# Oak pens



## jeff3285 (Dec 15, 2017)

I have noticed most people that turns wood pens never says anything about using oak for a pen blank...has anyone ever used oak and how did it turned out!!!!


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## NVSB4 (Dec 15, 2017)

I've turned some from scraps of red oak that I had lying around. It turns fine, but is really not a stand out as far as appearance goes. I love oak furniture, but it really just looks kind of plain in the small amount required for a pen.


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## Pieter9 (Dec 15, 2017)

It is there to how it is sawn. This is oak wood of a armrest of a Chair.


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## Talltim (Dec 15, 2017)

We just filled an order for twenty three oak pens.  A lot of oak is rather open grained and not our favorite to turn. It can make nice pens. The flecks in quarter sawn oak can have a nice effect. Some people like the plain solid look as well. 

We find with selling pens it helps to have  good wood or a good story.  It is better if you have both. 

All of our oak had a good story behind it.  The pens looked as good as the oak could make them look but the story sold them. 

We have done some oak Burl that was actually very impressive, but i would not call it a joy to turn or finish. 

Oak will never have the effect of a good amboyna burl but in my opinion it can  have its place.


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## Wildman (Dec 15, 2017)

I have turned a lot of Oak pens both normal & spalted wood.  Harvest my wood so manipulating wood grain fun thing to do.  My spalted wood pens have always been a big seller.  



Oak Cigar Pen - by Wildwood @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community


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## crokett (Dec 15, 2017)

I have also turned some oak pens.  The answer is, it depends.  I have a tool handle I made from red oak, it was from a section of tree that had grown fast, so larger open cells.  I also have a botched beer tap handle that I will eventually make into something else, probably a beer bottle opener.  It was a branch I found in the woods and looks quite good and has smaller, denser grain.


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## WriteON (Dec 15, 2017)

jeff3285 said:


> I have noticed most people that turns wood pens never says anything about using oak for a pen blank...has anyone ever used oak and how did it turned out!!!!



I'm not an Oak fan. However for practice when I started I bought a 30" oak dowel from HomeDepot. Try it. You're the artist.


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## g8trbone (Dec 15, 2017)

I have turned some Red Oak from a tree we took down in our yard. It turns nice but like others have said, it is not a very “pretty” wood. I wanted to turn something that had a story to it for the gifts I am giving out. 


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## jcm71 (Dec 15, 2017)

I have sold several Slimline made out of oak.  Of course Jack Daniels pens are out of oak as well.  Cross cut or quarter sawn oak makes for a more interesting pen.


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## TonyL (Dec 15, 2017)

I use oak sometimes when i want to engrave the pen. i do sand it to 2000 grit. i would prefer something with less open grain, but it works. i sold several with engraved pet images.


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## Gary Beasley (Dec 15, 2017)

I’ve had problems with red oak splitting or cracking after it was done, even though it seemed quite dry on the shelf for a year or so. Other varieties of oak turned out quite well, loved the way a water oak burl looked.


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## leehljp (Dec 15, 2017)

As written earlier, oak in general is rather plain, and has an open grain (large pores) that until experienced are hard to fill.

One aspect of the fun of pen turning, is that the cut-off, throw-aways, knots and pieces of crotch and least used parts of boards used in furniture - these make the most intriguing pens. Plain wood looks good with the right pen and right finish but  in general plain wood looks, well, just like plain wood. What looks good as a piece of furniture does not necessarily look great in a pen. 

This question has come up concerning teak also. Teak is a pretty wood but it is plain looking in general. Beautiful in a table but rather plain in a pen. Some people like it and request it on occasion, and the same for oak.

Plain straight grained woods often show up better in cross cuts or angle cuts.


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## mark james (Dec 15, 2017)

jeff3285 said:


> I have noticed most people that turns wood pens never says anything about using oak for a pen blank...has anyone ever used oak and how did it* turned out*!!!!



A pen from "left overs"  Yes, the Oak was very open grained, but I liked how it resulted.  Needed to be careful to avoid dust from the Padauk getting into the oak pores.


View in Gallery


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## Wildman (Dec 15, 2017)

One thing might consider whether turning Oak or any domestic or exotic woods, people relate to woods they recognize. 

Could be an opening for a sale or listening to someone sharing their knowledge with you.  In any event any activity at your booth like that might bring in others to look at your pens or just hear your conversation with that individual.   My experience with situations like this have been both good and led to sales and other times just listen to great story.  

