# Grape Wood.....???



## kenwc (Dec 14, 2006)

I was wondering if anyone had ever made a pen from Grape wood?  I have some chucks of it...not very nice looking wood as is and will probably need to be stabilized.

I'm going to attempt it but wondered if any have tried it.


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## les-smith (Dec 14, 2006)

There is a few that are in the Photo section.  I did a search in there and it brought up about 3-4 grapevine pens.  I've never turned it though.


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## airrat (Dec 15, 2006)

I turned one for last years PITH.   Turned out nice.


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## Dave Smith (Dec 15, 2006)

I have turned quite a few pens, key rings and light pulls. There is usually some speckling in the wood which give it some visual interest. I know there is a key ring and a light pull on my website in the gift shop if you want to see what grape vine looks like.

Grape vine needs to be cut a soon a possible. I quarter the vine seal the ends and put in a paper bag to dry. Also, I have had good luck soaking the quartered pieces in denatured alcohol before sealing the ends. When I soak pen blanks in alcohol I put them on a rack to dry. Most 3/4" square blanks are dry in about a week. But I digress.

Dave Smith

Turned some mock orange this evening in Longview, WA.


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## Rifleman1776 (Dec 15, 2006)

My experience is quite different than Dave's. Fresh cut grape vine is wet, I mean really wet with water running out. I dried some and it was gritty with sugar crystals. The 'wood' was so fibrous that turning was difficult and the result not attractive at all. I discarded and never made a completed project from it. My thought had been bottle stoppers. Maybe, dried, soaked in DNA and/or boiled would help before stabilizing. Downside, it really isn't attractive enough to motivate me to go through all that work. Besides, finding vine large enough to make into objects is difficult. It is a valuable food resource for animals and is already being decimated by so-called 'nature lovers' illegally harvesting it to make 'natural' and 'organic' crafts projects. What I experimented with had been torn up by bulldozers for a construction project. I didn't, and won't, cut any living vine in the woods.


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## ilikewood (Dec 15, 2006)

How bout Oregon Grape?  I've turned a few from that and they were fabulous.  Dave Smith from Longview....you ought to try it as it grows up there.[]


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## bjackman (Dec 15, 2006)

Bill,
Here's one I did from my album. Seemed to have kindof a neat spiral grain. Creamy white wood.






<br />


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## ilikewood (Dec 15, 2006)

Nice work Bill!  Some of the ones I had are a bit more gnarled, but that piece looks pretty good too!


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## Rifleman1776 (Dec 15, 2006)

It looks absolutely nothing like the grape I had. If I still have a couple pieces kicking around, I'll post a picture for comparison.


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## bjackman (Dec 15, 2006)

Thanks Bill.
It was very soft. I think I still have one more similar piece kicking around. It had sat out in the weather for about 2-4 yrs, so that's probably where the slight spalting on the spiral grain came from.


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## ilikewood (Dec 15, 2006)

I was kidding when I suggested this wood.  Grape is very viny.  It looks nothing like grape because it is Oregon grape (not really a grape).  

It is an evergreen shrub similar to holly. (Mahonia aquifolium, Berberidaceae)

Here is a picture


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## wood-of-1kind (Dec 15, 2006)

Have made pens from grape vine. Not bad(material) to work with overall. The figure is not too visually pleasing. Grapes are best enjoyed over a fine cabarnet and shouldn't be wasted on pens[)]

-Peter-


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## Rifleman1776 (Dec 15, 2006)

OK, that clears that up. The pieces I had were so fibrous that when viewed from the end you could actually see light through the many tubular openings in the material. It really wasn't wood-like at all.

EDIT: a P.S. I enjoy humor, yours [)] was partly at my expense but that's OK, I got a giggle at the end.


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## ilikewood (Dec 16, 2006)

Didn't mean at all to make any humor at you expense Frank.  I try not to do that as some people don't take it lightly....sometimes I do it not even thinking and I have to catch myself.  [:I]

I also forget regional items like Oregon Grape.  If you live in the Northwest you probably know about it.

I have never turned real grapevine, but I have heard form others it is a pain.


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## Rifleman1776 (Dec 16, 2006)

> _Originally posted by ilikewood_
> <br />Didn't mean at all to make any humor at you expense Frank.  I try not to do that as some people don't take it lightly....sometimes I do it not even thinking and I have to catch myself.  [:I]
> 
> I also forget regional items like Oregon Grape.  If you live in the Northwest you probably know about it.
> ...



Bill, that's alright. Sometimes these forums get WAY-WAY too serious. After all, we are talking about penturning, not starting a world-wide nuculear holocaust.


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## bob393 (Dec 16, 2006)

Interesting idea though.


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