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Hopefully someone, somewhere is still enjoying that pen. That's the last time I used that devil Snakewood!
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
mick
Member
He could turn them just round then drill the smallest hole possible and insert a Bic refill. That's about as thick as you can get! [emoji16]
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Richard92
Member
I have read all the input on this thanks to everyone. Thought sod I'll do it the same as the last one only in one piece though. Started it earlier today with sharpend tools and just a bit extra care. It's now finished and will be my pen . After reading all the input I wont sell it on. Lucky these 15mm square blanks worked out free to me after selling other bits on.
