# Cross Cut Spalted Cork Oak Patriot



## patmurris (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi all! 

I grabbed a nice cork oak log last summer at the local dump and let it actively spalt outside since then. I started cross cutting some blanks two weeks ago, had to dry them in the MW and deal with severe bending... but here they are and i'm very glad with the result:








Cross cut spalted cork oak on a 24k Patriot from CSUSA - CA finish:












Thanks for looking. :wink:


----------



## johncrane (Jul 4, 2011)

Looks great Pat! the grain is awesome, great find.


----------



## Hubert H (Jul 4, 2011)

Pat,  "glad with the result"?  I guess!  The grain is outstanding and the fit and finish look GREAT!   HWH


----------



## robutacion (Jul 4, 2011)

Great wood Pat,

I've got 2 varieties of the Cork tree or Cork Oak as some know it as.  The first one was years ago from my auto-mechanic property, the second and the one I've been looking for everywhere, was about 4 weeks ago but I only got a branch that had to be cut as was getting into the main road.  

This last one is exactly the same species of the one you are showing here but, not as larger diameter as yours, however, enough to make some full blanks, ion straight cut and diagonal, for cross cut as yours, hasn't have enough diameter...!

One of the things I like to do with this type cork tree, is items where I use a full disc as tops, as you have cut yours.  They just look amazing when finished...!:wink:

You've done also a good job with the pen, the spalting you've got there is slightly different than the spalting I saw in Cork wood...!

Cheers
George


----------



## SDB777 (Jul 4, 2011)

The crosscut is what really set this blank off.....well done!



Fit-n-finish are spot-on.....thanks for sharing.









Scott (oak can be a beautiful blank) B


----------



## PaulDoug (Jul 4, 2011)

Never heard of cork oak before. You made a beautiful pen with it.


----------



## dozuki (Jul 4, 2011)

WOW.  that is some nice wood and you made a beautiful pen out of it.  Where can I get my hands on some.  It doesn't look like something you just go purchase.


----------



## patmurris (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks for the nice comments! 



robutacion said:


> Great wood Pat,
> 
> I've got 2 varieties... This last one is exactly the same species of the one you are showing here... One of the things I like to do with this type cork tree, is items where I use a full disc as tops, as you have cut yours.  They just look amazing when finished...!:wink:


Hey George, i didn't know you had cork oaks down there! - it seems it grows mainly in Africa and south-west Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_suber

I too like the end grain slice, but one issue i have with this timber is that the heart wood chrinks a lot when drying and the bark tends to come off. 

To manage full blanks, i had to cut rather wide bands across those slices, dry them in the MW and then sand/cut them to size once they have chrunk and bent. A lot of cut offs and saw dust in the process.




dozuki said:


> WOW.  that is some nice wood and you made a  beautiful pen out of it.  Where can I get my hands on some.  It doesn't  look like something you just go purchase.



I'll keep cutting the log i have and will offer some blanks for sale at some point. I have a very limited supply though and this particular spalting is quite unique - not sure i will ever be able to reproduce that!


----------



## low_48 (Jul 4, 2011)

Love the color! Really looks like burl in the picture. Really like seeing a great wood these days!


----------



## boxerman (Jul 4, 2011)

That's one very nice pen.


----------

