# Not all Truffles are Truffles...!



## robutacion

Hi everyone.

I have an interesting story to tell about something that I was sent to as Truffle pen blanks by someone in Queensland, that I had the pleasure to be visited by a few months later, together with his wife.

At this point I'm not going to mention any names but, that can chance latter on.  Anyway, someone wanted to learn how to utilised small bits of nice wood that, he didn't have use for until he saw my Resifills.  A lot of people have been doing this sort of work for a lot longer then I but, I was probably the closest one he could reach and willing to show how its done, not sure...!

He was the one to provided me also with some of his stash of PNG Rosewood Burl, mostly known as Amboyna burn/wood but that I had seen before however never used so, I was keen to swap some wood with for sure.  He sent me some already cut pen blanks of 3 species (if I remember correctly...!) 2 already mentioned, the third being the Australian Budgeroo tree wood, just a few samples of each...!



The one that intrigued me was the Truffle, as it looked so much like very dry Olive wood  (Olive on the left), the heartwood, sapwood and even outer skin have amazingly similarities, the wood looks solid but not excessively heavy however, the "Truffles" that I know about are the ones the can be eaten and normally too small to make full size pen blanks from so, I was intrigued...!

Well, I'm told that, the Truffles are from his son's property, don't remember if in Queensland or elsewhere but, the son has a large property with all sorts of stuff growing in it so, he have plenty of wood to play with.  Back to the Truffles and I don't know exactly what the name of the tree that produced these "crazy potatoes" is but, there are apparently many tree species that produce this underground buds, not easy to find, as I'm told.

The next lot I received, he brought with him on the air-plain, together with Amboyna, Cedar and 2 slices 22mm thick from a large Truffle he cut at home before he left.  He had plenty of small Amboyna off-cuts so that we could used to show him how to make the Resifills unfortunately, most of what he brought couldn't be used as they were too short and with square cuts on both ends, not thick enough, etc. but, I had enough to make a full mold with 6 or 7 blanks with all variations possible on the wood bits and their placement in the mold.

He wanted to see what I could use with the Truffle slices, as it is very difficult to get a full blanks size from a whole Truffle, even if large, due to the shape so, and in my view, a great possibility to be used in conjunction with resin and transform it into Resifills (my name for this type of blanks...!).

We had a great day together, and I'm sure he learnt a thing or two, including learn how I do my CA finish that went just right with the demonstration of using the "Flap disc" to shape and size one of the blanks/Resifills we made from the Amboyna so, he got pretty much some "guidance" from the beginning to the end product and its finish..!

I took no pics on that day (I should though...!) so, the blanks I made for him (7) and the one that was finished, I have no record of them but I made some more the next day with some of the Amboyna he brought and also from the 2 slices of the Truffle buds.


Was no point in spending the time with the Truffel's while he was here, was simply not enough time, while the "principle/technique" for making these type of wood and resin blanks is the same, regardless of the wood used (well, almost...!) so, after I made the Truffle blanks I took pics to send him of how they turn out.


I should also say that, he brought in a suitcase with him on the flight, he (per person) was allowed 23kg of luggage, his was 20kg of wood and 3kg of cloths and essentials as they were going to stay for a few days with a relative living near by (30km away).  It was funny when he walked in with that heavy suitcase and opened it in the work-shop where we went immediately to get to the "business"...!

When all done, was time to fill that suitcase again but this time, with my woods, which he though he knew what he wanted, that all changed when he saw what I've got, well, almost as we never went to the storage paddock, no need away, the best goodies are all at the house.  That damn suitcase was not big enough, I'm sure he though of, a few times but we kept putting in and weighing at the same time, my wood was slightly lighter weight so the volume was tricky but limited by the suitcase size so, I don't know where he put the stuff that come with the wood but, wasn't much space for anything and the suitcase was just on the 21kg limit so I reckon, he had to put on a few extra pieces of clothes on him, to get through boarding, going back home...!:biggrin:

Since, he sent me a 3kg postal bag with 3 full Truffels, 1 small and 2 large ones, interestingly the small one and one large was full of holes, perfectly round about 6-7mm diameter and not deep, about 1/2" or so.  None of the Truffle wood I had from him had any signs of wood borer or similar so, I though that someone has drilled shallow wholes everywhere for whatever reason so, I sent him an email asking who done the holes...?  Could it be Customs thinking that they were filled with something...??? don't know...!
Oh, oh...! I reckon he knows all about it and is challenging me to see how how salvage the worm affected ones,a s he probably has plenty of them like that, well Mister...! you are on...!:wink::biggrin:


I'm yet to get a reply for him, as I reckon he went away for the holidays however, a couple of days ago I decided to process those 3 Truffles, get as many full pen blanks size possible and make a few pieces for making Resifills with.  I started with one of the biggest ones, the one I couldn't see any wholes but that quickly changed when I started slicing it at 22mm thickness.


