Turning weird vines - ayahuasca pens and poison ivy keys

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Xel

Xel

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Long time no see IAP community. It's been good medicine to get back into the shop and blow off steam! Some vine turnings for your perusal. :)

These three are hybrids with ayahuasca vine I happened to procure, cast by Casey. It's a South American liana usually partaken of for its psychoactive properties, but the wood itself really is something else. Here's one blank to show you what I mean:

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The finish on the top one is all scratched since I've been using it as a shop pen; had I known that's what it was meant for I would've used a cheaper kit. :p

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Not a pen but not wanting to make a new thread: this is poison ivy stabilized by my friend Tony, finished with some Aussie Oil. It was my first time wearing a respirator to turn something.

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It's a square socket wrench meant for tuning lyre strings.

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Thanks for looking, hope all has been well here!
 
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SteveJ said:
I had no idea poison ivy would grow that thick and "wood" like. Nice work.
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I've seen plenty of vines a couple inches in diameter, but I guess I always thought of them more as being a braided rope of smaller vines rather than a solid woody mass. It's the stabilization and turning that really impressed me, though. I would've been afraid of aerosolizing the oils through the compressor and letting them settle all over the shop (drying it in the oven would've made me a little nervous, too), and then, even with a respirator, leaving itchy chips and (especially) sanding dust around everywhere.

(can you guess I have lousy dust collection in my shop?)

edit: I'm also wondering about using an ayahuasca blank for a habitual pen-chewer.
 
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Very cool, I have been eyeballing some honeysuckly vines in the area I live for something like this. Glad to know it can be successful.

As far as the poison ivy, how concerning is it for the oils and the finished product? Oils are what causes poison ivy/oak/sumac so did you do something specific to the blank to avoid any oils excreting over time? Not picking on your bashing the piece, it is rather nice but am curious about those other aspects of the vine and being turned.
 
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SteveJ said:
I had no idea poison ivy would grow that thick and "wood" like. Nice work.
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I've never seen it that thick either. The guy who made the blank lives way out in the country and apparently has some monstrous ivy!

PaulWitmer said:
The pens and the wrench handle look very, very nice. I never thought of turning vines before.

Paul
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They're fun when they're stabilized! I'd guess because of the way vines grow they're somewhat funkier to turn than wood, maybe someone more practiced can chime in? I foolishly went through two unadulterated wisteria blanks before I realized them exploding midway wasn't entirely due to general turning greenness. o_O

Bats said:
edit: I'm also wondering about using an ayahuasca blank for a habitual pen-chewer.
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Heh, the ayahuasca vine supplies the MAO inhibitor that potentiates the effect of another plant containing high DMT levels. You need both for the brew you drink (which is also confusingly called ayahuasca). It's inert on its own. ;)

SabertoothBunny said:
As far as the poison ivy, how concerning is it for the oils and the finished product?
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For this application I wasn't too concerned tbh, as you'd use a key like this only rarely. The guy who made the blank has an EDC pen he's carried around for years with no issues. He did finish it with CA to be safe.
 
Xel said:
Heh, the ayahuasca vine supplies the MAO inhibitor that potentiates the effect of another plant containing high DMT levels. You need both for the brew you drink (which is also confusingly called ayahuasca). It's inert on its own. ;)
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Dammit... I used to know all this, too, back in my misspent youth.

(sadly never quite misspent enough to have a chance to actually try ayahuasca, though. Or peyote. Or datura, or jimson weed, or morning glory seeds, or......)
 
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A number of years ago, a large oak tree with a large void in it was cut down in winter a half a block away. It had several 3" to 4" vines on it. I thought they would be nice to turn. I got several feet of the vine, cut them on my table saw and made several 1 inch square and 8 to 10" long blanks.

The Very Next Morning . . . my face was swollen and rash all over me. Went to my GP who was at a different location; the waiting room was full, I went to the receptionist and she never looked up and said, "I'm sorry but we are full and cannot accept any more walk-ins." Then she looked up and said, "Im so sorry, COME with me now! Then she said "Doctor, this on is next!" I got my shot and some medicine immediately.

No poison ivy woodwork for me! But your work looks GREAT!
 
I went to a nude furniture store about 30 years ago and right as you entered the store as a centerpiece there was huge trunk standing there, something north of 24 inches. After looking for a while I ask the store owner what kind of tree it came from and he told me it was Wisteria! I left very amazed lol!
 
