Thread: Tulipwood Wall Street II

Looks ok from here Matt. Maybe upgrading the pen kit to gold / black titanium may help bring out the color

The tulip wood looks great your sister should be happy

Good looking Tulipwood, Matt. That's about the way mine turned out, too. Those blanks look really nice to start with, but then once they get smaller it's not quite the same. Be careful putting it in the sun, you'll lose some pink.

Fun to turn, though! Smells kinda good, too.

Originally Posted by karlkuehn

Good looking Tulipwood, Matt. That's about the way mine turned out, too. Those blanks look really nice to start with, but then once they get smaller it's not quite the same. Be careful putting it in the sun, you'll lose some pink.

Fun to turn, though! Smells kinda good, too.

Does the sunlight fad or bring out the pink? I thought it would bring out the pink/red. I can't ever remember, and I've heard people say both about purpleheart. Is there anyway to bring out more of the pink/red? Any special dances, songs, chants, incantations?

Speaking of purpleheart, have you ever heard of the old Boston Garden? I have someone going to send me some purple heart from there, supposedly from one of the seats/benches. Did they use purpleheart in the old Boston Garden?

Matt,
I've got slabs and slabs of tulipwood in my shop. All of it has really nice figuring and color and, when made into boxes, never fails to take the breath away. Thinking this stuff must look fantastic turned into a pen, I did the same thing you did. Cut myself a blank and went to it. Mine turned out pretty much the same as yours. I don't say it's not pleasing looking, because it is, but I understand your disappointment thinking it would be something more. I did too. The next one I try will be turned across the grain to see if that might make a difference. Isn't it funny how wood can change once it's round? To bring the color back, try hitting it with oil right after sanding. I just finished a large picture frame out of tulipwood and noticed that, when sanded, the color faded a little. An oil finish did much to bring it back. Hope this works for you.

Cisco

Hmm, I used CA, I'll try oil next time.

Some woods just don't make good pens, too small of a surface area to really show off the beauty of the woods grain and color pattern, I think Tulipwood may be like this.

Isn't it just gorgeous wood though?

Apart from a nice looking pen Matt, I would love to see that wood cross cut or 45 degree cut, I think it will give that aura you are looking for. Amos

Thanks guys, it looks alright and its growing on me aside from the fact that it reminds me of bloodstains for some reason . It just really didn't turn out like I thought it would, but its still not horrible.

I only have a small 1x1x15" piece of it, I might try getting a small slab of it and trying cross grain or 45deg. It's some pretty expensive wood though, I'd kind of rather invest in cocobolo, at least I know how that will turn out.

I'm going to be near the wood store today but I absolutely knackered my ankle last night, think charging across the yard at a dead run and landing on a stick the dog had dropped there, horrible crunch and I don't think it was the stick. The short of it is I think I'll be keeping my hobbling to a minimum today, so probably no wood store stop.

All done and finished, it has a new home now.

Your sister is a lucky woman.

Originally Posted by Matt88s

Speaking of purpleheart, have you ever heard of the old Boston Garden? I have someone going to send me some purple heart from there, supposedly from one of the seats/benches. Did they use purpleheart in the old Boston Garden?

If they did, that guy has had the purpleheart kicking around forever. They rebuilt the Boston Garden into the Fleet Center probably fifteen or more years ago.