OMG, there were some large white worms and some hard shell bugs that are identical with some of the ones I have here, maybe a little shorter but the same nightmare to destroy good wood.  Most were on the sapwood (closer to the Truffle skin) so, I knew that I was going for a big surprise with the other 2 with the wholes visible....!:frown:

Oh boy, every slice I made from the other 2, I cut through the damn juicy things, I cut through half a dozen or more of these creatures on every slice, with a few more ripping the slices unto 2mm square, what a nightmare...!  I could have save all that "meat" and have a good supper cooked with them, they are actually eatable, Australian Aborigines are well know to use them in their diet for as long as they exist so, bigger ones are better for that purpose (which I tried once before...!  hey..., I said ONCE, thank you...!).


I've got them all cut and sized, I got 1 (one) full pen blank size out of the 3 pieces, the only one that had no wholes or would give the full length and being clean, the rest are going to be Resifills but, I have a couple of ideas to try with them as most of the wholes that the "creatures" eat are full with compact sawdust and obviously some of the chemicals they segregate while eating and "pushing back" the remnants of the solid wood...!

Well, the solid wood is dense so, stabilising them in various coloured juice mixes should make the juice to penetrate a lot faster and easier through those clogged up channels, making the juice colour be a lot vivid/darker on them, compared with the rest of the wood.  The ones with open wholes, will be processed the same way but, then cast in resin with either identical colour or a contrasting colour than the stabilised "channels", something to try very soon...!

I may be wrong but, with such a nice grain, I reckon these blanks I have just described the planned of action, will come up pretty porch, what do you reckon...???  Am I on to something...???

I only wish that this damn heat would go away, 44°C today...!:rain::rain::rain::rain::rain:

Cheers
George


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## mikespenturningz

Those are some nasty looking worms. Yuk. They will make some great blanks though!


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## Bob Wemm

George,
They sound very interesting, can't wait to see the end results. Should be wonderful.

Bob.


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## David Keller

Cool looking stuff, George!  The solid portions look a lot like olive to me, and the blanks with empty holes look perfect for casting.  I'm not sure how the dyed frass will look, but I'll stay tuned to find out.


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## robutacion

Hi peoples...!

I had the blanks stabilized and cast not long after I posted my OP but, the process of making the samples have been very slow, as I got lots of stuff always to do so, I do them when I can.

I've got 3 samples done, as so far so good, the dyes with the Cactus Juice didn't always do what I wanted/expected but, that has nothing to do with the Juice but, the wood itself.

Stabilizing the blanks with the bark still attached, gave me a pleasant result when cast with the various colored resins, the darker and paper layers type effect has added to the whole thing quite nicely.  The idea to keep the bark was due to what the stabilization done to it, it harden and made it stick to the wood, pretty solid.

There are 9 molds made, 7 x 6 blanks and 2 x 7 blanks, most have the worm holes, a few are all solid wood (most of the all solid wood blanks, have not yet been cast) as I though, these would do for now...!:wink::biggrin:

Samples are all finished as usual, with a 8 to 10 coats of CA...!

Enjoy,

Cheers
George


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## crabcreekind

robutacion said:


> Hi peoples...!
> 
> I had the blanks stabilized and cast not long after I posted my OP but, the process of making the samples have been very slow, as I got lots of stuff always to do so, I do them when I can.
> 
> I've got 3 samples done, as so far so good, the dyes with the Cactus Juice didn't always do what I wanted/expected but, that has nothing to do with the Juice but, the wood itself.
> 
> Stabilizing the blanks with the bark still attached, gave me a pleasant result when cast with the various colored resins, the darker and paper layers type effect has added to the whole thing quite nicely.  The idea to keep the bark was due to what the stabilization done to it, it harden and made it stick to the wood, pretty solid.
> 
> There are 9 molds made, 7 x 6 blanks and 2 x 7 blanks, most have the worm holes, a few are all solid wood (most of the all solid wood blanks, have not yet been cast) as I though, these would do for now...!:wink::biggrin:
> 
> Samples are all finished as usual, with a 8 to 10 coats of CA...!
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Cheers
> George



Great Blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look awesome. 
I noticed some still had the bark on them. I cast some like this the other day and the bark separated. So the blank was not perfect. But still usable if put some super glue. But just a heads up.


