# Stained Olive Wood



## Bobostro61 (Apr 13, 2014)

I did my first craft show today.  Did pretty good actually.  Anyway, somebody saw my pens, went home and got a piece of olive wood he got from Algeria (bark still on it).  He wants me to make a pen out of it but also wants the wood stained a dark color.  Goes against my feelings of letting the wood show its natural beauty (especially with olive wood).  I have alcohol based stains here that I use for making pipes.  Do you think an alcohol based stain would work or would you suggest an oil based stain.  I'm planning on using a friction polish instead of CA finish.  I had a pen I stained with light brown alcohol based stain and when I put the CA on the wood, it turned the stain red.  Any suggestions on what type of stain would be best to use on a piece of olive wood?  Gotta give the customer what they want I guess...

Thanks in advance.


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## Cmiles1985 (Apr 13, 2014)

I would suggest turning the piece and sending the guy pictures before doing any staining. Olive wood is so beautiful naturally, and I agree to staining going against beliefs. He may change his mind.


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## Dan Masshardt (Apr 13, 2014)

The customer is not always right!


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## Sylvanite (Apr 13, 2014)

Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.


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## Bobostro61 (Apr 13, 2014)

Sylvanite said:


> Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.



Hmmm...  You have a point there.


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## toddlajoie (Apr 13, 2014)

Sylvanite said:


> Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.



That was my first thought too...


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## gimpy (Apr 13, 2014)

I afraid I would have to speak my piece..............
explain to him that the beauty of the wood
speaks for it's self

I have turned jobs down because of this reason


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## rblakemore (Apr 13, 2014)

*Is the customer always right? Or Wrong*

My understanding is that no matter how wrong, the customer is always right.  With that, Olivewood grain is just too good to cover with stain.  I agree with the above sentiment, turn the Olive and show your customer. And attempt to convince to leave the pen unstained.  
I would love to work a piece with "original" olive with the bark still on it.


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## Mike Powell (Apr 13, 2014)

I dont think I could stain Olive Wood either.  Its my favorite to work with.


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## stonepecker (Apr 13, 2014)

Not to do with pens yet.........I haven't been turning long enough.

HOWEVER,

Within my trade......I will walk away when something is so wrong that I don't want my name tied to the work.  If it is wrong and I know it is wrong, I will talk to the customer and explain.  If they still want it done wrong, it is then I have to decide if I want to be know for doing the work.  Most times people will listen if you take the time to explain the reasons.

The customer is not always right......but they are still the customer.


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## penmaker1967 (Apr 14, 2014)

iagree with everyone else on this olive wood is just to pretty to stain and i do think myseld that it would not take a the stain in if did it would turn out pretty bad resuolts just my thought


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## Joe S. (Apr 14, 2014)

I personally don't see anything "wrong" with staining it. I would prefer not to stain it, and think you should try to convince him not to. But if he really wants it stained, I don't see a problem. We dye buckeye burl all the time, I don't see a difference if it's olivewood.


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## Joe S. (Apr 14, 2014)

Assuming it can be stained at all.


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## dbledsoe (Apr 14, 2014)

I agree wit Joe S. If he wants it painted with latex wall paint, paint it with latex wall paint. He is the one using it. I would not do it for myself or for any other reason except it is his wood and his money. I work in mental health. This is not the worst thing he could ask.


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## WriteON (Apr 14, 2014)

If the customer does like the end result...then what?


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## dwarmbrodt (Apr 14, 2014)

I would turn the blank as proud to the bushings as can be, then attempt to stain it per customer without assembly. If the stain doesn't take, or the customer doesn't approve, or if it just looks bad, you can always turn it down to spec and remove the tainted material. Just my .02...


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## LeeR (Apr 14, 2014)

Dan Masshardt said:


> The customer is not always right!



Agreed, I'd refuse to do it.


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## kovalcik (Apr 14, 2014)

Turn the blank until just round so you can turn off the stain, sand and apply a couple different stains and keep one portion natural. Finish and show them to the customer with the excuse you want to see which stain he likes best.  If he picks the natural section great.  If not turn the pen down, put the stain on and deal with it. A sale is a sale.


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## Krash (Apr 14, 2014)

I think a nice, subtle, stain makes wood look fantastic. Most of what we have in our houses is stained to enhance the beauty and depth of the wood. Granted, some woods don't need any help but most could benefit from some help, be it BLO, CA, or whatever finish we choose to employ.


