Driftwood used for Pen blanks

[electricsub]

Hi Everyone,
My question may appear daft & I accept that but here goes.

I live on west coast of Scotland, about a 10 minute walk to the beach, which Harvey my rescue Coker Spaniel & I visit on a regular basis, Ok enough said

Looking on the forum it appears that it is possible to harvest drift wood from the beach to use as pen planks.

Questions :-
1- Does it need to be dry & if yes how do I know
2- If "wet" how does one dry out the drift wood.
3- Several people have mentioned "stabilising " the wood, what is meant by that & how is it done
4- Will the wood not break up if not dry ?

Is there any links which may help, I have looked on YouTube with some but little success. Having not started Pen turning yet, looking at driftwood as possible source basic material & being free I was hoping members maybe able to advise.

Thanks
Bob

 

[Chriscb]

Afternoon Bob,

Just to get the ball rolling:

1 - Yes it does need to be dry to take the pen tube (if using) - the internal dimensions of the pen are of paramount importance. You need to get hold off a moisture metre, or else weigh the wood and store for a week or so and weigh again. No change will be a good sign. Also too dry is not good as it may crack when you drill or cut it. You also may need to cut the wood down if very big - helps the drying process. Not to size in case you need to cut it again.

2 - As above - some where dry, not over a radiator or in a greenhouse.

3 - You can buy a special fluid which will penetrate the wood and then set hard. Safer to turn that way if the wood is 'punky' or has lots of inclusions. I tend to turn the wood carefully and use thin CA glue if it looks a bit iffy.

4 - No BUT wear a safety mask anyway. Bits may spin off if the wood is very dry.

These are my thoughts - follow them if you dare. I turn a number of Oak Burrs and use the CA technique on most of them.

Regards,

Chriscb

 

[Penpal]

I live a couple of hours at least inland. Driftwood has no attraction for me. Dryness is vital for permanence. Punky wood has no place in my life there is so much timber that is sound.
Believe the thoughts, cut down the timber to what you can use,this performs the function of exposing useful from waste wood. I dry in my roof space,easily accessed with a drop down ladder.
No such thing as a free lunch. You will find far more top timbers at your waste disposal centres, or people who trim or are arborists. Timber mill offcuts.Builders and furniture makers. Wood Clubs. Just yesterday at a Craft Fair one of my wifes friends husbands has to sell everything including precious timber.

How do you know anything such as how dry etc, time takes care of this and if small enough weight checking of pen blanks is simple and most effective. If you feel you do not want to wait then buy selected blanks you can see before hand or find trusted sources such as Neil on the forum.This is an obsession ,walk the beaches, sounds great. I have mentioned before a guy I new in USA lived ten miles from a dump for pallets found exciting timbers every visit this is usually sound easy access.

Also people like me over accumulate, I have given tons (literally) of beaut stuff to a mate with his own gallery and a prodigeous turner.

Peter.

 

[wm460]

Hi Everyone,
My question may appear daft & I accept that but here goes.

I live on west coast of Scotland, about a 10 minute walk to the beach, which Harvey my rescue Coker Spaniel & I visit on a regular basis, Ok enough said Thanks
Bob

Checking out the frozen bikini babes.

 

[Graham_C]

Hi Bob, and welcome to the forum.

I have made a number of pens from driftwood, so syes, it can be done.

There are a number of problems to overcome using driftwood in my limited experience. The main one is the fragility of wood that has spent time in the sea. It has to be either stabilised or discarded in favour of something a bit less fragile.

I use the simple method of weighing the wood, leaving in a dry atmosphere for a week and weighing again. Repeat until no more loss is recorded. This can take weeks!

I stabilise using Stick Fast stabilising resin in a vacuum chamber, then "baking". There are a number of posts on this subject, and plenty on uTube.

If you are new to turning, I would suggest, as have others, that you start on nice new stable blanks. Turning some of the driftwood has proven to be difficult, and it is easy to break a blank right at the end of the process, which is somewhat dis-heartening

Good luck with your turning, whichever route you take

Hi Everyone,

Looking on the forum it appears that it is possible to harvest drift wood from the beach to use as pen planks.

Questions :-
1- Does it need to be dry & if yes how do I know
2- If "wet" how does one dry out the drift wood.
3- Several people have mentioned "stabilising " the wood, what is meant by that & how is it done
4- Will the wood not break up if not dry ?

Is there any links which may help, I have looked on YouTube with some but little success. Having not started Pen turning yet, looking at driftwood as possible source basic material & being free I was hoping members maybe able to advise.

Thanks
Bob