Jennifer and her Mother gave me, in my stocking for Christmas, a few pen blanks, in anticipation of my new career starting. One of the blanks was a piece of Dymondwood called Field and Stream. It is basically a bunch of layers of wood laminated like plywood, but the layers are dyed and the blanks have been stabilized with resin (acrylic?). Because of the angle of the lamination, I was squaring the blank and was a little too aggressive and the blank broke. I had to try turning Dymondwood so I used this as an excuse to spend more money at Lee Valley. I think I should get a part time job there just so I can feed this habit. At any rate, I was more gentle with this blank and it turned into a pen quite nicely. Because of the resin, it does smell a bit when turning and it doesn’t seem to come of in shavings like solid wood does (unless I wasn’t turning fast enough?). It basically chips off, but the finishing is nice and easy because of the resins. I think I will try my Micro-mesh pads to finish the next one I do.
To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn 