Vine Wood WIP

[cotedupy]

So I found these at a friend's house at the weekend (he's a winemaker and uses them for firewood). They're 60 year old Syrah (Shiraz) vines that have been pulled up for re-planting, either with other varieties or with more Syrah because the old vines aren't producing enough fruit any more. Apparently the wood is quite nice; very twisted/knotty and lots of eyes as you can see:

They're well cured but obviously not stabilized. Still I thought I'd have a play and see what they looked like. The trunk wood is much denser than I expected, and interestingly coloured. Tho this picture possibly exaggerates it, as I think some bits had been burned by the belt sander:

I carved it out and did a resin fill. TBH I'd quite like to do a clear fill that kept the colour of the wood, but the epoxy I have isn't crystal clear. So I went with a two part blue and aquamarine fill, as the initial experiment:

 

[cotedupy]

And here's how it came out today. Quite cool I think . We'll see how it goes with warping or cracking, this might be the final push I need to set myself up to for stabilizing things!

Anybody else have any experience or tips for working with vine wood...?

 

[cotedupy]

And today trying with a clear, neutral fill (still Araldite 5 min). The faults I didn't carve out too much, which has left most of them very dark looking, tho the epoxy is colourless. Think I prefer this over the coloured version...

 

[juice]

So I went with a two part blue and aquamarine fill

No way! You used blue?

Looks great.

 

[Dhoff]

And today trying with a clear, neutral fill (still Araldite 5 min). The faults I didn't carve out too much, which has left most of them very dark looking, tho the epoxy is colourless. Think I prefer this over the coloured version...

View attachment 106467

View attachment 106468

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I agree, this one looks very sleek, elegant and nice

The other one is also nice, but this one is a ringer.

 

[cotedupy]

No way! You used blue?

Looks great.

Are there other colours...?

 

[cotedupy]

I agree, this one looks very sleek, elegant and nice

The other one is also nice, but this one is a ringer.

Ta! Yeah I was really pleased with how that second one came out. Just need to wait a bit now and see how stable the wood is...

 

[Geigs]

they look great, but it makes me super sad that old vine shiraz was ripped out for any reason at all, the drop in production means way better wines.

 

[cotedupy]

they look great, but it makes me super sad that old vine shiraz was ripped out for any reason at all, the drop in production means way better wines.

As an interesting postscript to this - I was making a handle from the wood the other day and noticed that the pattern and colouration to me looked a lot like spalting...

And sure enough when I asked my friend who I got them from he said the vineyard had been taken up because of Eutypa, or Dead Arm, which is a fungal disease that affects and kills a certain portion of the vine. You might for instance get one dead arm, while the other is alive. Though it is insidious, and will eventually kill the entire vine. The colour differences here then are between darker dead wood and lighter living wood... We have spalted vine wood! And the Syrah wasn't grubbed up for no reason

 

[cotedupy]

I've now made quite a few handles from this, it's remarkable looking wood, and fairly unique. The combination of eutypa and the natural twisted nature of the vine creates something fairly special...

 

[Geigs]

Those handles look awesome. And glad to hear that the old vines weren't sacrificed needlessly! Dead arm is something I know about only through D'Arenberg's shiraz of the same name, I pray this disease doesn't spread!

 

[juice]

fairly unique

No no no no no. "Unique" is binary - things are either unique or they're not. If they're not, I guess they're some sort of rare, although probably not medium-rare

 

[cotedupy]

No no no no no. "Unique" is binary - things are either unique or they're not. If they're not, I guess they're some sort of rare, although probably not medium-rare

Ha! I need to dig out my old style guide clearly...

 

[cotedupy]

Those handles look awesome. And glad to hear that the old vines weren't sacrificed needlessly! Dead arm is something I know about only through D'Arenberg's shiraz of the same name, I pray this disease doesn't spread!

Cheers! It is really interesting stuff

It's not something I've come across much before either, other than the background story of the D'Arenberg cuvee. I think the disease is much more prevalent in South Austalia than it is in Europe.

(You also in SA?)

 

[Dhoff]

Now I want one of your handles :*(

Why is australia so freaking far away from everything

 

[cotedupy]

Now I want one of your handles :*(

Why is australia so freaking far away from everything

I do have some friends in Copenhagen, so I'll give ya a shout if ever I'm sending anything over to them!

 

[gregfisk]

I think it’s great that you’re trying out different wood(s) for handle materials. These look great and I would guess very unique as far as handles go. Don’t listen to juice, he’s a communist.

 

[juice]

Don’t listen to juice, he’s a communist.

Sure, but so is Cotedupy now he lives here

 

[gregfisk]

Well, I spent a few weeks in Victoria and now I’m a big fan.

 

[gregfisk]

So, did that handle come front the center of that big piece of knot you posted a picture of?

 

[juice]

Well, I spent a few weeks in Victoria and now I’m a big fan.

Did you become a communist? (We moved on the weekend to central Victoria, and I do like this living in the outback thing

 

[cotedupy]

So, did that handle come front the center of that big piece of knot you posted a picture of?