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Xel said:
I've never seen it that thick either. The guy who made the blank lives way out in the country and apparently has some monstrous ivy!


They're fun when they're stabilized! I'd guess because of the way vines grow they're somewhat funkier to turn than wood, maybe someone more practiced can chime in? I foolishly went through two unadulterated wisteria blanks before I realized them exploding midway wasn't entirely due to general turning greenness. o_O


Heh, the ayahuasca vine supplies the MAO inhibitor that potentiates the effect of another plant containing high DMT levels. You need both for the brew you drink (which is also confusingly called ayahuasca). It's inert on its own. ;)


For this application I wasn't too concerned tbh, as you'd use a key like this only rarely. The guy who made the blank has an EDC pen he's carried around for years with no issues. He did finish it with CA to be safe.
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Wisteria, such beautiful cluster flowered vies. They grow like weeds where I live as well, massive swaths of them climb the trees around the highways. One of my neighbors has groomed a wisteria into a stubby tree form that arcs out and looks amazing when in bloom.
 
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SabertoothBunny said:
Wisteria, such beautiful cluster flowered vies. They grow like weeds where I live as well, massive swaths of them climb the trees around the highways. One of my neighbors has groomed a wisteria into a stubby tree form that arcs out and looks amazing when in bloom.
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Isn't that the truth!? I have some to kill in the woods just behind my fence. Don't tell my wife. She loves looking at it, but will have to settle for the more cultivated one we also have. Sure it looks pretty, but it's already contributed to one tree toppling over the fence and I really don't want to have to replace or repair any more of it. I will have to consider saving some of the larger trunk pieces, though.
 
Xel said:
I've never seen it that thick either. The guy who made the blank lives way out in the country and apparently has some monstrous ivy!


They're fun when they're stabilized! I'd guess because of the way vines grow they're somewhat funkier to turn than wood, maybe someone more practiced can chime in? I foolishly went through two unadulterated wisteria blanks before I realized them exploding midway wasn't entirely due to general turning greenness. o_O


Heh, the ayahuasca vine supplies the MAO inhibitor that potentiates the effect of another plant containing high DMT levels. You need both for the brew you drink (which is also confusingly called ayahuasca). It's inert on its own. ;)


For this application I wasn't too concerned tbh, as you'd use a key like this only rarely. The guy who made the blank has an EDC pen he's carried around for years with no issues. He did finish it with CA to be safe.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the needed thickness and sturdiness would be a problem with vines. They'd have to be stabilized, and well sealed. I definitely wouldn't want to chew on the finished pen or get itchy and blotchy after writing. Paul
 
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Bats said:
I saw this after reading Hank's post and had this terrible feeling that it was somehow going to involve nudity and poison ivy.
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My father told us a story about a patient with a severe reaction to poison oak. The patient was camping with his friends and was "proving" to them that he was immune. He rubbed poison oak all over his face, arms, legs, and the rest of his body as a demonstration. According to my father, the patient was in serious condition when his friends brought him in, and had to be hospitalized for several days.
 
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penicillin said:
My father told us a story about a patient with a severe reaction to poison oak. The patient was camping with his friends and was "proving" to them that he was immune. He rubbed poison oak all over his face, arms, legs, and the rest of his body as a demonstration. According to my father, the patient was in serious condition when his friends brought him in, and had to be hospitalized for several days.
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Gotta wonder why he was showing off to his friends with the "rest of his body" uncovered in the first place. Must be one o' them bondage bonding things.
 
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The first blank looks nice. It reminds me of Bocote.
I have some wild grape vine about 3" in diameter. Even with coating the ends it has checked down to the pith along its entire length. Stringy in texture and not very interesting.
No way would I mess with poison ivy in any way.
 
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Bats said:
Gotta wonder why he was showing off to his friends with the "rest of his body" uncovered in the first place. Must be one o' them bondage bonding things.
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Based on how my father explained it, I assumed that the patient rubbed the poison oak on his shirtless chest and back, something like that. Macho, not bond-o.
 
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I love the look of the vine blank.
Thank goodness we don't have huge poison ivy like that up here, but at least you can see to avoid it.
I just got over a 2 week bout of poison ivy over my legs and arms. We were cutting and clearing walking trails through our back property. It must have been mixed in with all the brush I picked up in my arms for disposal. I almost went insane.
 
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