Worthless wood - still the same?

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
T

Texatdurango

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
4,649
Location
Show Low, Arizona
First off, this is just a rant, it's not aimed at anyone, not intended to disparage anyone, not intended to start a war of words with anyone, it's just something that's bugged me a little so I thought I would voice my opinion.

A few years ago our illustrious moderator, Curtis (mesquiteman) came up with a unique way of blending resin with otherwise "worthless" wood, usually root balls or pieces of wood so full of holes or voids they were not suitable for cutting into blanks.

He would spend hours cleaning dirt, sand and rocks from the wood and ground away the loose fibers to insure good adhesion of the resin then mixed some interesting combinations of colored resins and pigments.

These creations turned out to be stunning pens and many started copying the idea which is just fine, Worthless wood pens were really nice!

From those days to the present however, I feel that the term "worthless wood" has been diluted to mean any piece of scrap, any cutoff regardless of shape or anything picked up off the floor and tossed into a mold to be mixed with resin.

I guess it started when wood vendors found that their burl scraps or cutoffs were worth something to those casting blanks and some started tossing any shape of wood into a mold giving little thought to the outcome and calling them "worthless Wood". Now we see blanks including short cutoffs inside, often with 90 degree corners or square edges showing in the middle of the blanks.

Sure would be nice if someone would coin a phrase to call these something besides "worthless wood".

That's it.....It's out of my system, I'm over it now! :)
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Interesting you should mention that.

I got into the hobby very recently. I've "grown up" knowing [worthless wood] as the burl ends/edges or scrap, cast and cut into blanks. Recently I've seen the misc. scrap blanks, but never really considered them [worthless wood]. I do see your point.
 
Very interesting George. You just learned me something. I will not use the term "worthless wood" unless I know what the hell I am talking about. And now that I have read this, I should know what I am talking about. So if I call something "worthless wood" it means the Mesquite man has drilled, poked, brushed all the dirt away and filled the voids with resin to complete something spectacular.
 
I think it's one of those situations where it was such a good idea and the name was perfect so it just kind of evolved into the term used to describe it. Kind of like Kleenex or Poleroid or Coke. I'd be honored if I came up with something like that and everyone started calling the technique by the name I gave it.
 
I think Pat at Ankrom Exotics uses the term "Mosaic" in some of his blanks, maybe that would be better fit for some, but the this is that worthless wood is still accurate.

There is a piece of wood in the blank, and in and of itself that piece of wood would be worthless for making a pen.
 
Russianwolf said:
I think Pat at Ankrom Exotics uses the term "Mosaic" in some of his blanks, maybe that would be better fit for some, but the this is that worthless wood is still accurate.

There is a piece of wood in the blank, and in and of itself that piece of wood would be worthless for making a pen.
Click to expand...

You may be right! I guess what got me to thinking was that I placed an ad for some blanks last week and a few people PM'd me asking if I had some worthless wood cutoffs for sale, meaning the cutoffs from the burl I cut into. Actually some would work nicely for "worthless wood" designs but most were just short or narrow pieces not useful at all and I got to thinking how many times I have seen these scraps being sold as "worthless wood". "Mosaic" does have a nice sound to it :)
 
Texatdurango said:
......... Now we see blanks including short cutoffs inside, often with 90 degree corners or square edges showing in the middle of the blanks.

Sure would be nice if someone would coin a phrase to call these something besides "worthless wood".
:)
Click to expand...


I couldn't agree more. Couple years ago, I bought $everal blanks that were numbered and pics shown here. The pic showed very nice natural lines and I picked the ones I fancied.

:frown: They really are worthless....the back and sides of the blanks all have sharp corners and straight edges through them:mad:
 
Well, let me weigh in on this a little. When I wrote the tutorial, I called my technique "Worthless Wood". I intentionally choose not to trade mark the name "Worthless Wood" and really have no problem at all with folks calling wood cast in resin using my technique, "Worthless Wood" It is an honor in some ways, knowing that I quoined the phrase and that is it so widely used on the net in penturning circles. I do agree that some of the blanks that I have seen have done a disservice to the name due to the lack of thought put in them but that is the way it is I guess!

Kinda like asprin. Asprin used to be a brand name but now you have all sorts of various makers of acetylsalicylic acid called asprin, all the way from the generic store brands to the original, Beyer Asprin.

Again, I do not care at all that the term is used to refer to pieces of wood cast in resin. Now, if you start calling stuff that is not from me "Texas Collection Worthless Wood"™ then we may have to talk! :)
 
I put the "Worthless Wood" in quotes for the Panache pen I posted pics for earlier. The reason for that is that I felt using the term "Worthless Wood" to describe such a beautiful blank is a contradiction in terms. Wizard
 
Thank you George ! I've been guilty myself of calling these blanks "Worthless Wood" although made by someone other than Curtis . My apologies Curtis ! :redface: If not for reading here about Georges opinion , I would still be calling them WW .

