{"id":2242,"date":"2017-04-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2242"},"modified":"2017-02-02T16:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T21:07:38","slug":"bees-wing-narra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/bees-wing-narra\/","title":{"rendered":"Bee’s Wing Narra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have written about plain Narra in a previous post<\/a>, and while that post is dated in some respects, most of the information remains accurate in relation to plain unfigured Narra blanks.  In this post I will explain what makes Bee’s Wing Narra distinct from the Narra I have discussed before as well as provide more detailed pricing and availability information for this unique form of Narra.<\/p>\n

What is Bee’s Wing Narra?<\/h2>\n

As is often the case with exotic, and some notable domestic, hardwoods, names can be misleading in that it might imply that there is a separate species out there when in fact what is really being conveyed is a variant form of the same species.  That is the case with Bee’s Wing Narra.  Narra, which is harvested from trees known botanically as Pterocarpus indicus<\/em>, a close relative of always favored Padauk (various Pterocarpus spp<\/em>), can also be sold under several other names including Amboyna when burl wood is being sold or Bee’s Wing Narra when a particular figure is present in the cut material.  To understand this phenomenon, it helps to think of all the different descriptors of figured maple that are familiar, including, but most certainly not limited to: bird’s eye, striped, curly, flame, and tiger stripe.  None of these are separate species of Maple, usually they are all Acer saccharum<\/em>, but instead simply different figures that appear in the cut surface of the wood which create high demand and therefore much higher retail values because such figures are uncommon and cannot be predicted until a tree is harvested.  No one really understand what causes different figures to appear in one log and not in another harvested feet away and that is part of the allure and the mysterious appeal of figured lumber.<\/p>\n

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Bee’s Wing Narra Blank<\/p><\/div>\n

As the name implies, some viewers believe that the figure in Bee’s Wing Narra looks, well, like the wings of bees.  I’m not always sure that I can see it clearly but in some samples it is very striking and obvious, with the best pieces displaying clear chatoyancy, or “cat’s eye effect” which causes the surface to appear to shimmer and change appearance as the wood is rotated into different light refractions.<\/p>\n

Pricing and Availability<\/h2>\n

You shouldn’t expect to find Bee’s Wing Narra in sizes larger than pen blanks, or perhaps bottle stopper, knife blade, or gun grip sizes at the largest.  I’ve never seen Bee’s Wing Narra bowl blanks, although plain Narra bowl blanks are certainly available from West Penn Hardwoods, provided you don’t mind paying $30 per board foot.<\/p>\n

Bee’s Wing Narra pen blanks are not hard to find.  I’ve just now located them at the following vendors, all of whom I have had dealings with in the past and feel confident recommending: Bell Forest Products<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Woods<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, and Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The offerings from Bell Forest Products are listed as “curly Narra” and could in fact be burl wood usually sold as “Amboyna.”  Regardless, it promises a good figure even if it isn’t exactly bee’s wing in nature.  Their pen blanks sell for $3.75 each.  Griffin Exotic Woods sells pen blanks, listed as “gallery grade,” and they are quite dramatic, for a whopping $6.50 each, which represents a price reduction from the former $8.50!  WoodTurningz blanks are significantly less figured and sell for a bargain price of $3.25, but again, they really cannot compare to the truly remarkable, and therefore highly prized, offerings from Griffin.  Finally, rounding us out, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods offers Bee’s Wing Narra pen blanks as the low price leader at only $2.50.  The photos they show look OK, but make no mistake, that isn’t the blank you will receive in the mail.  MANY hardwood dealers use “stock photos” purchased, or “borrowed” off the Internet instead of photographing their own actual stock.  This is misleading, I believe, especially if they don’t own up the practice.  So, my pick here is Griffin Exotic Hardwoods because I know they photograph each piece they sell, so what you see is literally what you get.  I’ve purchased from them before and I have always been amazed and the species they offer and the quality of what they sell.  The blank will be dry and stable, even if they have had to dry it over 5-6 years of time.  Yes, they are expensive, but if you really want a show stopper of a Bee’s Wing Narra pen, then spend the extra money and get what you REALLY want with this species.  That said, that is just my opinion and I have had excellent experiences with the other vendors as well, but for a true gallery grade blank, my experience tells me that Griffin is the place to go.<\/p>\n

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Bee’s Wing Narra Board<\/p><\/div>\n

Sustainability<\/h2>\n

At the time I wrote the original Narra post, I was, for some reason, not addressing environmental sustainability of the species, and I regret that.<\/p>\n

Narra, Bee’s Wing or not, is not listed as being in any way threatened or endangered by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices<\/a>, but it does appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List<\/a> as Vulnerable.  The IUCN listing is due to populations losses of over 20% in the past three generations due primarily to exploitation.<\/p>\n

To the best of my knowledge, Narra in any form is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.<\/p>\n

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.<\/p>\n

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Bee’s Wing Narra Guitar<\/p><\/div>\n

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some domestic woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay <\/a>or Etsy <\/a>may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested.  The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood.  That is inherently an individual decision.<\/p>\n

I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations.  This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store.  Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.<\/p>\n

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Professionally Made Bee’s Wing Narra Pen<\/p><\/div>\n

My Personal Experience<\/h2>\n

I was only working with a small pen blank sized piece of Bee’s Wing Narra but I enjoyed the experience.  The wood turns beautifully and the figure is truly impressive to behold.  Narra of all types will dull your tools, so sharpen frequently or use replaceable carbide cutters such as the ones I use in my Easy Wood Tools<\/a> to achieve an excellent cut every time.  I finished the pen with simple, albeit multi-step, cyanoacrylate pen finish that really highlighted the figure and the reddish coloration of the Bee’s Wing Narra blank.  If I can afford additional blanks in the future, and provided I work through some of the massive stockpiles of pen blanks I already own, I would be thrilled to work with Bee’s Wing Narra again in the future, especially if it was an incredibly special project and special pen kit that deserved such an amazing wood.<\/p>\n

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My Bee’s Wing Narra Pen<\/p><\/div>\n

As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the name implies, some viewers believe that the figure in Bee\u2019s Wing Narra looks, well, like the wings of bees. I\u2019m not always sure that I can see it clearly but in some samples it is very striking and obvious, with the best pieces displaying clear chatoyancy, or \u201ccat\u2019s eye effect\u201d which causes the surface to appear to shimmer and change appearance as the wood is rotated into different light refractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":2197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,138,130],"tags":[148,171,180,183,188,200,214,217,221,239,240,241,249],"yoast_head":"\nBee's Wing Narra - Wood Turning Pens ..<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bee's Wing Narra is the name given to a particular figure that appears in a small minority of Narra trees that are felled in SE Asia which is highly prized.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/bees-wing-narra\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bee's Wing Narra - 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