# Utah desert Greasewood



## Laurenr (Aug 22, 2010)

This is the hardest wood I have ever turned. I had to sharpen tools 4 times to finish this beast. And I still have a whole bag of it! I gave this one to the guy that supplied me with the wood. ...I know he meant well.:wink: It is beautiful, and I will turn many more, but I have to allow about double or more the time.


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## boxerman (Aug 22, 2010)

A very fine pen.


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## thetalbott4 (Aug 22, 2010)

Nice work! I've never heard of the wood and I live in Utah. Do you know what part of the state it comes from? How does it compare to desert ironwood?


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## ThomJ (Aug 22, 2010)

Beautiful pens, striking blanks, wish we had wood like that here


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## Woodlvr (Aug 22, 2010)

Beautiful pen. I was going to ask the same questions as Scott.


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## corian king (Aug 22, 2010)

Very nice pen! Beautiful blank!!
JIM


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## Laurenr (Aug 22, 2010)

Actually I haven't taken the time to look it up. I took in on faith from "Hank" the guy that leaves blanks at Woodcraft. I visited him last week and came home with a bag of goodies, some Juniper, sage, Russian olive, lilac, scrub oak, and what he calls "Grease wood." It should be called ironwood as hard as it is. I will check into it and let you know what I find.

I have lived in Utah, (Draper) for 7 1/2 years, so greasewood is new to me also.


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## Laurenr (Aug 23, 2010)

Here is where you can find out all you want to know about grease wood.
http://extension.usu.edu/range/Woody/greasewood.htm


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## maxman400 (Aug 23, 2010)

thetalbott4 said:


> Nice work! I've never heard of the wood and I live in Utah. Do you know what part of the state it comes from? How does it compare to desert ironwood?



Great Looking Pen, I Live in Nevada and we have the same thing over here and I have turned some and yes it is very hard. As a matter  of fact I just cast some last night. As you drive along the highway it would be the green bushes you see that goes for miles and miles. The base and the roots get to be a couple of inches round so you can get some good blanks from them.


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## Skye (Aug 23, 2010)

Yikes!



> Poisonous oxalates, found in the leaves, have caused mass mortality in flocks of sheep. Cattle are rarely poisoned, but spines are reported to puncture the rumen. The young twigs are especially toxic. Greasewood increases in toxicity as the growing season advances. Signs of poisoning include depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and shallow breathing, drooling, coma, and death.


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## animefan (Aug 23, 2010)

The grease wood looks really nice in resin.


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## Blue Danube (Aug 23, 2010)

Beautiful pens, how did you finish it?

Certainly worth the extra work considering the results!


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## Stick Rounder (Aug 23, 2010)

Great looking pen.


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## thetalbott4 (Aug 23, 2010)

Thanks for the info guys. I wasnt sure I wanted to get some until I read Skyes post. Now I'm really interested. Lol. Who doesnt like fooling around with stuff that'll kill ya?


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## PaulSF (Aug 23, 2010)

"reluctance to move" -- check
"drooling" -- check

But that is one fine-looking pen!


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## phillywood (Aug 23, 2010)

Lauren pen looks stunning, and you did a great job. I went to the site and I was reading about the wood being poisonous. Did you have any trouble turning it?


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## aussieturner (Aug 24, 2010)

wow what a nasty wood  and i am also wondering just how hard it is compared to  the bloody hard timbers we have down under


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## workinforwood (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm looking forward to seeing "Greasewood" as way to die # 1001 !  Perhaps a guy spinning a pen..he starts to drool, his tongue hanging out...a bit of nausea sets in and he sags a bit at the knees...his tongue finally low enough it catches the side of the pen blank and wraps around a few times, till he face smacks the lathe, his tongue rips off, he hits the floor and bleeds to death. :biggrin:

I do like the pen btw!


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## markgum (Aug 24, 2010)

great looking pen


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## Laurenr (Aug 24, 2010)

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Signs of poisoning include                depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and  shallow breathing,                drooling, coma, and death." I re-read the USU description of Greasewood. Except for the death part, I thought all the rest was normal. ;-) I'm only turning pens with it, not eating it! The last I looked, my rumin was in pretty good shape. And I will be careful, the next time I have a few sheep over for dinner to not put Greasewood leaves in the salad, ...especially late in the growing season. 
[/FONT]


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## maxman400 (Aug 24, 2010)

Laurenr said:


> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Signs of poisoning include                depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and  shallow breathing,                drooling, coma, and death."
> [/FONT]


Except for the death part that is the definition of a "couch potato" with snack food poisoning. :laugh:


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## phillywood (Aug 24, 2010)

maxman400 said:


> Laurenr said:
> 
> 
> > [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Signs of poisoning include depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and shallow breathing, drooling, coma, and death." [/FONT]
> ...


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## Phunky_2003 (Aug 24, 2010)

maxman400 said:


> Laurenr said:
> 
> 
> > [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Signs of poisoning include depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and shallow breathing, drooling, coma, and death." [/FONT]
> ...


 
LMAO:laugh:


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## chigdon (Aug 26, 2010)

That is a great looking pen and I love the look.


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## nava1uni (Aug 26, 2010)

Beautiful pen. Philly I like your animation.


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## rjwolfe3 (Aug 27, 2010)

That is a sweet pen!


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## bitshird (Aug 27, 2010)

Laurenr said:


> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Signs of poisoning include                depression, weakness, reluctance to move, rapid and  shallow breathing,                drooling, coma, and death." I re-read the USU description of Greasewood. Except for the death part, I thought all the rest was normal. ;-) I'm only turning pens with it, not eating it! The last I looked, my rumin was in pretty good shape. And I will be careful, the next time I have a few sheep over for dinner to not put Greasewood leaves in the salad, ...especially late in the growing season.
> [/FONT]



LOL I love the pen, it's beautiful,  like I told Max I'm glad someone finally discovered a use for the stupid weed, when I was a kid growing up in Las Vegas my folks bought 20 something acres off of east Charleston between  Nellis and Lamb road, I cleared so much of that stuff and dug the stumps it wasn't funny, now I know why I drool, sit around all the time, am so depressed , I just thought it was old age, now if my folks were alive I could probably get some Lawyer to sue them.


But it does make a beautiful pen,


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## bobleibo (Aug 29, 2010)

Lauren
Add me to the list of Utah folks who have never heard of "greasewood" but I have to say that pen is absolutely stunning! Great combination of wood and casting with the pen. Subtle but just enough pop..
Cheers
Bob


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