Spalted Hackberry Pen Blanks

[Donnie Kennedy]

I went to my in-laws this afternoon and as usual, the first thing I do is head out back to his woodpile to dig around to see if I can find anything interesting. Today I rediscovered some Hackberry logs that I had abandoned several years ago. I had completely forgot that I had set that stuff aside back in the spring of 2010. So I grabbed a smallish chunk of a branch crotch and threw it in the back of the van. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found when I started cutting it up.

Just a fresh saw cut.



The color pretty much runs throughout.



Sanded fairly smooth and lightly rubbed with a little lacquer... sorry about the dust



In another year or so I'll be able to turn these.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

How big are those spindles? They look quite anbit bigger than pen size.

 

[Dan26]

Nice score!

 

[Donnie Kennedy]

Dan M... they are only 1". I cut them a bit oversize because they do have some moisture content to them so they'll warp just a little. I don't think they will shrink enough to crack, but I'm keeping my eye on them.

Dan 26... there is a lot more of that over at his house and I hope to salvage some 1.5" X 3" duck call blanks to eventually have stabilized.

 

[homemade]

Are they stabilized?

 

[Donnie Kennedy]

Are they stabilized?

No, but they aren't so punky that they would have to be. That said, I'll probably send them out to get stabilized once they're dry.