# BARK like a Pen!



## Krash (Apr 12, 2014)

Weeded the yard .... mowed the lawn. I just HAD to steal away to the garage to finish this pen.

Ponderosa pine landscaping bark from my back yard.
Center band is made from a yucca blossom stem.

CA and BLO knocked down to a satin finish.

C & C welcome!


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## walshjp17 (Apr 12, 2014)

Recycled, recycled material.  Perfect.  Gorgeous pen.


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## johncrane (Apr 12, 2014)

Looks really good, well done.


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## robutacion (Apr 12, 2014)

Great pen mate...!

I have "some" blanks made with the Old Radiata pine bark planted near my house, over 100 years ago, all along the back road, they are gigantic are are reaching their life expectancy, 3 of them had to come down and I got the wood for the lot, some of the bark is nearly 2" thick so, I cut some into pen blanks.

I turned a couple of samples and finish them with CA and they look similar to yours, amazing wood grain type structure. Not the easiest materials to handle raw and stabilization didn't work that well as the bark is water/liquid repellant but improved slightly, never the less...!

Thanks for showing it to us...!

Cheers
George


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## Dale Allen (Apr 12, 2014)

Outstanding!


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## jimm1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Mulch huh? Very cool.


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## plano_harry (Apr 12, 2014)

That turned out great!  Really nice grain pattern in the wood and the Yucca is a nice touch.


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## Band Saw Box (Apr 13, 2014)

A great looking pen, the yucca ban really sets it off. Well done.


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## mikespenturningz (Apr 13, 2014)

Good job Kelly. Are you stabilizing this bark?


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## eranox (Apr 13, 2014)

That is too cool!  What a beautiful grain structure in that bark!  I really like the yucca, too.  I have a lot in the back yard.  May have to check it out!


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## Krash (Apr 13, 2014)

mikespenturningz said:


> Good job Kelly. Are you stabilizing this bark?



For sure! It needs multiple coats of CA then a gentle, sharp tool since it us so soft. Kinda fun tho to find a pen on the ground in the back yard!


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## Krash (Apr 13, 2014)

eranox said:


> That is too cool!  What a beautiful grain structure in that bark!  I really like the yucca, too.  I have a lot in the back yard.  May have to check it out!



I kinda wonder how the yucca will take a stain.


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## OZturner (Apr 14, 2014)

Great Pen, Kelly.
Love the material.
Brian.


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## SteveJ (Apr 14, 2014)

You've done that kit proud!


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## hobbyist2013 (Apr 15, 2014)

This is such a fantastic piece of woodworking. Beautiful pen blank!


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## Krash (Sep 12, 2014)

mikespenturningz said:


> Good job Kelly. Are you stabilizing this bark?



No I didn't Mike. It was a challenge since the bark is so soft. Now that it's done, it will dent easily. Stabilization would be a great thing to do for this bark.


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## terry q (Sep 12, 2014)

Well done.  Turning bark takes a special kind of patience.  I tried turning Black Locust bark.  It's difficult.  Stabilizing didn't work for me either.


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## wyone (Sep 12, 2014)

Ok... so I am confused...  was this a large chunk of bark that you used CA to stabilize?  I guess I have never been around bark thick enough to make a blank out of.  That said, just today I was in the shop and came across a junk of White oak that still has bark on it.  Now I am wondering.. should I just take the bark off, CA enough together to get enough thickness and then try to stabilize?  you have peaked my interest.


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## robutacion (Sep 12, 2014)

Most wood/tree bark is buoyant so, it won't sink, and it doesn't sink, doesn't take any water/liquids so, stabilizing under vacuum doesn't work as it does with normal softwoods and CA has limited effect on the soaking, you have to use the super thin CA (5cup) to get "some" penetration.

This small amount of penetration can be very useful when, you are turning the blank and soaking every time you reach soft material (better if just before reaching the soft stuff) so, slow process.  Using a "flap disk", you will be able to control the amount of material you are taking and you can wait just before the final size to start soaking the blank with CA, and continue on with the hand sanding stages...!

Remember that, trees grow bark as the first stage of their defence, against wood eating creatures, sun expose and water/weather protection, this is the reason why they are buoyant, being water proof/resistant will maintain the wood from rot and fungi growth, something that will happen immediately (to a certain degree depending of the tree species) so, expect to have difficulty to soak pine bark, regardless tom what you use...!

A good thickness of CA as finish, is one of the best options to protect and maintain the material looking good for a long time, a good floor varnish can be as effective but, not as easy to apply as multiple coating/layers however, dipping, brushing or spraying, the floor varnish can be sanded and polish the same way as the common CA finish...!

Hope this makes sense to you...!

Cheers
George


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## 1080Wayne (Sep 13, 2014)

wyone said:


> Ok... so I am confused...  was this a large chunk of bark that you used CA to stabilize?  I guess I have never been around bark thick enough to make a blank out of.  That said, just today I was in the shop and came across a junk of White oak that still has bark on it.  Now I am wondering.. should I just take the bark off, CA enough together to get enough thickness and then try to stabilize?  you have peaked my interest.



Rather than take layers of bark off to glue up , you will have a better looking pen if you strengthen the bond between the bark and the wood with thin CA , then drill the blank so that a portion of the bark will end up on the surface of the finished barrel , taking care to turn it down slowly , with several stops for re-application of thin CA to the bark .  The contrast between the dark bark , light earlywood , and possibly some of the darker latewood will look great (at least it did on the oak I turned ).


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## Krash (Sep 13, 2014)

terry q said:


> Well done.  Turning bark takes a special kind of patience.  I tried turning Black Locust bark.  It's difficult.  Stabilizing didn't work for me either.



Fer sure Terry!

Check this one out. That center segmented section is ponderosa bark. It is surrounded by walnut, aluminum, and ebony. Wow, talk about differing hardnesses! I had to be super careful and be sure to periodically soak the bark portion with thin CA to finish it.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f179/single-sided-scallops-120206/


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## MikeL (Sep 13, 2014)

Neat looking pen and a neat idea.


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