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## randyrls (Apr 14, 2014)

Dye as opposed to stain might work and allow the grain to show thru.  Some Semi-transparent or transparent stains might work too.


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## Joe S. (Apr 14, 2014)

Doesn't grain still show through stain?


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## Bobostro61 (Apr 14, 2014)

At the show, he wanted an all black pen.  All I had close to that was one that was all black with a thin red ribbon running through it.  He wanted ALL black.  I'm thinking about just mixing up some black PR and making the pen for him. That would be more of what he was looking for and he can have his wood back undamaged from sawing out a chunk of it.


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## Bobostro61 (Apr 16, 2014)

Sylvanite said:


> Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.



You were right.  I turned the wood down to round and sanded it to 600 grit and applied some stain.  IT LOOKED HORRIBLE.  He's going to get natural wood.  I am also going to make an all black acrylic version.  If he's upset about the wood not being stained, I'll just give him the pens for free, give him back his wood, and be gone.  Here's what the pen looks like.  Unfortunately, there's a couple pits in the wood.  I didn't want to cut up his piece of wood any more.  It is what it is...


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## nava1uni (Apr 16, 2014)

I think that it is a moot point since Olive wood is so oily that it probably won't accept a stain of if it does it will be blotchy and unsightly.


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## low_48 (Apr 16, 2014)

Bobostro61 said:


> Sylvanite said:
> 
> 
> > Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.
> ...



That looks more like oak than any olive wood I've ever seen. This is what I am used to seeing.
Pen Blanks


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## penmaker1967 (Apr 17, 2014)

i agree with you that pen does not look like any olive wood pen  blank that i have seen.


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## robutacion (Apr 17, 2014)

rblakemore said:


> My understanding is that no matter how wrong, the customer is always right.  With that, Olivewood grain is just too good to cover with stain.  I agree with the above sentiment, turn the Olive and show your customer. And attempt to convince to leave the pen unstained.
> I would love to work a piece with "original" olive with the bark still on it.



Humm, that can be arranged, how many hundreds do you want...??? 4 or them landed in your neck of the woods, would cost you AU$9.00 for shipping and a tank you for the blanks, how's that for an answer to your desire...???:wink::biggrin:

PS: Taking the olive wood blank to pen barrel size and sanded no further than 240 grit sandpaper,  will allow for a successful colour change, using the oil based stain, just make sure you wipe the sanded blank with some acetone but not too much or otherwise, you may compromise the glue you used on the tube.

Burnishing the stain in the clean wood, will work wonders, a couple of coats of the super thin CA (5cup), sanded gently with wet and dry and then rubbed with some steel wood, the wood gets a great feel to it, probably what the customers is after...!

Good luck

Cheers
George

Cheers
George


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## robutacion (Apr 17, 2014)

Bobostro61 said:


> Sylvanite said:
> 
> 
> > Olive is so oily that I'm not convinced it will take any stain at all.
> ...



Wow, are you sure that is Olive wood...??? I never seen Olive wood with that bark and grain, the log end-grain is also showing a much softer type of wood, you got me confused, now...!

George


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## robutacion (Apr 17, 2014)

low_48 said:


> Bobostro61 said:
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> > Sylvanite said:
> ...



Who owns that website, do you know...???

Cheers
George


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## bekeeper (Apr 17, 2014)

Water buffalo makes a nice solid black pen. Nice weight. I do a lot of Olive wood pen blanks. I hope this guys wood had a lot of pattern in it.   When I do CA gue finish, I start with a drop of boiled linseed oil.  This darkens the wood a tad but not probably what this guuy wants. If I want to keep the wood feel I use a drop of BLSO with a drop of CA for about 5 coats. If I want high gloss, I go Just the CA for about 5 to 10 coats depending on if it is thin  or medium.


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## low_48 (Apr 17, 2014)

robutacion said:


> low_48 said:
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> 
> > Bobostro61 said:
> ...



I don't know, just picked the first site off the Google search that had a good pen blank pic.


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## Bobostro61 (Apr 18, 2014)

low_48 said:


> Bobostro61 said:
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> 
> > Sylvanite said:
> ...



I know.  He brought in that log saying it was Olive Wood.  After I turned it I couldn't see how it could be olive wood either.  I don't think it's oak though.  It's softer than some oak I have here.  Not sure what it is.  He said it's Algerian olive wood.  Maybe they have a different species of olive tree in Algeria??? :bulgy-eyes:


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