Apparently , I was typing at the same time Curtis was . Since Curtis doesn't mind , I may continue calling them WW , as he aptly named them . But , I'll always associate them with Curtis , now that I've been educated . Thanks Curtis !
 
Last edited:
I decided a few months ago when I start casting the so called "Worthless Woods" my name for them will be "Crazy A&& Wood". Hopefully nobody will get offended by this.
 
I could in no way ignore this thread and the opinions within, for obvious reasons, after all I'm one of those using the technique, giving it the name of "Resifills".

I totally agree with many points mentioned here, one of them the fact that "worthless wood" pen blanks, have been initiated by Curtis.

I don't know, and I would suspect the technique of mixing resin with wood is a lot older than Curtis work. I may be wrong but, we all may find out that this technique was tried long ago by someone that never advertised or if it did, was outside of the pen making world.

Coming back to the name itself of "worthless wood", I can understand why Curtis decided to name it like that, indeed it is true, some of the best bits of wood used on these castings, would the worthless for anything else, but I don't particularly like the name (sorry Curtis), I have made my thoughts be known about this same matter when I first advertised my Resifill blanks in here, so and when I particularly see it associated with absolute magnificent pens made out of them. It even sounds like a contradiction but in reality, and as someone has already expressed that sentiment here, is difficult to associate "worthless" with those pens.

Does the wood selection and mixing techniques of this blanks have something to do with the way these pens I'm talking about look...??? absolutely, that is indeed the secret and the difference...! does everyone does as good job as Curtis and some other members here...??? absolutely not, so the merits are proportional to the quality of the work done to put this blanks together.

Now if you look at the other side of this issue, there is the commercial value of the "experimentations" preformed by so many people out there, from the sale of the pressure pots to mold material and the resin and additives components, it would be unreasonable to consider this whole idea, a "worthless" one, wouldn't you agree...??? those selling these products are definitely not complaining...!:wink:

Like so many other ideas that are shared here and in so many (well... not that many!) other places, we all have the right to try and play with. Some will find that was a "great" idea to get involved with this, others will think that was a big waste of money and time, I'm sure...! In between the "ZIG" and the "ZAG" there are many positives, I'm one of those that are immensely pleased to have discovered the technique, allowing me to utilize my woods the way I always wanted but didn't know how so, thank you Curtis, for providing your original PDF file, explaining how it's done...!:biggrin:

I also totally agree with George's sentiment and "rant", he his right and these things are impossible to void, for the reasons I explain above, people have the right to do what they want with their money and time, and when we see the different and variety of great blanks created from this simple "casting principle", they would never have existed if these people would not had a go at it...!

I'm part of that group, in regards to having a go, I like to thing that with time I will be able to improve what I'm already doing, not because I'm interested in "competing" with anyone but simply to be able to utilize the great woods I have in ways that have not been done before, from its origin...! What I do, and what I use is just that, my contribution to the world of possibilities, when it comes to the making of pen and other blanks, not because that are better or worse, I would be happy if they are just different...!

Now, when it comes to the prices each one charges for these blanks again, this is a free world and people have the right to put a price tag for their work, which can be just a hobby, a serious income revenue or main business, or something in between...!
The only ones that have the power to make the final choice, are those that decide to purchase these items, they also have the right to pay whatever they feel is appropriate for what they are getting. Between the most expensive and the cheaper ones, there is indeed a great number of choices that make buying a blank with a mix of wood and resin, a easy one...!

In resume, I believe, the positives out-way the negatives by far so, everyone is a winner (exceptions do apply...!:eek::wink:).

Cheers
George
 
Last edited:
EBorraga said:
I decided a few months ago when I start casting the so called "Worthless Woods" my name for them will be "Crazy A&& Wood". Hopefully nobody will get offended by this.
Click to expand...


I don't think anyone is offended, least not Curtis. I hope no one takes my comments the wrong way, I'm not knocking anyone in particular, just some of the craftsmanship. It's not so much about folks using the NAME, it's the association or should I say disassociation with QUALITY.

I've seen some really nice "worthless wood" blanks but sadly, some pretty poor ones too! I guess the good ole assembly line has it's drawbacks! :eek:

Two years ago when Curtis hosted the Central Texas IAP chapter meeting at his shop, me and a friend paid them a visit. Curtis shared with us how he crafted his blanks and I was amazed at the amount of work he spent on the wood before putting it in the resin mold. He literally spends hours with a burr making sure every spec is clean and will adhere to the resin. He then took his time positioning each piece of wood in the mold to make sure he got the "look" he was after.

Some of the blanks running around these days just don't have the same level of attention.
 
robutacion said:
...I don't know, and I would suspect the technique of mixing resin with wood is a lot older than Curtis work. I may be wrong but, we all may find out that this technique was tried long ago by someone that never advertised or if it did, was outside of the pen making world....
Click to expand...

