Woodturning Materials
So, what can you use as a wood turning material? The better question is, what CAN’T you use! The wood lathe can certainly be used to create objects from most any wood you can imagine, and probably a fair amount of woods you have never heard of much less imagined. But the possibilities don’t stop there. I also use acrylic plastics, deer antler, water buffalo horn, off-cuts from Corian counter tops, corncobs (no, really, I swear), wood composites, and even custom made pens with items encased in special polymers that allow you to do decoupage-like items. One can even rescue the shavings from today’s bowls to make tomorrow’s pens through a process named by its creator, Phoenix Pens. Really, the only limitation is your imagination.
Narra is a beautiful wood from Southeast Asia and environs that is a joy to work with. It is related to other common and popular exotic hardwoods in …
Maple is a common wood found throughout northern and eastern North America, but the special variant of highly figured bird's eye maple is anything but common. The figure …
Redheart is a uniquely beautiful and vibrant wood with a stunning red coloration. It is a joy to use on the lathe and for other applications. This …
I fell victim to marketing and decided to try some new "glow in the dark" pen blanks. The proved to be, as expected, acrylic, which isn't always the …
Explore with me this relatively rare and richly colored wood that comes only from small areas of Northeastern Brazil. While it is hard to work with, the sheer …
While I have written about Olive extensively before, this post provides an updated discussion of my personal experiences with the wood as well as information specific to disambiguation between …
As woodworkers, we don't always know with certainty what wood we are working with and that can come about for many different reasons. Commonly confused is Verawood with …