Thread: Pennyleaf Rosewood, AKA Dalbergia sissoo

The pen looks pretty special. The modified finishing regime seems to be very effective. Excellent!

Thanks Moby. Yeah, the new finishing process is a keeper. No more worrying about turning the sapwood brown. The sapwood on this pen has some spalting , that’s why it has some darker bits.

Now that is bloody outstanding Brett.
Love the sapwood, figure and contrasting colours your display with this wood style and finish.

Eugene

Originally Posted by Euge

Now that is bloody outstanding Brad.
Love the sapwood, figure and contrasting colours your display with this wood style and finish.

Eugene

Thanks Euge. It’s a nice pen in the hand as well.

That's really nice looking piece of wood and very nicely photographed. My personal preference is the outdoor shot but they all look good.
Your new finishing procedure, is that a trade secret or have I missed something?

Thanks Dallas. Yes the natural lighting has a lot going for it, when nature cooperates.

The new procedure for finishing the Dalbergia's, and Pennyleaf in particular, is in this thread - Dalbergia sissoo AKA Pennyleaf

Hi Ironwood, the penyleaf pen posted here is amazing. It remains to be seen if anyone in Vic can match it. It may be a June or July challenge though.

Hey, those pen blanks you sent me for Gab have arrived. Wonderful!! I've told Gab, he cant wait to see them
Thanks also for the lovely IWD burl ref. specimen you sent. Sent you a PM but you could be away

Originally Posted by Euge

Hi Ironwood, the penyleaf pen posted here is amazing. It remains to be seen if anyone in Vic can match it. It may be a June or July challenge though.

Hey, those pen blanks you sent me for Gab have arrived. Wonderful!! I've told Gab, he cant wait to see them
Thanks also for the lovely IWD burl ref. specimen you sent. Sent you a PM but you could be away

Cheers Euge. A Pennyleaf Challenge would be interesting, but I think I would have a slight advantage, I have a large selection of Pennyleaf blanks, others may have none , or only a couple.

I am sure Gab will put those blanks to good use.
From what I can gather, the CIW Burl may be quite rare, they don’t seem to produce many.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

Thanks Moby. Yeah, the new finishing process is a keeper. No more worrying about turning the sapwood brown. The sapwood on this pen has some spalting , that’s why it has some darker bits.

Brett,

A US friend experienced a similar problem when he was making his very fancy (museum quality) spoons. He was doing wet sanding using an oil finish. The problem he had with the oil and oily red Amboyna sawdust was that it stained the contrasting pale sapwood a pink colour reducing its appeal. He sprayed shellac on some paper towel and applying that onto the sapwood a couple hours before the first coat of oil. That single application stopped sapwood from staining the sapwood with the heartwood oils after the first coat. The same same method of precoating with shellac protected the white sapwood of African Blackwood (a true Rosewood) from being stained by the black heartwood oils during finishing. Your method is better as it also stops smearing of rosewood oil to other areas maintaining the natural contrast.

Just thought I share another method and idea to protect paler sapwood.

Originally Posted by Euge

Brad,

A US friend experienced a similar problem when he was making his very fancy (museum quality) spoons. He was doing wet sanding using an oil finish. The problem he had with the oil and oily red Amboyna sawdust was that it stained the contrasting pale sapwood a pink colour reducing its appeal. He sprayed shellac on some paper towel and applying that onto the sapwood a couple hours before the first coat of oil. That single application stopped sapwood from staining the sapwood with the heartwood oils after the first coat. The same same method of precoating with shellac protected the white sapwood of African Blackwood (a true Rosewood) from being stained by the black heartwood oils during finishing. Your method is better as it also stops smearing of rosewood oil to other areas maintaining the natural contrast.

Just thought I share another method and idea to protect paler sapwood.

Sounds like a very similar solution Euge. Though it’s also the paler areas of the heartwood that needs protecting from the darker oils on my Pennyleaf.
I have eliminated the cross colouring from the sanding dust, as I don’t sand the blanks anymore, but I was still having problems while applying the first coat of CA finish, the CA was dissolving the oils, which turned the CA dark brown, this then turned the whole blank a muddy dark brown.

You probably realise this Euge, but I wanted to clarify what was happening in my case.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

Sounds like a very similar solution Euge. Though it’s also the paler areas of the heartwood that needs protecting from the darker oils on my Pennyleaf.
I have eliminated the cross colouring from the sanding dust, as I don’t sand the blanks anymore, but I was still having problems while applying the first coat of CA finish, the CA was dissolving the oils, which turned the CA dark brown, this then turned the whole blank a muddy dark brown.

You probably realise this Euge, but I wanted to clarify what was happening in my case.

Thanks Ironwood, you explained your staining problems and how you overcame it very well. When I read how a friend overcame a similar problem I wished to present his method of overcoming it. I've no doubt both work on oily & coloured woods like the Dalbergias. I'm principally an appreciator of beautiful wood in the finished state and grateful to see and know friends who can display beauty in turned items like pens. Thanks as always for your comments and pics.