# Thomas Jefferson wood



## Andrewt72 (Mar 17, 2022)

I have recently aquired some wood feom "Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest in Lynchburg Virginia. I was wondering if there are any tricks for cutting blanks? Also, I could use some guidance on how much each pen blank would be worth. Thank you in advance!
Andrew Taylor


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## jeff (Mar 17, 2022)

Can you be more specific? Do you mean technical tricks like what machine to use, or size of the blanks, or grain orientation?  

As far as value... what is the provenance? Do you have documentation?


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## monophoto (Mar 17, 2022)

I was waiting to see if anyone responded to this question before throwing out some thoughts.  I'm sure that are folks out there who have more knowledge about this subject that I do.

First, as to cutting - my sense is that pen blanks are a peripheral product that result from the milling of '1 by' lumber.  That is, timber is milled into standard '1 by' dimensions (which are 3/4" thick), and then if there is usable lumber left over that doesn't fall into standard dimension lumber sizes, it can be further milled down to form saleable 3/4x3/4 pen blanks rather than just being thrown away.

But if you are starting with a tree (trunk or branch) and your only desired end-product is only pen blanks, then you are likely think about 6" lengths, and cutting patterns that maximize the number of blanks that can be produced allowing for wastage such as the pith, bark, and saw kerfs.  So you would probably cut a 3/4" slice directly through the pith, and then cut additional 3/4" slices in parallel.   Then, each of those slices would be cut into 3/4"x3/4" billets or blanks..  This would be a standard 'plainsawn' cutting pattern which would be fine since the blanks would eventually be turned so that the nuances of quarter-sawn or rift-sawn would be meaningless.

As to the value - there are several factors that influence the value of pen blanks, including the appearance of the wood, its scarcity, and any emotional added value that might be derived from the history of a specific piece of wood.  In my opinion, poplar is not an especially interesting wood - it's bland without very interesting grain patterns, the color (greenish tan) is not very pretty, and it's fairly soft.  That's why its the hardwood that is most often chosen for painted applications rather than applications that emphasize the natural grain and appearance of the wood.  Its relatively common  and it grows like weeds (and in my yard, we actually consider it to be something of a weed and try to get rid of it).  It is among the softest of the hardwoods, and it sometimes can be pretty stringy.  So the question is whether the fact that the trees from which this wood was harvested were originally owned by Thomas Jefferson would add much value.  My suspicion is that history would not be a big factor, and pen blanks from this wood would not be especially valuable.  Now if you could document that the wood came from a chair that Jefferson actually sat on, it might be more valuable.

I did poke around to see whether any commercial pen blank suppliers offered much poplar, and most of the poplar I found was stabilized and dyed - in other words, post-treated to remediate the natural deficiencies of being soft and bland.


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## showcaser (Mar 17, 2022)

Suggestion Andrew, Just make your pens out of the material. Don't try to sell blanks, you'll save yourself many headaches. Most historical wood isn't pretty.  You know your source.  Just do your due diligence in with who and where you acquire your materials.  Pretty cutthroat out there. Best of luck


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## Andrewt72 (Mar 17, 2022)

jeff said:


> Can you be more specific? Do you mean technical tricks like what machine to use, or size of the blanks, or grain orientation?
> 
> As far as value... what is the provenance? Do you have documentation?


Poplar Forest was built by Thomas Jefferson. The wood is original. It was replaced during restoration. I will be getting documentation to create a COA.


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## Andrewt72 (Mar 17, 2022)

monophoto said:


> I was waiting to see if anyone responded to this question before throwing out some thoughts.  I'm sure that are folks out there who have more knowledge about this subject that I do.
> 
> First, as to cutting - my sense is that pen blanks are a peripheral product that result from the milling of '1 by' lumber.  That is, timber is milled into standard '1 by' dimensions (which are 3/4" thick), and then if there is usable lumber left over that doesn't fall into standard dimension lumber sizes, it can be further milled down to form saleable 3/4x3/4 pen blanks rather than just being thrown away.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the feedback. The wood that I have is not poplar. The name of Jeffersons retreat is Poplar Forest. Sorry that was not clear. The is mainly oak, maple, and cherry i believe. This wood was used in the building itself.


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## Andrewt72 (May 9, 2022)

Updated info. The wood is Tulip Poplar, not oak ,maple or cherry. Sorry for the wrong info!


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