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## Bob Wemm

Totally AWESOME George, the yellow turned one looks like a Giraffe???
Love the No.4 blanks.

Bob.


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## Russknan

Spectacular! Right now, I have more blanks than I could use in a very long time but . . . I'm thinking . . .
Congratulations!


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## Sataro

Amazing looking blanks. Exceptional work!!!


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## robutacion

crabcreekind said:


> robutacion said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi peoples...!
> 
> I had the blanks stabilized and cast not long after I posted my OP but, the process of making the samples have been very slow, as I got lots of stuff always to do so, I do them when I can.
> 
> I've got 3 samples done, as so far so good, the dyes with the Cactus Juice didn't always do what I wanted/expected but, that has nothing to do with the Juice but, the wood itself.
> 
> Stabilizing the blanks with the bark still attached, gave me a pleasant result when cast with the various colored resins, the darker and paper layers type effect has added to the whole thing quite nicely.  The idea to keep the bark was due to what the stabilization done to it, it harden and made it stick to the wood, pretty solid.
> 
> There are 9 molds made, 7 x 6 blanks and 2 x 7 blanks, most have the worm holes, a few are all solid wood (most of the all solid wood blanks, have not yet been cast) as I though, these would do for now...!:wink::biggrin:
> 
> Samples are all finished as usual, with a 8 to 10 coats of CA...!
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Cheers
> George
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great Blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look awesome.
> I noticed some still had the bark on them. I cast some like this the other day and the bark separated. So the blank was not perfect. But still usable if put some super glue. But just a heads up.
Click to expand...


Yes, the bark was on, when I stabilize them in the hope that it would harden and become more attached to the wood, which it did, reason why I left it for casting as the effect is always quite interesting however, not all woods would keep the bark as this one did and if you cast blanks with the bark that haven't been stabilized, is always recommended to run some very thin CA at the bark/wood join, let it soak/dry and then cast...!

With these type of blanks, the more you can leave of its natural condition, the better, that will differentiate them from the "others"...!

PS: I'm wondering if it would be worth, to put some for sale in an add here at IAP, my last few adds cost me money so, I'm not sure...!

Cheers
George


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## crabcreekind

robutacion said:


> crabcreekind said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> robutacion said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi peoples...!
> 
> I had the blanks stabilized and cast not long after I posted my OP but, the process of making the samples have been very slow, as I got lots of stuff always to do so, I do them when I can.
> 
> I've got 3 samples done, as so far so good, the dyes with the Cactus Juice didn't always do what I wanted/expected but, that has nothing to do with the Juice but, the wood itself.
> 
> Stabilizing the blanks with the bark still attached, gave me a pleasant result when cast with the various colored resins, the darker and paper layers type effect has added to the whole thing quite nicely.  The idea to keep the bark was due to what the stabilization done to it, it harden and made it stick to the wood, pretty solid.
> 
> There are 9 molds made, 7 x 6 blanks and 2 x 7 blanks, most have the worm holes, a few are all solid wood (most of the all solid wood blanks, have not yet been cast) as I though, these would do for now...!:wink::biggrin:
> 
> Samples are all finished as usual, with a 8 to 10 coats of CA...!
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Cheers
> George
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great Blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look awesome.
> I noticed some still had the bark on them. I cast some like this the other day and the bark separated. So the blank was not perfect. But still usable if put some super glue. But just a heads up.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, the bark was on, when I stabilize them in the hope that it would harden and become more attached to the wood, which it did, reason why I left it for casting as the effect is always quite interesting however, not all woods would keep the bark as this one did and if you cast blanks with the bark that haven't been stabilized, is always recommended to run some very thin CA at the bark/wood join, let it soak/dry and then cast...!
> 
> With these type of blanks, the more you can leave of its natural condition, the better, that will differentiate them from the "others"...!
> 
> PS: I'm wondering if it would be worth, to put some for sale in an add here at IAP, my last few adds cost me money so, I'm not sure...!
> 
> Cheers
> George
Click to expand...


I would say these would sell well, but unless you can get the price of shipping down to less than what you could buy the cast blanks in the US. Then I wouldn't do it. These should sell well in Australia, as there is many turners there too. Maybe you could find a vendor in Australia to sell them at? 

