Another Sort Of Pelikan Roost

[DrCodfish]

Well, mostly Pelikans this night

 

 

 

 

 

[brewsky]

The lapis and jade make me so happy. I am drooling right now.

[sargetalon]

Putting those wood working tools to good use I see...

[oregano]

wow, very very nice!! It's great to see them on display

[Czechmauseritis]

Very nicely done! Exotic wood, yes?

[Trom]

Nice, did you make it yourself, this wood art piece?

[DrCodfish]

"Very nicely done! Exotic wood, yes?"

 

Thanks for the compliment (you too Paloma). Exotic? Well, perhaps semi-exotic. As it turns out all the elements are domestic (native to North America) products.

 

The darker wood is American walnut. It's hard to come by (and hard!) and very pricy. The two smaller matching pieces are quarter sawn white oak. The oak itself isn't too uncommon however the quarter sawing process adds to the cost, a lot. It is a very wasteful manufacturing preprocess but brings out some grain features that are unique. Also commonly produced from bigger, older trees, to produce bigger boards or broader veneers. If you are familiar with mission style furniture you have probably seen oak pieces with large golden irregularities prominently on display. These 'flecks' as seen in the door panels in the linked photo are not usually seen in flat sawn lumber. The figure is not very prominent in this application because the pieces are very small and I did not go through a rather elaborate and complicated staining process to show them to their best advantage. I used this material because I had it readily at hand for another project.

 

The lighter colored small rectangular piece is straight grain or 'vertical' grain Douglas fir. Doug fir is one of the more common species used to produce 'dimension' lumber (2X4's etc) here in the pacific northwest. The straight gain material is a little harder to source (and much more expensive) because it comes form the heart wood of old growth timber. Very fine, tight and uniform grain, with little or no blemishes (referred to as 'clear') because that wood has been hiding inside the heart of those massive old trees for 200 or 300 years or more. Most commonly used for window and door casings, doors and fine furniture making.

 

 

 

This piece is just wood working practice for another more ambitious project which I have described in another thread.

 

I used to be a hobby wood worker but sold all my tools and went away from it many years ago, so now I am recollecting tools and dusting off my skills. Fine wood working is not like riding a bicycle, even if you have not forgotten the techniques, you still need to practice them to stay sharp. So I am practicing though I am about to commence the box project for my son.

Edited November 6, 2014 by DrCodfish

[ThomasA1000]

Very nice

[Tasmith]

I remember in high school shop in the 70s when black walnut was $3.00 a board foot. Cherry was $2.00 and white pine was $1.00 a board foot. Those were the days!

[PAKMAN]

I like it very much! Good job!

[DrCodfish]

I remember in high school shop in the 70s when black walnut was $3.00 a board foot. Cherry was $2.00 and white pine was $1.00 a board foot. Those were the days!

 

So right! You'd come away with an arm full of boards because even though it was 'expensive' it was still 'front pocket' money and there was plenty of it so get extra because you know you'd be missing up (ready, fire aim!). The walnut , for 8/4 dimension is now over $14.00 per board foot. I got a break on this piece because of the knot. Here is how it looked before I started;

 

 

The very light colored wood is actually soft rot. If the knot had been solid I would have had to pay more, not less. So now it is 'measure twice, stand back and take a long look, measure again' ... and then cut once.

 

"I like it very much! Good job!"

 

Thanks PAKMAN. Fun to be making sawdust again.

[Czechmauseritis]

There's always nice figure around the knot... Rotted or not! Nice choice

[DrCodfish]

There's always nice figure around the knot... Rotted or not! Nice choice

 

So right, the back piece which stands up is cut from the other end of this knotty board where there was no knot and, as one can see, not much figure. It is a double edged sword. The grain deformation is beautiful but often makes the wood unstable and definitely harder to work with.

 

You know, my dad was a shade tree gunsmith. He didn't have much money but lots of time, and skill. He used to 'sporterize' military arms, rifles, as a hobby. He'd make the stocks and do some metal machining on the rifle actions and then sell them to hunters, who couldn't afford an expensive new rifle. Czech mausers were one of his favorite sources of actions, because they were so well made, durable, accurate and in those times plentiful. I wish I had kept one of those rifles.

[Czechmauseritis]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0803/czechmauseritis/1296a601fdf66c3f6510591576120751_zps47b6c619.jpg

 

Like this one? You must be my brother then 😃

 

This has a Czech mauser action on it... My dad did the wood, speaking of American walnut....

 

Sorry for the aside mods, but I couldn't resist... ☺️

Edited November 6, 2014 by Czechmauseritis

[DrCodfish]

That takes me back! Yes, for stock material walnut is hard to beat, especially such a fine piece as shown. Checkering looks wonderful, in fact the whole thing is beautiful. So much more art than a stainless steel, carbon fiber stealth rig. I guess this makes me a throwback. OK, enough with the side trip, we'll have to get this back on the subject of fountain pens, but thank you so much for slipping in this picture of a beautiful piece of art.