Scottish Heather

[pensmyth]

OK, I was watching "How It's Made" on the Science Channel tonight. They had a segment called Heather Gems. Its a plant that was once used to thatch roofs. They harvest it, tumble it in a drum with media to remove the greenery and bark. Then they bundle it in small bunches put it under vacuum to remove any moisture then force colored dye into it under pressure. They then take the different colors of dyed heather and mix it up, place it back in a bundle and dip it in a resin. They place several bundles in a press and form a "brick". Its then baked in an oven to cure then sliced on a band saw and made into jewelry.
They sand it and seal it with several coats of lacquer. It sort of resembles Dymond wood and Colorwood only its made of this heather. At the end they showed different items made from it including a magnifying glass and a pen. Has any one seen this heather for sale as blanks to turn into pens or other items?

 

[pensmyth]

Here are some pictures of the process....

 

[LarryDNJR]

Interesting, I like the look of it. Be curious to find some

 

[LarryDNJR]

From the FAQ on Heathergems site.

Q. Where does the Heather come from?
A. We sustainably source all of our Heather locally near Pitlochry, Scotland.

Q. Can I buy pieces of the heather to make my own jewellery?
A. Sorry we do not sell these at present.

Q. Can I buy bundles of heather?
A. Sorry we do not sell these at present.

 

[scotian12]

The jewelry is sold at a Scottish gift shop here in Halifax and it is quite beautiful. Yes, it does remind me of dymondwood but in a jewelry setting it is much more beautiful. A couple of years ago I wrote the company inquiring if any material was available and essentially I got the same response....exclusively for their own use. Darrell Eisner

 

[steeler fan1]

From the FAQ on Heathergems site.

Q. Where does the Heather come from?
A. We sustainably source all of our Heather locally near Pitlochry, Scotland.

Q. Can I buy pieces of the heather to make my own jewellery?
A. Sorry we do not sell these at present.

Q. Can I buy bundles of heather?
A. Sorry we do not sell these at present.

Hmmmmm, any Scotish woodturners out there? I see a business oppertunity on the horizon for someone.

Carl

 

[witz1976]

Pretty cool process.

 

[Fred]

Go to this section of their website and 'see' how the process is done. Seems to be rather labor intensive, BUT the results are quite spectacular IMHO.

http://www.heathergems.com/makingthegems.html

This video shows the process a little bit better ...

http://www.heathergems.com/video.html

Since this is a properitary process I can understand why they do not sell stock of the "Heather Gem" material. Would you go through all the work only to sell the bulk stuff? Not me!

Now, instead of just riding around and looking for interesting wood, we will have to start looking for interesting plant stems as well. I believe it will be more productive to grow our own heather patch.

 

[Jgrden]

Scottish Heather is a DRINK, you crazy guys.

 

[Sancho]

I see on their website that the only pen they're selling is made with what appears to be a designer pen kit, personally I would've gone with a higher end pen kit. I only wish I was the lucky guy who gets to turn their pens for them. I think I would get a real kick out of it.

 

[underdog]

Y'know I don't see why you couldn't prevail upon some of the casting guys to come up with something similar.

I mean, it's only a bunch of dyed sticks cast together somehow...

Can't be all that hard. Just tedious.

 

[thewishman]

Tumbleweed would make some interesting things...

 

[CHEF]

Sorry People but there is no way to get the blocks of Heather I have tryed even showed them some of my pens , but no they would'nt sell you can get the end bits of the block but only good for segment , I live about 49mils from were they make the gems -----------------Brian