Woodcraft Atlas in Old Olive Root

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Band Saw Box

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Yet another first. The blank for this pen is Old Olive Root it like burl. I've never heard of it before yesterday. George aka robutacion sent me with my order of banksia pod. Thanks George. I had to fill a few voids (CA and shavings) as I turned but it did turn, sand and finish well. The kit is a Woodcraft Copper Atlas I think the copper is a nice pairing with the blank. Any and all comments are welcome.
 

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Great stuff Dan...!

Those "bits" of Olive wood are as rare as money in my pocket and from the nature of things, where the Olive tree develops these treasures inside of it, are very deep within the wood and often where most of the "movement" will occur when cut out and put to dry.

On the other hand, those "faults" allow for one's imagination to put into practice some of the best features one can add to a beautiful piece of wood like that, there are too many options to consider but, I found that one of the best filling materials to used in these cases, is the crashed precious stones, with turquoise on the top of my list.

There are many places now where these crashed stones can be found for sale, they have various crashing grades, from chunky to fine powder and everything in between however, you find 2 types, the natural rock and the man made stuff, both identical but the natural rock will destroy your HSS tools if the chunks are big so carbide tools are a must.

For effect, the bigger the chunks the better and when possible, use a combination of sizes if the filling whole/crack will allow, the finest the the material the less impressive will be, with not a lot more than just a solid colour showing, while the coarser stuff leaves a great stone effect ...!

Anyway mate, I like what you did whit that blank, thanks for showing and mentioning, from where you got it from...!

Cheers
George
 
This is a great pen Dan. I had no idea that olive wood held these little treasures. Probably worth its weight in gold. Sounds like George knows what he's talking about. I'd love to see another post when you get another one done!
 
Marko50 said:
This is a great pen Dan. I had no idea that olive wood held these little treasures. Probably worth its weight in gold. Sounds like George knows what he's talking about. I'd love to see another post when you get another one done!
Click to expand...

In fact mate, I do know a "bit" about Olive trees and the wood they produce from the tip of the tree to the last and deepest root these trees from with time/age.

Within the last 1' of the tree butt to the enormous root balls, old trees form, some as big as a small car, I have found the most amazing treasures, from rare spalted areas, burl areas, blue stain areas, curled areas, and some areas with a combination of all these characteristics, make for some very unique blanks, sometimes so small that I can't get a full size pen blanks so, I have some shorts of all sizes, that would make anyone very happy to have.

Every so often, I gather a few and I bring them up here to IAP to share with my friends, I certainly have enough to share but, being only shorts (some of the treasures) I tend to put them aside to use them myself but, I don't make that many pens, maybe a dozen a year, and they are all to give away as "gifts"/presents so, their used is very limited, MY THING is finding the wood, bring it home and enjoy slicing it all up to admire that nature gave us...! I'm addicted to bandsaw ripping...!:wink::biggrin:

I should gather a few of those treasures and bring them here, for you guys to enjoy. Is not the first time I done it, in fact, I shared many treasures from my Olive wood, throughout the years but, I still have many more...!

Cheers
George
 
Very nice Dan! Glad to see someone is capable of not destroying the beautiful blanks George sends out..:rolleyes: I really love the looks of his olivewood!
 
Thanks George for the great idea on filling the voids, I was thinking of using something other then shaving but it was all I had handy and I wanted to finish the pen and thanks for the nice comments. And thanks again for send the blank it great stuff and it help add to my skill level.
Thanks Marko50 and Ambidex for your comments. This blank was one of the more challenging ones I've done. If you do turn one of these take your time and use a light touch as I found a void will up out of no were, I also ran my lathe at about 2200 rpms.
 
Dan, wonderful pen as usual!

George,
Does the root have a stronger smell when turning it than regular olive wood? I have turned a bit of it, and enjoy usuing it. Its one of my favorites. I have also found a little stash of Olive wood in Ga. Im waiting to get home, it is drying for me at the moment awaiting my return.
I am also thinking about getting a single olive tree once I get back to Tx, just for pruning purposes. I dont like Olives, they taste yucky, but my wife and kids love them. So they can have the fruit, I just want the wood.
 
Thanks William and Mike, for your complements on my work, Mike I did not notice any small when I was turning. Speaking of which it will be a little while before I post anything new. I don't know what happened but my mandrel is bent.:frown: I've ordered a new one from PSI along with a 60 deg. and their Benjamin's carbide chisel set Evelyn had a $10.00 coupon so it was a good deal.:biggrin: I also ordered a dead center from Amazon so I can try turning pens other then slimline between centers.:smile: Is there such a thing as pan turners withdrawal. :confused:
 
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Mike Powell said:
<snip>
I am also thinking about getting a single olive tree once I get back to Tx, just for pruning purposes. I dont like Olives, they taste yucky, but my wife and kids love them. So they can have the fruit, I just want the wood.
Click to expand...

I have a large Olive tree in my front yard. It's pretty, but I don't recommend them because they make quite a mess!

The olives drop for months as they ripen. Shaking limbs doesn't help much…the branches are long and slender so they absorb amateur shaking.

The fruit is not edible off the tree….far too bitter (at least for the olives we have). I did some reading on how to process them for eating…way too much work.

The wood is quite pretty and that's the main reason our olive tree has survived (I don't have room to stack/sticker it for drying). :big grin:

I haven't tried turning any of its roots yet. I do have a couple that were broken off last year during a driveway repair…didn't expect to see the cool character than Dan's has though...
 
Mike Powell said:
Dan, wonderful pen as usual!

George,
Does the root have a stronger smell when turning it than regular olive wood? I have turned a bit of it, and enjoy usuing it. Its one of my favorites. I have also found a little stash of Olive wood in Ga. Im waiting to get home, it is drying for me at the moment awaiting my return.
I am also thinking about getting a single olive tree once I get back to Tx, just for pruning purposes. I dont like Olives, they taste yucky, but my wife and kids love them. So they can have the fruit, I just want the wood.
Click to expand...


Hi Mike,
Regarding your planting an Olive Tree.
There is an old saying "That you do not plant an Olive Tree for yourself, You plant it for your Grandchildren and their Children"
They are so slow growing and sparce fruiting for years.
While you don't like Olives, and you want the wood.
I think a similar time frame applies.
Sorry,
Brian.
 
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