Thanks to all who voted for my pen in the Pretty Wood contest. There were certainly some beautiful entries & I'm honored that you felt my pen was worthy of placing.
This was a Spalted She Oak blank that I got from George's Bits of Timber. It seemed to have some good promise, but that snake-like pattern that emerged as I got down to final size was a pleasant surprise.
I only decided to enter this contest at the last minute and had to hurry a bit to finish it before leaving on my trip. I first tried to give it a CA finish, but I rushed a bit too much & it didn't turn out well at all, so I sanded back down to bare wood, sanded up to 600 again & burnished with wood shavings again. I didn't have time for another CA attempt, so I just gave it 3 coats of friction polish.
I also chose a Zen to save some time since it only has one tube, but is long enough to really show off a nice blank.
I was surprised at how hard this blank was. Even as heavily spalted as it was and not being stabilized, there were no soft spots in the blank at all. I'd say that this AU She Oak is noticeably harder than any of the Texas oaks I've turned.
Here's a few additional photos of the pen.
This was a Spalted She Oak blank that I got from George's Bits of Timber. It seemed to have some good promise, but that snake-like pattern that emerged as I got down to final size was a pleasant surprise.
I only decided to enter this contest at the last minute and had to hurry a bit to finish it before leaving on my trip. I first tried to give it a CA finish, but I rushed a bit too much & it didn't turn out well at all, so I sanded back down to bare wood, sanded up to 600 again & burnished with wood shavings again. I didn't have time for another CA attempt, so I just gave it 3 coats of friction polish.
I also chose a Zen to save some time since it only has one tube, but is long enough to really show off a nice blank.
I was surprised at how hard this blank was. Even as heavily spalted as it was and not being stabilized, there were no soft spots in the blank at all. I'd say that this AU She Oak is noticeably harder than any of the Texas oaks I've turned.
Here's a few additional photos of the pen.