Hempwood

[eteska]

This is my first attempt at using hempwood. I have been seeing the beautiful pens posted here and had to try one for myself. Taking note of some of the struggles others have had. I rounded the blank on my disk sander before starting. Rotated to a fresh side on my carbide cutter. I proceeded by taking light cuts and stopping every mm or so to soak it in ca.

While a bit tricky to turn it is a beautiful material and I wouldn't hesitate to buy more of it.

 

[Alan Morrison]

Eric, you rose to the challenge and have succeeded.
Well done. That's not a material that I have ever tried, but you have done a good job with it.

Alan

 

[eteska]

Eric, you rose to the challenge and have succeeded.
Well done. That's not a material that I have ever tried, but you have done a good job with it.

Alan

Thank you Alan. I would rate it similar to pens that I have made with unstabelized burls and spalted woods.

 

[qquake]

Looks really good. I have a less than 50% success rate with hempwood.

 

[eteska]

Looks really good. I have a less than 50% success rate with hempwood.

Your posts and a few others are why I took the precautions I did. No doubt I would have blown it out with my normal aggressive turning, and why I did a single tube pen (so I had a back up.) Even still it seemed very fibrous almost fuzzy at times which is why I soaked it in ca.

 

[mmayo]

Bravo!!!

 

[Jim15]

Looks great.

 

[qquake]

Your posts and a few others are why I took the precautions I did. No doubt I would have blown it out with my normal aggressive turning, and why I did a single tube pen (so I had a back up.) Even still it seemed very fibrous almost fuzzy at times which is why I soaked it in ca.

If I were to try it again, I would definitely flood it with CA. Even then, I had such large chip outs, I'm not sure how much it would help.

 

[mark james]

Very nice. I really like the photos - the grain is excellent. I have a block... maybe time to play!

 

[eharri446]

I have some that I plan on putting into Cactus Juice once I get my ship back together. Then I will try to turn a pen with them. I am doing the same with red and black palm blanks.

 

[eteska]

I have some that I plan on putting into Cactus Juice once I get my ship back together. Then I will try to turn a pen with them. I am doing the same with red and black palm blanks.

Palm is on my short list of blanks to try. I always think they look cool too.

 

[Kcimdrib]

Great Pen don't think I can buy Hempwood in the UK. Could it go by another name.

 

[eteska]

Great Pen don't think I can buy Hempwood in the UK. Could it go by another name.

I purchased mine through exotic blanks. I can not speak to if it's available in the UK or not. Doesn't seem to be a ton of information on the web about it. But here is a link to the one manufacturer I found. Not sure if there are others or not.

 

[Kcimdrib]

I purchased mine through exotic blanks. I can not speak to if it's available in the UK or not. Doesn't seem to be a ton of information on the web about it. But here is a link to the one manufacturer I found. Not sure if there are others or not.

I wonder does it go by any other name. I can't find it under Hempwood. I can find Black Palm which looks similar may give that a try. Thanks for looking.

 

[Bats]

I wonder does it go by any other name. I can't find it under Hempwood. I can find Black Palm which looks similar may give that a try. Thanks for looking.

Hempwood is a fairly new engineered composite made from hemp fibers. Patented, of course, so if you do find anything like it over there, it's probably coming from the same source. Black palm is unrelated, but I've seen similar complaints about difficulty turning, so you might be able to get some of the same fun (or "fun") out of it.

 

[Kcimdrib]

Hempwood is a fairly new engineered composite made from hemp fibers. Patented, of course, so if you do find anything like it over there, it's probably coming from the same source. Black palm is unrelated, but I've seen similar complaints about difficulty turning, so you might be able to get some of the same fun (or "fun") out of it.

Hempwood is a fairly new engineered composite made from hemp fibers. Patented, of course, so if you do find anything like it over there, it's probably coming from the same source. Black palm is unrelated, but I've seen similar complaints about difficulty turning, so you might be able to get some of the same fun (or "fun") out of it.

Thank you for taking the time to reply think I'll get some Black Palm and see how it turns.

 

[Jim Campbell]

A very nice looking pen. I like the way the wood complements the colors of the pen kit.

For those who remember my post, I like the look of Hempwood. I had bought the Hempwood directly from the manufacturer, since Exotic Blanks was not offering Hempwood blanks at the time.

I have not experienced many of the issues I have heard about and read about. I must be lucky.

I round the blanks and mount them in a collect chuck for drilling. I go slow on drilling. I use Gorilla Clear to glue the tube in. I soak the blank with super-fast/thin CA after the tube is glued in. I turn with a skew. I also soak the blank with super-fast/thin CA before sanding, and finish with CA.

 

[eteska]

A very nice looking pen. I like the way the wood complements the colors of the pen kit.

For those who remember my post, I like the look of Hempwood. I had bought the Hempwood directly from the manufacturer, since Exotic Blanks was not offering Hempwood blanks at the time.

I have not experienced many of the issues I have heard about and read about. I must be lucky.

I round the blanks and mount them in a collect chuck for drilling. I go slow on drilling. I use Gorilla Clear to glue the tube in. I soak the blank with super-fast/thin CA after the tube is glued in. I turn with a skew. I also soak the blank with super-fast/thin CA before sanding, and finish with CA.

View attachment 314157

Those are all great!