Yet another question... wood this time....

[MatthewZS]

How is peach wood? Worth bothering with.... I've got a peach tree we just cut down.... 4 or 5 dozen pens worth. It would need drying as it's very green/wet but is it a good looking wood or is it just another white ordinary looking wood? This is with the exception of maybe a few pens worth all just straight grain, heart and sapwood, no burls or roots or anything.

Thanks.

 

[ldb2000]

That's the wondrous thing about wood , you never know what nature has put inside until you open it up . When you cut it down , slice some up and see . Fruit woods can sometimes be stunning but most are just straight grained , plain wood . It's still worth something , even if it's just used for jam chucks and practice blanks . You can also let it spalt which sometimes turns plain wood into stunning pen blanks .

 

[MatthewZS]

This brings up a question.....

I've heard of some people "spalting" wood themselves by burrying it and the like. Anyone know any good recipes?

 

[ldb2000]

There are several ways of doing it . I have done it by covering it with damp leaves and keeping it covered with a dark poly tarp . Keep it damp and check it regularly so it don't start to rot . Took me about 2 months to get some wonderfully spalted maple that a neighbor had cut down .

 

[KenV]

Home brew spalting --- do a search in the fine woodworking mag for spalting. They have a PHd researchers doing a series of blogs on the topic and how to do it yourself with more predictable results.

 

[sbwertz]

How is peach wood? Worth bothering with.... I've got a peach tree we just cut down.... 4 or 5 dozen pens worth. It would need drying as it's very green/wet but is it a good looking wood or is it just another white ordinary looking wood? This is with the exception of maybe a few pens worth all just straight grain, heart and sapwood, no burls or roots or anything.

Thanks.

I, too, lost a peach tree a few years ago. To maximize the grain, I turn it cross grain. It makes a much more interesting grain pattern

Sharon