Remember one of our member’s here all upset his Bocote pens didn’t sell at one show.  Never turned Bocote myself but know you can turn a pretty pen from that wood.  Of course he eventually sold some at next show.  Never saw pictures of those Bocote pens or know if the guy just oversold them in conversation and ended up buying the product back.  

Even eye catchibg  wood pen blanks domestic or exotic don’t always equal sales, even though may eventually sell.   Lesson here is if people recognize the wood of your pen blank complement that on their knowledge. Add little story if have on and get the sale.  If have to educate the buyer keep it short and sweet.


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## Cmiles1985 (Dec 15, 2017)

There's definitely a large selection of oak species to choose from. I have turned some from Red Oak and a couple of other variants. They look nice. As was stated above, the openness of the grain isn't really favored in turning with regards to Red Oak. Live Oak looks really neat when turned, but you may want to be prepared to sharpen some tools. I may start turning some Live Oak soon as some fellow named Harvey donated acres worth of fallen trees to me.


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## terry q (Dec 15, 2017)

I have made a few.  I prefer white oak over red oak.


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## KenV (Dec 15, 2017)

Oak nomenclature is tricky.   Red oak is not an oak species, it is a marketing designation of a group of 23 similar oak species.  White oak is also a marketing group.

Yes there are oaks with the word "red" and "white" in the name, but the marketing group is the way they are sold to the furniture trade and lumber vendors.

Some species that do not make furnature grades are used in other processes.  I have found some very nice pen blank oak from shipping pallets and such. Burls and feather grains are more common in such sources.


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## MRDucks2 (Dec 15, 2017)

I actually ended up finding some better character out of old 3/4 inch flooring. Here are two pens, one with nice dark rays crossing the grain and cut on an angle. The, harder to see, but has very light colored rays with some chatoyance to them. These short strip floor boards are close to the bottom of quality in Oak. 







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## PatrickR (Dec 15, 2017)

One approach to the open grain is to accentuate it with a color.


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## Marcros (Dec 15, 2017)

oak can look fantastic, even the most plain of blanks depending on how it is cut. oak burrs, brown oak, tiger oak... fume it, stain it, ebonite it... Certainly with our English oak, there is a lot of good options. 

this is a set of cufflinks that I made a couple of weeks ago. The bottom set is English oak, the others are English yew and black palm. I have some more on the go, and some more planned.


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## MTViper (Dec 15, 2017)

A friend of mine gave me some Blackjack Oak.  This wood is hard as a rock but has some great color variations and character in it.  I've made a few pens and a razor and stand with it.  Turns beautifully.  Hard as a rock.  I use it sparingly because it's hard to get.


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## Rolandranch (Dec 15, 2017)

Like Talltim said, the story behind the wood can be just as important as the look of the wood. Just plain oak isn't very attractive but I've seen some people sell hundreds of Jack Daniels oak barrel blanks - all because of the story behind them.


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## JohnU (Dec 16, 2017)

For me it all depends on the character. Since oak can have large open grain I don't use it unless it's a unique piece.  Here's one I made from a a red oak piece piece of firewood I rescued off a friends wood pile. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/coin-$-cone-skin-feathers-burl-111702/     (4th one in the picture)


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## Dehn0045 (Dec 16, 2017)

Oak can have burls or spalting that can look really nice, John’s pen is a great specimen.  Typically the burls can have a lot bark inclusions, which makes it less expensive compared to other species.  I usually stay away from oak, but I will say that Australian Oaks (sheoaks) can be pretty cool, but they are unrelated to the American Oaks.


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## mmayo (Dec 18, 2017)

I sell what I refer to as “triple T” pens.  The oak was grown on my property near Tehachapi, it was made in Tehachapi and laser engraved with Tehachapi.  Sales have been good enough that I will make some pens engraved with Bear Valley a prominent gated community just east of Tehachapi.

I will purchased some clear grain filler soon to see how that works to prevent mostly white residue buildup in the grain.


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## Rifleman1776 (Dec 18, 2017)

Most oak can have a 'stringy' grain making it no fun to turn. The exception is Blackjack oak. It is tight grained and makes a very interesting turning. I used to thin my woods by cutting down as much Blackjack as I could for firewood. But, it is 'h' to split.


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## firewhatfire (Dec 18, 2017)

I always torch it to show the grains right before finishing.  




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## ajollydds (Dec 18, 2017)

Oak burl that I finished yesterday.


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## blade.white (Dec 26, 2017)

Here is an oak pen and an oak blank pick up off the ground.


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## Gary Beasley (Dec 27, 2017)

blade.white said:


> Here is an oak pen and an oak blank pick up off the ground.



Really nice spalting!


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