Just my .02 cents


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## robutacion

crabcreekind said:


> robutacion said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> crabcreekind said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> robutacion said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi peoples...!
> 
> I had the blanks stabilized and cast not long after I posted my OP but, the process of making the samples have been very slow, as I got lots of stuff always to do so, I do them when I can.
> 
> I've got 3 samples done, as so far so good, the dyes with the Cactus Juice didn't always do what I wanted/expected but, that has nothing to do with the Juice but, the wood itself.
> 
> Stabilizing the blanks with the bark still attached, gave me a pleasant result when cast with the various colored resins, the darker and paper layers type effect has added to the whole thing quite nicely.  The idea to keep the bark was due to what the stabilization done to it, it harden and made it stick to the wood, pretty solid.
> 
> There are 9 molds made, 7 x 6 blanks and 2 x 7 blanks, most have the worm holes, a few are all solid wood (most of the all solid wood blanks, have not yet been cast) as I though, these would do for now...!:wink::biggrin:
> 
> Samples are all finished as usual, with a 8 to 10 coats of CA...!
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Cheers
> George
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great Blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look awesome.
> I noticed some still had the bark on them. I cast some like this the other day and the bark separated. So the blank was not perfect. But still usable if put some super glue. But just a heads up.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, the bark was on, when I stabilize them in the hope that it would harden and become more attached to the wood, which it did, reason why I left it for casting as the effect is always quite interesting however, not all woods would keep the bark as this one did and if you cast blanks with the bark that haven't been stabilized, is always recommended to run some very thin CA at the bark/wood join, let it soak/dry and then cast...!
> 
> With these type of blanks, the more you can leave of its natural condition, the better, that will differentiate them from the "others"...!
> 
> PS: I'm wondering if it would be worth, to put some for sale in an add here at IAP, my last few adds cost me money so, I'm not sure...!
> 
> Cheers
> George
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I would say these would sell well, but unless you can get the price of shipping down to less than what you could buy the cast blanks in the US. Then I wouldn't do it. These should sell well in Australia, as there is many turners there too. Maybe you could find a vendor in Australia to sell them at?
> 
> Just my .02 cents
Click to expand...


Doesn't bother me either way, as I can't do anything about the horrendous shipping charges, and you are correct, I have lots of guys here in Australia that buy lots of my Resifills through eBay however, the most interesting thing is that, the higher percentage of my Resifills are sold to people in the USA, Canada, and UK...!

I suppose, price/cost is important and a determining factor to those buying the most common type of these blanks from woods that are available everywhere, while many of the woods I use, are not available commercially and not sold anywhere, or very rare to find so, that factor is in many cases, the determining factor for the sale.

In general term, the cost of sending each pend blank to the USA is approx. AU$2.00 , this will improve considerably as the total box weight increases...!
The smallest weight accepted for parcels is now 500gr (recently changed), the number of blanks possible is about 7 or 8 if square corners are cut off so, regardless if is a $1.00 blank or a $20.00 one, the shipping cost is the same.

I believe, the uniqueness or the less seen stuff, is what some people are after and I always have some of those, at prices that are lower than most other places however, I could be giving them away for nothing but the freight would/will always be there.

These sort of blanks normally go for about 6 bucks each and I am in no "competition" with anyone else that cast resin into these type of pieces of wood, more and more people are making or trying to make they own blanks, I'm more interested in make people realize that, they can utilize those special bits of wood or anything they can thing of, for that matter, and make great and interesting combinations, not all will be a success or pretty but, the fun and excitement of making these type blanks, that doesn't change..!

It would be impossible for me to use hem all so, I make and have always a "few" spare...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George


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## Dinki Di

*Not pen blanks something different*

Hello to all the members who read this forum.  Late last year I saw some of George Valentine’s work and was amazed at what he was doing with small sections of wood. To cut the story short my wife and I flew to Adelaide and spent most of the day being tutored   by George Valentine. 
Well, where do you begin, this man with so much knowledge and experience was so happy to share it with me. In 6 hours he taught me how to look outside of the square look at wood in a totally different way and how to utilize these off cuts  -which I have lots of. He covered mould making, cleaning and sealing methods, placement of wood in the casting moulds, mixing pigments in PR resin, pressure tank safety and usage, turning and finishing of the blanks with CA, stabilizing of blanks and the list goes on.
After returning to Queensland I had quite a challenge to make something that George would be proud of.  How does one come anywhere near the teachers’ knowledge  and experience and think out of the square? 
I remembered 30 + years ago where there was a tree with very strange looking pods.  Drove an hour + to the location and not one pod in sight.  Talking to friends in a organic garden group I mentioned these pods and they had a tree on their country property.  About 4 weeks later I found a large plastic bag with about 20 of these pods in it. Well off I go to the shed, made a mould big enough to take the smallest pod  -35 x 35 x 65 mm - a perfect cast with the pigment.  I could turn it and to date it is still sitting on the top shelf. I then cast the largest pod in a 90mm x 100 mm high round tube, other than a few minor cracks it looked ok. I filled the crack with PR and some more pigment and any tiny hair line cracks with Ca.
I somehow managed to turn a little bowl shape vase out of it. It’s nowhere near perfect and I decided to stop and finish it with CA before I disintegrated it and be left with nothing.

