# Dymondwood tips



## wayneis (Oct 2, 2005)

First of all I recently found that all Dymondwood is not created equal.  I've been buying this stuff from several different companies and it dawned on me after a recent shipment from River Ridge that after turning blanks from them that theirs was quite a bit different.  I asked about it and was told that Steve orders his made different, more dense.  The blanks that I have bought from them are in my opinion much better than any others that I have tried.  These blanks are not porus like some of the others but more like a solid hard wood.  They polish up like glass.  I sand with MM to 12,000 and then buff and they look like I put a finish on them. 

What I have also found is that you need to keep the heat down both when drilling and when turning but I now go one step further and it has made a huge difference.  I now ream the tubes out before I assemble the pen.  I use a drill bit just a bit smaller than the tube and wrap sandpaper around it and put it in the tubes and ream the insides out to where I can just press the parts in by hand.  When I get them reamed I put a drop of ca in the tube before I press in the part.  Sence I have been doing this I have not had one blank crack, before I did this I had several crack either when pressing the parts in or shortly after.  I had almost swore off this wood but now I turn it regular but I only will purchase blanks from River Ridge from now on.  

Wayne

I am only a satisfied customer, I'm not getting paid for this.


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## PenWorks (Oct 2, 2005)

Wayne, I was doing some late night cleaning and found a box of Dymondwood blanks. I used to make alot of dymondwood pens, stuff sold real good, Never figured out why I stopped. I never even cut into that stuff I got from Bill, not dymondwood but nice stuff as well.


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## Rifleman1776 (Oct 2, 2005)

My experience with Dymondwood is not good. I haven't used Steve's so my comments do not apply to his product. I find it difficult to turn. Unlike some really hard-hard woods, it just isn't pleasant to turn. When drilling extra caution must be used to avoid heat build up. And, most dissapointing, I had a duck call simply de-laminate while in storage months after I turned it. I might have a few pen blanks on hand but is unlikely I'll be turning them anytime soon.


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## wayneis (Oct 2, 2005)

Frank you are one of the people that I had in mind when I desided to write that note.  I know that many besides myself had problems with dymondwood.  All I know is that I wanted to have something more fitting for Ladies and dymondwood is what most seemed to like so i've been playing around and found that if I reamed the tubes then it eleminated most problems, especially cracking.  I have pens sitting here that by now would have cracked for sure and they look just like the day that I finished them.

As far as turning them goes I find at least the blanks that I am getting from steve to be very much like turning stabilized blanks and some very hard wood like ebony gaboon or lignum vitia.  The blanks that I have been getting from Steve are just loaded with the resin, very dense but I don't have problems as long as I use sharp tools.  

I've been making some interesting pens by mixing the blanks, I have been using one color on one half and a contrasting color for the other half of the pen and they have been very well excepted.

Wayne


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## wayneis (Oct 2, 2005)

Anthony,  The blanks from River Ridge are very much like Bill's Strattawood as far as consistency goes.  They are loaded with resin.  They also have some new colors out and also will do special orders which I am thinking about doing for my sons high school colors.

Wayne


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## Rifleman1776 (Oct 2, 2005)

Wayne, I have a pen that was on the table at the show yesterday. Half African Blackwood, half Dymondwood. Each half was the left over after I blew out the other half. Don't recall why the African Blackwood went bad. Normally, that's one of my favorite woods to turn.


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## Craig B (Oct 2, 2005)

This seems odd to me.  I have used (and abused) dymondwood on knife handles for many years.  It does burn easy when worked, and drilling is tricky, but all in all it is a great material for knives.

It must be the pressure, although I have peened brass rods many times with it to hold knife slabs on.

But, maybe the material I buy for knives is made different than what is supplied for pens???

I will admit, I have never made a pen out of it yet....[:I]


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## wayneis (Oct 3, 2005)

Craig the difference is two fold here, with pens after we have turned the wood down is very thin, then add presure to that very thin dymondwood and you have a very good chance of having a crack between one of the laminations.  

Wayne


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## Craig B (Oct 4, 2005)

Wayne,
that makes sense [:I]  Like I said, I've never used it for turning pens.  Most knifemakers look down their nose at Dymondwood, but I made some knives fifteen years ago with dymondwood handles that are just as good today as they were when made.
Maybe I'll have time this weekend to try a pen out of some old scraps I have of it....if I don't go fishing instead 
[]


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## Sawdustman (Oct 4, 2005)

I've been using Dymondwood for more than 10 years. I originally bought from Berea when they carried partial sheets. Since then most of mine I get direct from the manufacturer. Real Dymondwood is made by Rutland Plywood in VT. They have a fairly high minimum order based on thickness but I would buy various thicknesses of solid color wood from them. I need to order again but will wait until next year as I am in my high show travel season. It does split easily when drilling and does burn but I find it easy to turn and the other stuff is not a big problem if you are doing large qtys like I do. When I want diagonal cut multi color then I buy blanks from several suppliers. I would be interested to know if some of the names mentioned here are actually Dymondwood or some similiar product from another manufacturer
Art


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