There was an ancient technique that some people did with pottery. They would sometimes make imperfect plates, bowels Etc. sometimes they would get little holes or small imperfections. so they filled them with wax the same color as the pottery rather than having to remake them. They would then try to get people to to pay for them so the Ancient people got smart and would check the pottery by holding it up to the sun. it would show the imperfections.

That being said Worthless wood is not too far off this. We utilize pieces that may not have been savlageble alone. I think that there are Many people that do Amazing very detailed Worthless Wood the flipside is the ones that do it poorly. I have been doing a technique before that is vitually the same as Worthless wood for about a 1 1/2 years. Often when using Grapvine you can't get a solid piece, so I mixed up alot of kitchen spices and used two part epoxy to match a void or two in the blank it was very time consuming and My goal was to blend it the difference is that Worthless wood usually I have done this before and later I could not figure out where I blended it. I m positve that I am not the first nor the last to do this to save an exceptional blank from the minor flaws
 
robutacion said:
I don't know, and I would suspect the technique of mixing resin with wood is a lot older than Curtis work. I may be wrong but, we all may find out that this technique was tried long ago by someone that never advertised or if it did, was outside of the pen making world.
Click to expand...

Mixing wood with resin is certainly not new and I never claimed to have "invented the process. Heck, people who work primarily with mesquite use a LOT of resin to fill voids in wood. That is what helped me get the idea for pen blanks. I have been working with mesquite for about 10 years now and have always used epoxy to fill voids.

Heck, I have even been making worthless wood pen blanks for around 5 years now and did not even know it at the time! I had some scrap mesquite that was filled with epoxy already and used it for a couple of pens when I first started. Then I got the idea to do it on purpose and use a pressure pot. A couple years later I decided to write a tutorial and share my method.

For me to claim that I was the fist person in the world to ever use resin with wood would be very pompous and preposterous. I was certainly the first person to mainstream it on IAP and other penturning sites.
 
Ryan,

I thing that, what you are talking about is sightly different than the technique use with worthless blanks, resifills, mutts, and so many other names about...!, the technique or process you are describing, is called "filling", which is basically the process of filling holes, flaws, voids and others, natural or not, and normally don't exceed more than 0.5% or less, of the the piece total volume.

These can normally be a match or a contrast depending of the nature of the void and the result wanted, making a "invisible" filling a lot more difficult than any other...!

The other interesting filling technique is the one used when "recesses" are made into the main material and then filled for a deliberate contrast, these are normally, shapes of animals, or other...!. Again, these are normally small filling areas compared to the main piece where they are filled into.

In average, a pen blank that has been created with a mix of wood and resin, represents a 50/50 in material volume (wood and resin), this is certainly not a "rule" but is close to the way they come up. More often than not, the idea is to create a contrasting effect to the wood shape and colours, some do emphasis their work on the resin colours and effects, others like myself, "try" to give the emphasis on the wood characteristics used within that mold, and use the resin to "complement" it.

The final results are not always what I would expect or prefer, with 50% of them giving the opposite results, there is, they come up a lot better than I ever predicted or envisage...!

I know that "identical" techniques have been used in many countries for many years, one only have the remember of those "things" that were/are embedded in crystal clear glass, plastic, etc., hard clear resins of many compositions have been also used for this same purpose for a long, long time. While those pieces are normally finished in a round or square shape, they have been use as complementary of other pieces, an example is the vehicle gear shift knobs, where those casted pieces are shaped and threaded (drilled) to became a fixed feature.

I suppose, there will be hundreds of other applications that apply but, in simple terms, the main technique/principle used to created the resin casted pen blanks, and others is indeed a smart one and definitely a very practical away to turn something unusable into something very usable...!:biggrin:

PS: Sorry Curtis, you posted your last post while I was typing mine so, I didn't made any reference to it on this post, as I only read it after mine was entered.
I agree with your sentiment and I have no doubt that we all agree that you definitely did open the door to all of us...!

Cheers
George
 
Last edited:
robutacion, I fully agree with your statement there is a difference between small voids and 50%, my daily user is close to 50%, however I still tip My hat to Curtis for giving it a name and showing others how it is done.
 
Well, I read along and boy lots of comments. first of all we all have to thank to curtis to share his idea with us, and at that we need to be thankfull that he let you guys improve on the idea. You know he didn't have to do this or even in Central Texas hosting and doing demoes for th new commers. As many creative penturners we have here I wonder why some get hung up on the words to describe theri creation? Does that mean tha we have not earned good grades in school for english courses, Dang! we need to respect a fellow artist and give him some credit. Just, as respect. well, if you have any new creations and want to name it, but having difficulty to do so. then throw it in here and have us smarties to give you suggestions, but son't go knocking dwon some one nice job for your own gain, please. he was kind enouhg to say that he doesn't claim any fame to this , but now we are draggin his cration down, which ain't right. we say it in Texas IT"S All KINDA wrong. After all he started to tickle some creative ideas,huh? We just need to give him credit. Or we'll send Texas Bullsankes after you all,heheheh.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom