Pressure cast Algarita Root El Grande

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

This is a piece of Algarita root that had a lot of missing wood due to dirt and such. I pressure cast the blank with magenta dyed Alumilite with a little silver metal powder to add some depth.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/uploads/MesquiteMan/200772655333_Algarita_purple1.jpg


http://www.penturners.org/forum/uploads/MesquiteMan/200772655357_Algarita_Purple2.jpg


http://www.penturners.org/forum/uploads/MesquiteMan/200772655420_algarita_purple3.jpg

For those who are not familiar with Algarita...it is a bush that grows in Central Texas that is in the barberry family. It only gets 3' tall or so on the largest bushes and really does not have much useful wood for even penturning. It certainly is not available commercially as pen blanks due to the very poor yield. It is a wonderful bright yellow color with a very unique grain structure.

Thanks for looking!

[Dennis Peacock]

Beautiful pen Curtis and what awesome wood that is!!! Very nicely done!!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow that is a beauty Curtis. Very well done.

[Patrick Taylor]

Amazing wood! You did a great job with it and that's an awesome photo too. :)

[Mike A. Smith]

Amazing! Really, really nice Curtis.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Curtis. Extremely unique!

'Just curious, how does the yellow color hold up over time? (Osage Orange and mulberry, for example, start out quite bright and then get quite brown over time)

[TYLER WOOD]

That sound you heard was my jaw hitting the floor. The moistness I feel is drool running down my chin! One of, if not, the best looking pen I hve seen posted. The color contrast is spot on Charlie!!! When your ready to ship I will give you my adress to send it to.

NICE WORK!!!!

anticipating waiting on a reply from Jim's question........

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

'Just curious, how does the yellow color hold up over time? (Osage Orange and mulberry, for example, start out quite bright and then get quite brown over time)

Jim,

I know what you mean about OO and Mulberry. So far, the Algarita has held its color. I have 2 other Algarita pens and they are both still bright yellow. One of them is over a year old. Now granted, they have all been kept inside and have not been in direct UV sunlight so I can not say it will absolutely stay yellow but i feel pretty certain it will.

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Oh yeah, forgot to say thanks for the nice comments everyone! This is one of my favorite pens and before I turned it I really did not expect much from it!

[Curt Fuller]

That's a beautiful pen! You sure come up with some interesting ideas for pen materials. Thanks for posting that.

[Ed Scolforo]

That's a beauty, Curtis!

[Al Wasser]

IF we are talking about the same plant, Algerita is Mahonia trifoliolata. When I worked in NM and AZ it is/was a common shrub reaching about 6' tall. I occurs in the zone where pinon and juniper blend to Ponderosa Pine. It has bright yellow heartwood and produces (in a good year) berries that the bears love. I have never seen stems much larger than about 3". I was not a wood turner then so never tried to turn it. Evidently this is one thing that is not bigger in Texas (sorry Curtis I could not resist that). As I recall the yellow in the pens is not photo enhanced - it is bright yellow

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Al,

You are correct! It's scientific name is Mahonia trifoliolata (Berberis trifoliolata, Mahonia trifoliata) http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/mahoniatrifol.htm

The site shown above says it gets to 6' tall but I have never seen any that big here in Central Texas. Also about 1 1/2" is the largest stems I have found. The root ball, on the other hand, gets quite big. It is full of voids and intertwined with rocks and dirt but I have a few that are basketball sized.

As for the color. my pics are ture to color and not color enhanced in any way. The only thing I did was crop, remove some dust specks on the acrylic, and sharpen a little. Nothing else. It is an amazing, intensde yellow that seems to hold its color unlike other yellow woods.

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Oh yeah, and the berries make great jelly! We had a bumper crop this year due to all our rain. I made my first batch of Algarita jelly and it is very good. I "picked" 5 gallons of berries to make 8 cups of juice! The way you "pick" them is to put a sheet under the bush and beat the heck out of it with a stick. Then simply pull out the sheet and dump the berries (along with all the bugs and spiders) into a bucket!

[Tom Sherman]

That is a really nice looking pen. I agree with Curt you do seem to come up with some very original ideas for pen material.

[Al Wasser]

The berries are pretty small and with the stickery/sharp leaves you earned your jelly the hard way. I never tried to pick them for jelly, just sampled a few when I was around them. Another wood that is good for small things like pens , etc is mtn. mahogany if you can find it big enough. Cercocarpus montanus