Penturning and the enviroment?

[Kadmos]

Ok so I picked up a couple blanks of Wenge, I made a cigar pen for my grandfather in law for Christmas. I picked this particulr blank for several reasons

1. never used it
2. it comes from africa and he is a racist bastard (not KKK but pretty bad)
3. it's pronounced "when gay" and he's a homophobe.

Yeah I know, it's rude, I intended to say "My wife says you often spoke of africa and africans when she was growing up, so I thought you might have an interest in african woods"...he doesn't say racist stuff around me...just anti-semitic stuff because I'm jewish, so I really do plan to play dumb.

at any rate he's getting a rather nice pen

But here's the actual issue...looking up the wood I find out it's an endangered species. I only have 2 blanks of it, but it's really nice looking and I'm trying to decide if I'm really willing to buy more, just not keen on the idea..feels a bit like clubbing baby seals now that I know.

So are there any woods people don't use because the woods are threatened, do you care one way or the other?

I honestly haven't giving this much thought before, and if its the big no-no please don't kick me off the board for mentioning it.[B)]

 

[bitshird]

Kadmos, Most exotic woods are in danger, not just some of the African woods, quite a few are being devastated in Central and South America as well as Asia and The South seas.
If you feel strongly enough about it you can find hardwood dealers that belong to or support the ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organization ) they deal only with wood that has been harvested with preservation foremost, Not Clear Cutting.
I live in what 15 years ago was an area of nice hardwoods, now there are bare areas for miles, other than what has been replanted by a fast growing conifer that can be harvested every 20 years.
Reality is you should stock up on these endangered woods, someday in the near future they may no longer be available, guess what is worth more than endangered wood,? EXTINCT WOOD.

 

[WWAtty]

Penturners have the opportunity to help preserve some of these scarce resources. Many turners make pens from reclaimed or recycled wood. Many of the pen blanks on the market are derived from scraps of wood cut off from other uses - scraps that might otherwise be wasted.

You might check some dealers of exotic lumber to see what "shorts" and cutoffs they have available. Some of this stuff makes nice penturning stock. Many of the tropical woods used for hardwood flooring and trim work are harvested from managed forests. A few woods, such as Bethlehem Olivewood, are only collected from prunings and fallen branches. You can even scavenge firewood piles for interesting chunks of wood to turn. There are many eco-friendly options open to the penturner.

And as for your racist/anti-semitic grandfather in law: by making a nice pen for him, you're a far better person than I. I would've given the guy a lump of coal. [}]

Cheers.

 

[Kadmos]

Thankfully his granddaughtr is well worth putting up with him a few times a year.

First words he said to me "I don't like my girl dating no go'dam jew".

I replied overly loud as though he might be deaf "it's nice to meet to too"

I have always been polite to the man, doing otherwise would put me in the doghouse.


I don't know if it's just rationalization, but I kinda wonder if by using the wood it might be advertising that the tree is a beautiful tree that should be preserved....yeah thats the ticket!!

 

[rlharding]

I was reading an interesting thread recently, or maybe it was an article. The discussion was on this topic and from what I read, if we wood turners continue to buy endangered species we will help to keep the value of the trees high enough so that people leave them to grow rather than cut them down to grow crops for sale. Fewer trees will need to be cut for the same amount of money.

I also took from the same discussion/article that the wood we use is not usually from a tree that has been cut for pen blanks (duh!) and the blanks are from the crotch wood or burl or root....a part of the tree that isn't the sole focus of the de-forestation.

FWIW