Wild olive wood slimline

[MedWoodWorx]

A modified slimline i made recently from wild olive wood. This is the wild relative of the domesticated olive tree; more robust, dense and not fruit producing. I small problem i have when i eliminate center bands is that the pen is not 100% round (maybe the same happens in ordinary slimlines also but the center ring makes this unnoticeable). I am thinking to make a new shaft for my pen mandrel ( which is a relatively high quality axminster evolution), maybe the diameter of the shaft is a bit smaller than the tubes. Any advice is welcome, cheers.

 

[Woodchipper]

I've never heard of wild olive, only what's from Israel or Holy Land as some call the region. If you are using bushings to turn the blanks, here is what I have done recently. When I get close to the bushing, I wrap it with one turn of masking tape. Taking careful and light cuts, I watch for the tool hitting the tape. It could wear it down to show the bushing or tear a small part of the tape. Then, more careful and light cuts. I pass my thumbnail over the bushing and blank to make sure it's even. There is a book by Don Ward who has several ways to modify Slimline pens. You might see if your local stores have it. Worth the money.

 

[MedWoodWorx]

I've never heard of wild olive, only what's from Israel or Holy Land as some call the region. If you are using bushings to turn the blanks, here is what I have done recently. When I get close to the bushing, I wrap it with one turn of masking tape. Taking careful and light cuts, I watch for the tool hitting the tape. It could wear it down to show the bushing or tear a small part of the tape. Then, more careful and light cuts. I pass my thumbnail over the bushing and blank to make sure it's even. There is a book by Don Ward who has several ways to modify Slimline pens. You might see if your local stores have it. Worth the money.

the thing is that i use bushings at the ends; not the middle bushings, to acieve this pattern. when i take the blanks off the mandrel everything is ok but when i have completed the pen and i twist the two sections there is a tiny (fraction of a mm) gap that it can be felt (otherwise its unnoticable).
i ll upload a photo to see what i mean, the wild olive tree was used in ancient times to make a wreath that was given as a prize to the winners of the olympic games (called kotinos, pronounced kotenos). it is also used as a root stock for olive trees since it's very hardy.

 

[Woodchipper]

Will look for a photo. Thanks for the history of the wood.

 

[MedWoodWorx]

Will look for a photo. Thanks for the history of the wood.

This is the best i could do before this conversations turns cold. Here are some photos of domesticated olive trees and wild ones. The picture of the small shrub/tree is one that i found online the rest are mine. The wild olive that is the rootstock of the domesticated tree produces suckers each year (that are normally pruned but if the tree is neglected the wild olive becomes a huge bush that covers the whole tree).
The first photo is of a domesticated olive with olives hanging, at the second picture you can see the wild shoots and at the third a close up; i believe you can see the much smaller leaves and lack of fruits. At the next two photos two neglected trees that are overrun from the rootstock. I hope i am not boring you, cheers.

 

[Woodchipper]

Interesting. I was not aware of the care that is required of olive trees. My wife has some olive wood carvings she got from a friend who visited the Holy Land a few years ago.
"And what topic do you pick?" "I'll take olive trees for $500, please."

 

[MedWoodWorx]

Thats the wild tree i found online i forgot to upload it. That s a mature olive tree if its lucky enough to grow old and not be burned. Bare in mind these are olea europaea; if you type wild olive you might find the african olive which is another tree ( olea africana until recently but recently was classified as the subspecies cuspidata, wikipedia).