Tasmanian Maple Burl

Hi everyone.

Its been a while since I have posted a new pen. I just finished this one on Saturday. Its a piece of stabilized Tasmanian Maple Burl that I received from Amos. This stuff truly is a PITA to work with, even stabilized. But ohhhh, how nice it comes out.

My first mistake, was not painting the tube and the interior of the blank as well as not using black tinted epoxy, even after Amos warned me in his email. No matter how much you fill, there is always a new void appearing. I carefully filled with CA as I turned it to size, but once I got close to finished, Ahhhhh, brass tube starts showing through. Only now it is nicely protected by a thick coat of CA. I had to get out the dental picks and carefully carve the CA out of the voids that were showing brass. I then filled them up with ground instant coffee soaked in CA. This pen literally took 6 hours to turn.

Its mounted on a Titanium Gold Jr. Victor. I noticed once it was together, that if you turn the pen to different angles, you get just an occasional glint of brass. But paired up with the gold hardware, it does not come off as a flaw.

I had the idea of pre drilling and slightly turning the blank, without a tube. Then put it in the pressure pot with a nice red pearl alumilite mix. That should A) fill in the voids and B) give it a really nice pop.

Forgive the pictures, they were taken with my cell phone at work. I am going to be doing some proper shots in the next couple of days. And thanks again Amos, I love the look of this stuff. The work just makes it more worthwhile.

edit: P.S. I almost forgot. I have looked all over, and cannot find any information on this wood. Where it comes from? What does the tree look like? How rare it is? Or even where to get more:D?
It doesn't look like the maple burl here in Canada, so I am guessing the tree and leaves look different as well. I always like to include the information about special woods when I sell a pen, and this stuff is special.

Comments and critiques welcome.

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Nice pen! Just out of curiosity... I consider myself a bit of a Tasmanian timber enthusiast and I haven't heard of Tassie Maple. Is this just an Acer species that was grown in Tassie or is this some new timber I need to check out?

You did a great looking job on a difficult material Darrin, nice work mate.

I suspect it could be from one of the species that's commonly called "Tassie Oak"

Bit hard to see grain colour in photo unfortunately. There appears to be some wrinkles in your CA finish, if so, use some XXXX steel wool to even them out before going through the micromesh sanding.

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Originally Posted by darrin1200

.. Its a piece of stabilized Tasmanian Maple Burl that I received from Amos. T ...... I have looked all over, and cannot find any information on this wood. Where it comes from? What does the tree look like? How rare it is? Or even where to get more:D?
It doesn't look like the maple burl here in Canada, so I am guessing the tree and leaves look different as well. I always like to include the information about special woods when I sell a pen, and this stuff is special.

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Never heard of Tas Maple. Sure it wasn't Tas Myrtle Burl, same initials. Although it doesn't look like that either, more like a eucalypt, it can vary a fare bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darrin1200

...I had the idea of pre drilling and slightly turning the blank, without a tube. Then put it in the pressure pot with a nice red pearl alumilite mix. That should A) fill in the voids and B) give it a really nice pop...

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No, but close. Drill and partially turn it is ok, but then glue in tube, then cast with resin saver type mold that holds the tube and no need for pressure.

I looked at the pen and thought very nice.

Then I read the story behind it and O My God comes to mind, 6 hours. Your legs much be really tired. I guess this was one of those times that you had a dog with a bone moment.

Thanks guys

Amos told me it was Tasmanian Maple, but maybe its juust one of those times when people know things by different names. The one picture I saw that looked close, is Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle burl.
What ever its called, I still call it gorgeous. That means my two favorite woods, both com from down under. This stuff and Red Mallee.

Yeah Christos. It was the only project I worked on all day. I'm getting ready for an art showmat the end of June, so my private rule is that I have to finish at least one pen each day. This one just got under my skin. I made a lot of mistakes, and tried a few things that I won't do again. Like they say say its not good day until you learn something.

Neil. I'll see if I can get some better pictures, photographing pens is not my strong suit. The grain is much lighter than in the photo. There are a few a couple of small ripples that I didn't notice until after assembly. I think, by the end, that my subconcious was telling me the "texture" was part of the character. I'll have to see if I can get my buffing system working. Ihave the PSI system, but havn't gotten the technique down yet.

For the allumilite, from all the advice I've recieved, pressure is very important; otherwise you will get bubbles. The last thing this stuff needs is more voids. I'll give it a try with the tubes in. I don't have resinsaver molds, but I'll check the local hardware for some silicone plugs. I make my own molds using 1/8" mdf. They are quick to put together with crazy glue.

Yes a lovely wood and pen, even if photography does not do it justice or reveal natural colour.

If its a dark pink-red wood and has a fine texture it most likely Tasmanian myrtle beech (Nothofagus cunninghammii) as others have suggested. If it has some black streaks it could be teh spated version of it. I have never heard of Tasmanian maple as a native tree, and Acer woods even if grown in Tasmania in gardens, are pale as you know.

Euge .