Good q... no. I haven't tried that bit yet, but I'm fairly sure it wouldn't work. The best, densest, wood comes from the trunk before the arms split into a v-shape and gets trained off. I have made a couple from arm wood, but they're rarely straight enough to get particularly long bits, and it's less dense, though the wood looks the same. I've used it for a couple of pettys. In the last picture above the bunka is trunk wood and the petty is from the arm.

 

[gregfisk]

Did you become a communist? (We moved on the weekend to central Victoria, and I do like this living in the outback thing

perhaps I did. We stayed in Brighton Beach across the street from the water by the Brighton beach houses. So amazing! If that’s communist living I’m all in. Loved the town with the butcher and the baker down the street from each other and the people were so friendly. They kept asking if we were from the States or Canada. I live in Seattle so just a few hours from the Canadian border. I guess we sound similar.

Sorry cotedupy for getting so OT.

 

[gregfisk]

Good q... no. I haven't tried that bit yet, but I'm fairly sure it wouldn't work. The best, densest, wood comes from the trunk before the arms split into a v-shape and gets trained off. I have made a couple from arm wood, but they're rarely straight enough to get particularly long bits, and it's less, though the wood looks the same. I've used it for a couple of pettys. In the last picture above the bunka is trunk wood and the petty is from the arm.

I’m really interested in trying different woods and doing epoxy fillers if needed. It seems like root wood could be interesting if you can get larger pieces to work with.

 

[juice]

perhaps I did. We stayed in Brighton Beach across the street from the water by the Brighton beach houses. So amazing! If that’s communist living I’m all in

Ah, the flash end of town, eh!

They kept asking if we were from the States or Canada. I live in Seattle so just a few hours from the Canadian border. I guess we sound similar.

People down here are likely to think someone from Tennersee or Georgah could be from either...

Maybe even Bawstahn.

Sorry cotedupy for getting so OT.

He's a communist now, he's not about efficiency or rule-following.

 

[cotedupy]

I’m really interested in trying different woods and doing epoxy fillers if needed. It seems like root wood could be interesting if you can get larger pieces to work with.

Yeah I've thought that. Occasionally you see large trees round here that have fallen, or been blown, over if the ground beneath them has given way. And they tend just to stay there until I assume someone decides to come along and grab them for firewood. I'm slightly tempted to keep a chainsaw in the boot of the car to rescue some in such a situation... Though I fear it would go down like a cup of cold sick with the wife

 

[cotedupy]

[Apologies for shoddy night pics. I will update when I've put it on something.]

Today I created a world-first 'Full Moon Mt Fuji' spalted vine wood knife handle. Which will doubtless become incredibly highly sought after, and worth more than its weight in gold / saffron / cocaine.

I noticed that quite a few of the pieces I've used have this kind of feature; a small knot that needs carving and filling, and below it - a wavy line of the grain that also does:

'Aha!' I said. 'This reminds me quite precisely of the moon rising over Mt. Fuji. And will surely bring me respect, adoration, and untold riches.'

So I filled it with coloured epoxy, as is my wont:

Came out alright, it's a bit tricky to get an impression of the colour at night but here we go:

The other side is darker, and has no colour:

It actually looks loads nicer than these pictures suggest Now to find something to put it on...

 

[gregfisk]

I see what you’re going for, the handle looks great. What do you use for a finish?

 

[cotedupy]

I see what you’re going for, the handle looks great. What do you use for a finish?

My usual process is the following, I don't really know why I do it like this apart from that it works for me, especially on wood like this that is completely dry, but not stabilized so not the densest...

I apply mineral oil after the initial shaping which I do on a belt sander to 80 or 120 grit, then hand sanding up to 400. Then I apply something called Evolution Hardwax Oil Classic. I like this stuff a lot - you can control the finish level by either; leaving it to dry completely, or rubbing in / buffing when partially dried. Once it's dry I then sand again from 400 to anywhere between 800 - 2000 depending on the handle. And then apply another 2 or 3 coats of hardwax oil to finish.

Seems to work

 

[inferno]

hey man. you should look into "tung oil", i use pure tung oil from liberon. its a hardening oil.
you need to dilute it to 50% with either acetone or white spirit/paint naphta the first few rounds. then you can put 3 coats of pure oil on there. it will last for years. wait 24h between applications.

you want to dilute it the first rounds so it sucks in deep in the wood. then after the solvents have evaporated the oil hardens and polymerizes, stabilizing the wood and turns it waterproof.

tung oil is similar to linseed oil but it wont turn yellow.

i however have found a cheaper diluted oil (60%) that i simply dunk handles in for a few h. then let dry 1-2 days. then start applying 100% oil coats to for 3 days. i have handles that are 5-6 years old and they still look like new. tung oil is the ****!

danish oil/gun stock oil/furniture oil is usually diluted tung oil. but its better to simply get the pure stuff from the start imo. because with the diluted stuff you never get 100% oil that you want for the top coats.