Making Pen Blanks From a Fallen Black Walnut Branch (is a lot of work)

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A large Black Walnut tree branch fell in our yard. Most of it will go to firewood, but I also wanted to turn some of it into pens eventually. The first step: break the wood down into pen blanks - pieces of wood 1" x 1" x 5". A freshly fallen branch is considered "green wood", i.e. the cells of the wood are still full of moisture. As the moisture leaves, the wood often cracks which makes it unusable for woodturning. I therefore used a technique to dry them without cracking.
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LostWoodsPens.com for store, commissions, and more.
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I make writing instruments from discarded and unwanted wood. No stains or dyes. No resins or epoxy.