Thread: Abonos / Bog Oak scales

Hello,

I've been promised to get some 6000 years old Quercus Robur abonos that I want to use for scales and brush handle.
Does anyone has experience with this material? What should I look for when working with it?
It's really beautiful wood and I want to make it in the right way, without ruining it.

br, Z

This sounds like and interesting project! Good luck.

I read a little about this wood and it seems to be very hard.Oak is a good wood to begin with. I mention this because I got a piece of 40,000 year old [at least thats the story] Kauri wood from New Zealand. Nice wood but sort of a blah pattern. I still have the scales 3/4 completed but they are to soft. The wood is more/type of a pine and it probably wouldn't make good scales if it was fresh cut.

have fun

Tim

I thought I remembered reading of bog oak tobacco pipes and sure enough with google I found quite a bit of info on bog oak. Here is an article on the pipes. Seems like it would work for scales if the pieces were large enough. You might have to stabilize it the way scale guys do with spalted maple. Stand by for someone who knows what they are talking about to come along.... I'll shut up now.

there is a lot of information on wood turning and turning different woods on the INTERNET and U tube in particular. I know there are some videos out there that talk about how to deal with spalted woods, IE how to stabilize them so they dont come apart when you turn them. I must admit I usually buy this type of wood pre stabilized just because I know what I am getting because it has already changed any way is is going to.

Originally Posted by 32t

This sounds like and interesting project! Good luck.

I read a little about this wood and it seems to be very hard.Oak is a good wood to begin with. I mention this because I got a piece of 40,000 year old [at least thats the story] Kauri wood from New Zealand. Nice wood but sort of a blah pattern. I still have the scales 3/4 completed but they are to soft. The wood is more/type of a pine and it probably wouldn't make good scales if it was fresh cut.

For sure it will be fun to work with it. If I'm informed correctly, the Kaori (Agathis australis) is much softer than Oak (Quercus robur) - density of 560 vs 720 kg/m3 for fresh cut. I think there is not to much difference after couple thousand years.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I thought I remembered reading of bog oak tobacco pipes and sure enough with google I found quite a bit of info on bog oak. Here is an article on the pipes. Seems like it would work for scales if the pieces were large enough. You might have to stabilize it the way scale guys do with spalted maple. Stand by for someone who knows what they are talking about to come along.... I'll shut up now.

Thanks Jimmy, my source is a well known morta pipemaker. I'll talk with him about this, but he is now out of reach for whole week

Originally Posted by takedeadaim

there is a lot of information on wood turning and turning different woods on the INTERNET and U tube in particular. I know there are some videos out there that talk about how to deal with spalted woods, IE how to stabilize them so they dont come apart when you turn them. I must admit I usually buy this type of wood pre stabilized just because I know what I am getting because it has already changed any way is is going to.

I'm quite comfortable with different materials and tools (grown up in my fathers shop ) but this wood is different from anything I see before. It's not spalted, the wood is perfectly healthy and in good condition. Biggest difference vs. normal oak is that abonos has quite amount of minerals absorbed and is hard as hell.

Originally Posted by Zlotvor

... Biggest difference vs. normal oak is that abonos has quite amount of minerals absorbed and is hard as hell.

So does this make it like teak to work with? IIRC, teak eats HSS tools for lunch and you have to use carbide or TiN (titanium nitride) coated tools.

Sorry I didn't catch this thread!
Bog oak is easy to work with, and will make beautiful scales. It is very porous which will make finishing a chore, especially if you want smooth as glass scales. If you just seal the wood and retain the natural oak look, you should have scales in short order.
Bog oak;
-machines well
-sands well
-glues well
-medium to medium hard wood
-turns well
-4 to 12,000 years old
Ed
quicknicker

ps Someone also mentioned Kauri wood, which is much older(50k). This wood is similar to redwood, and except for the age, would make some very plain jane scales.