# Thermally modified pen blanks



## JPW062 (Jan 10, 2018)

I have a few pieces of maple I have bought, but going to try a few species not locally available.

In the maple it also brings out some ribbon curl not normally seen.

Spalted Maple
Cherry
Olivewood


I have seen red oak talked about, but never seen any examples.  I don't currently use red oak for anything b/c it is pretty plain.


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## JPW062 (Jan 10, 2018)

Ash will also be included
White pine likely also
QS white oak if I can find some

Going to try to more or less fill the oven while I am at it.

Wondering if I can re-season a cast iron skillet while I'm at it.
Or dehydrate a few apples


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## Brotherdale (Jan 10, 2018)

Be careful! I set some on fire trying to do this.


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## JPW062 (Jan 10, 2018)

I have an accurate oven thermometer I use for cooking and my understanding is 375* is a pretty good temp.
Duration about 4 hours.
Seems that will run me about $4


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## JPW062 (Jan 10, 2018)

I will be sure to stay close and make sure the wife is out of the house though.


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## Woodchipper (Jan 11, 2018)

JPW062 said:


> I will be sure to stay close and make sure the wife is out of the house though.


If she see you baking wood, then she will tell you that you can bake a cake/roast/biscuits, etc.


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## leehljp (Jan 11, 2018)

I would love to see the results. Please post a picture when you can.


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## Beautys_Beast (Jan 11, 2018)

Please forgive my ignorance, but would someone please fill in the fat kit on what were talking about?  What is thermally modified?


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## Curly (Jan 11, 2018)

The wood is heated enough to change the colour and in some cases make it rot resistant. Some times you see Carmalized Maple for sale at wood dealers. It is thermally modified.


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## JPW062 (Jan 11, 2018)

Has been used for instruments for hundreds of years.

I recently became interested because black walnut has gone through the roof price wise and I simply can't find much dark walnut.  It is the wood I use to accent cherry and I abhor stains.

Works best with high sugar content wood, like soft maple.
Will generally give a natural aged appearance, especially in cherry, although it is not exactly the same as true aging.  It does not ruin the wood like staining IMO.  It will age well, unlike stained woods.
Caramelizes the sugar.  This results in a darker color.  The caramelized sugar forms a crystalline structure which dimensionally stabilizes the wood.  Since the sugar is caramelized many insects are no longer interested.

The wood will warp during the process.
Generally harder and more brittle(difficulty machining)


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## leehljp (Jan 11, 2018)

JPW, Curly, 

Thanks for the information. I grew up with wood, on a farm with about 50 acres of old growth trees that were cut down in the early and mid 60's. My dad had little use for it but did save some beautiful walnut. Because I enjoyed making things with wood, I relied on a few stacks of walnut, cherry, cypress and oak that my dad put aside for me. 

Then I went overseas for 25+ years and this aspect of wood never entered into my vocabulary. 

Thanks for educating me on this.


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## leehljp (Jan 11, 2018)

JPW062 said:


> Has been used for instruments for hundreds of years.
> 
> I recently became interested because black walnut has gone through the roof price wise and I simply can't find much dark walnut.  It is the wood I use to accent cherry and* I abhor stains*.



When I was overseas in Japan, and in the mid-90s, I took a 12 inch wide 3/4" thick black walnut board (no sapwood) and "sliced" it to about 5/16" thick as a lap board for my laptop. I sanded it and it looked great.

A close friend and co-worker (who was somewhat of a woodworker) wanted one also, so I made him one out of the other half. I noticed a few sanding scratches on it as I handed it to him. I took it back and said "Let me sand it a few minutes with 400 grit to get the light sanding scratches out."

He said "NO". 

I asked "why?" He said, "I don't want you to have to re-stain it." I looked at him puzzled like and asked, "What do you mean? This is not stained!"
He replied, "It's not? You mean that is real walnut?" 

Me: "YES!" 
Him: "I always thought that walnut color was a 'Stain'! 

:biggrin::biggrin:


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 11, 2018)

Atlanta Hardwoods has been selling thermally modified wood for a while. The sample I got hold of was ash. The scrollsaw SIG chair at the club also showed us this trick to get multitone wood from the same board with one cutting.


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## cseymour (Jan 11, 2018)

I will bake toy wheels to make them darker without needing to stain as well 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


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## MrPukaShell (Jan 11, 2018)

One of the guys does this in the club.  When he did the demo he wrapped the wood in tin foil so no oxygen could get to the wood.


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## Woodchipper (Jan 11, 2018)

> Him: "I always thought that walnut color was a 'Stain'!


He probably thought Sherlock Holmes was a new housing development and a pig pen is something you write with.


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## JPW062 (Jan 12, 2018)

I like that foil idea.  I may see about one of those turkey bags if it can be re-used.


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