Thank you George and I hope our friendship strengthens as the days and years roll on.  
A few pictures of my first – second PR casting and turning. 

Gaetano Moschella


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## robutacion

Thanks Gaetano, I appreciate your kind words...!

Was a pleasure to meet you and your wife and I apologise for bombarding you with so much information on the time limit we had but, had to be done...!

You're a quick learner and the results are starting to show, that little cast piece, is a great result from so little experience with the casting, it look in fact a job from a "pro" so, you're heading in the right direction mate, well done...!

Cheers
George


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## Dinki Di

*round hinge ring box*

Another experiment to see what the seed pods would look like, more experiments to do.


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## robutacion

Wow man, you certainly have a "neck" for these castings, that last pic show one of the prettiest jewellery boxes, I've seen for a long, long time, congrats.

These boxes deserve a thread of their own, everyone should see their beauty...!

Those pods like you mate, they don't like me that much, such is life...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George


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## OZturner

George, To say those Blanks are Beautiful is a gross understatement. 
I cannot think of an adjective that would truly do them justice.
 
Those with the blue and green, look like slices of a photograph taken from a Satellite passing over the Barrier Reef.
 
I was smiled somewhat at the comments of the high cost of postage, to the USA; High overseas postage cost is what we live with all the time, as so many of the items we want have to come from the USA. 
Remember when you could get a Flat Rate USPS International Global Priority box for about US$6 to US$7. My last delivery from Woodcraft for about 7 kits and a couple bush kits and 5 Blanks, was around US$48.
Enough of the good old days, back to the business at hand.
 
Your talent and willingness to share, is remarkable and exemplary.
Keep up the good work.
Congratulations,
Brian.


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## robutacion

OZturner said:


> George, To say those Blanks are Beautiful is a gross understatement.
> I cannot think of an adjective that would truly do them justice.
> 
> Those with the blue and green, look like slices of a photograph taken from a Satellite passing over the Barrier Reef.
> 
> [FONT=Verdana[B]]I was smiled somewhat at the comments of the high cost of postage, to the USA;[/B] High overseas postage cost is what we live with all the time, as so many of the items we want have to come from the USA. [/FONT]
> Remember when you could get a Flat Rate USPS International Global Priority box for about US$6 to US$7. My last delivery from Woodcraft for about 7 kits and a couple bush kits and 5 Blanks, was around US$48.
> Enough of the good old days, back to the business at hand.
> 
> Your talent and willingness to share, is remarkable and exemplary.
> Keep up the good work.
> Congratulations,
> Brian.



Thanks Brian, for you kind words, most appreciated...!

Fortunately, since this thread was made, I successfully acquired a cash account for Overseas shipping only, something that I have been fighting for, for some years.  The special rates do make a tremendous difference and those price difference have been shown on my latest add here on IAP.

Condition number one of the contract with the Australia Post is that, I need to spend at least 5 G's in overseas posting each year, something that I have reached these last couple of years so, that did allow me to apply for the account however there is a catch, if I don't reach the target, I will penalised by having to pay for the difference and the contract will be cancelled, with chances to get another being very slim...!

A problem that I didn't realise until after the contract sign is that, the discount rates would work against be, pretty bad, some rates/prices being almost half than before, means that, if I sell the same amount of blanks, I'm going to pat a lot les thean the 5 G's in shipping so, I have to produce at least 40% more sales overseas to reach the same amount as before, the required 5 G's.

By offering better shipping prices for overseas people, sales have increased about 10%, far from what is necessary.  Most people are now realising of the better shipping rates I offer and certainly appreciated that and by the time the 12 months are due (June 2014), more people will be taking advantage of those prices so, the possibility of losing the contract and be forced to charge the "regular" prices, is going to hurt everyone, particularly me.

So, a few extra adds on here just to generated the extra International shipping entries, will be more obvious as time goes by so, the profit is not the goal, the extra international orders, are...!

I hope this will be sufficient, otherwise we all lose...!

Cheers
George


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