The Grape Vine

A neighbor of mine trimmed his grape vines down to try and produce some better grapes. I don't think he had done it in years. He gave me some of the trimmings and after 2 years I tried to see what I could make from them. Very few branches were straight enough to get to get 6 inches without a knot,a bend, or a branching. I did find places where there looked to be enough wood for a bottle stopper, so I cut a few pieces from the pile and headed into the shop. I cut enough out to try and turn 2 pens and 3 bottle stoppers, even though I had no idea if they would turn at all and what the wood looked like. I got real lucky, it appears, on the first pen. The picture below shows how the wood looks after working through the moss and bark on the outside, to a very decorative and interesting wood.

After completing this pen, I had high hopes for the rest. As it turns out, the grape was full of cracks, wormholes and a soft core that seemed to reflect a central core, although it was hard to tell as it did not run very straight. Here is a picture of a second pen and 3 bottle stoppers I turned and then added colored epoxy in all of the cracks and holes I found. After a second turning, all four pieces when back to the bench for a refill of epoxy. you can see the epoxy I used, as well as the paint I used to color the epoxy. I only used a single drop as that seemed to be sufficient and I did not want to weaken the epoxy too much.

I'm now waiting for the third batch of epoxy to set before I finish turning the pen and bottle stopper. Maybe I'll dig through the pile and look for another chunk for a pen.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.