Thread: ooOOoo! Now I know why!

Some ppl can have a reaction to it, fortunately your not one of them as if you look on the web its can be toxic. Ive done a few with no reaction so I guess its like bee stings.

The sap wood is pretty ordinary but the heartwood can be nice particularly if cut at an angle. I look forward to seeing what you come up with as i have a slimline waiting for finishing as well.

Yeah, reminds me of when I was a kid and my mother would rub Vicks's vapor rub on my chest when I had a cold. Good memories of childhood. I still have a block of that stuff around somewhere. Guess I'll just have to pull it out and turn it again. Can't wait to see how your pen comes out.

Yep I enjoy turning Camphor Laurel as well. Classed as a noxious weed in Australia the trees can grow to an impressive size. Really good for turning hollow forms and then filling the form with the shavings - fantastic pressie for Mums

Camphor is great to turn and as Toasty says it is classed as noxious weed here. I have it growing but never planted it came with the birds.

Great for clearing the sinus, look forward to the end result.

Noxious weed? Hmm .. I've just got a small piece, so that's the extent of my
experience with it. Reminds me of something I saw recently, someone had been
turning lilac branches. Too small to do much, but interesting colors. He was turning
tiny little wine goblets .. small enough that the little pen turning chisels would barely
fit into them to hollow them out. Tan and purple wood.. looked neat.

.. back to the camphor laurel..
Not that much heartwood, but I got a nice pen out of it. Lots of fun to turn, though.
It seems to cut like our Eastern Red Cedar.. very soft and aromatic. Sands up
nicely, too.

Left to Right (all Junior Gents, I think there's a Type I in there, the rest are II's )


Yellowbox Burl
Box Elder Burl
Dyed Box Elder Burl
Cherry Burl
Camphor Laurel
Elm Burl

Was that some of the stuff I gave you?


Oh and, Nice Pens

Originally Posted by funkychicken

Was that some of the stuff I gave you?

I believe it was ..

Very Nice pens NL

Mmmm... I really like the Box Elder (plain) and Elm burl pens.

The piece of Camphor you had looks a bit on the plain side. Pity, as CL can have some glorious colour through it. (Can you imagine what it smells like when you're rough turning large bowl blanks from green logs of Camphor Laurel? You really, really need good ventilation then. At least it keeps the shed vermin sniffle free. )

Hmm, rather unusual colour. Alot browner than than I remember